Lecture 2 – Water world
In Lecture two of our 2021 CHRISTMAS LECTURES, physicist and oceanographer Helen Czerski unpicks the Earth’s heating and plumbing systems, showing how shifting ocean water creates an engine that distributes heat and nutrients around our planet. This engine forms the heart of our planetary life support system, and it’s linked to almost every aspect of our existence.
About the 2020 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Our planet is travelling at 30km/s around our Sun, which is travelling at 250km/s around the centre of the Milky Way, which is zooming at over 2 million km/h into deep space.
The only reason we can survive this epic cosmic voyage is because Earth is equipped with everything we need to survive. Our home planet creates an endless supply of food, water and oxygen. It maintains a perfect temperature for our bodies and recycles our waste. It even shelters us from cosmic storms and asteroids on our dangerous journey through the universe.
In the 2020 CHRISTMAS LECTURES, three expert scientists from different fields presented a unique ‘user’s guide’ to Planet Earth. They unravelled astonishing global systems and remarkable natural wonders that combine to keep life on Earth alive.
And they explored how human activity has become an overwhelming geological force – disrupting the finely tuned systems that have kept our planet running smoothly for billions of years.
Each Lecture brings to life one aspect of Earth’s inner workings.
2020 CHRISTMAS LECTURES supporters
