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Telecom Cables Wanted For Climate Research

Posted by timothy on from the mind-if-we-borrow-this? dept.

schliz writes "Oceanographers have called for telecommunications companies to use their active and retired submarine fibre to collect climate data. Sydney University's John You says voltmeters could simply be attached to cable landing stations to measure ocean currents via the electromagnetic current that they generate. More information about salinity and seismology could be collected by attaching sensors to repeater boxes that are typically installed every 100km of cable to amplify signals. Because fibre optic cables could remain under the sea for decades, they could be a consistent, continual source of data for researchers."

12 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What if we found out something we really don't want to know?

    1. Re:Bad idea by segin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's a hell of a lot better than not knowing.

    2. Re:Bad idea by oiron · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...said the ostritch as it burrowed its head into the sand...

    3. Re:Bad idea by clarkkent09 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yep when Godzilla wakes up we need to know if he's moving towards Tokyo or New York.

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    4. Re:Bad idea by bertok · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's a hell of a lot better than not knowing.

      Do you have any idea how much Australia earns from coal exports? Why should the Australian taxpayer fund research aimed at providing data to undermine that industry and ruin our economy?

      Someone has to place some limits on scientists, otherwise they'll just go around playing God.

      About AUD 55 billion a year, or about 5% of our GDP. That's 250 million tonnes of carbon, which turns into almost a billion tonnes of CO2 once burned.

      So yeah, a truly scary amount of coal, but if people start taking global warming seriously, then there are alternatives. We could start exporting Uranium instead, we do have huge reserves. In the same time period, we only exported about AUD 1 billion of Uranium.

      Losing 5% of the GDP would certainly be less than ideal, but it wouldn't destroy the Australian economy, especially if it happened over a few decades.

  2. Re:Current generated in fibre????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You do realize that undersea fiber optic cables are bundled with high voltage power lines to power all those repeaters, right?

  3. Re:Current generated in fibre????? by bieber · · Score: 3, Informative

    The plan is to measure voltage generated by water moving around the cables, not current traveling through them.

  4. Huh? by Gazoogleheimer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The summary differs with a significance from the article to a somewhat unusual degree... No, it's not really workable with how the systems are currently set up. Yes, there is a possibility for infrastructure (at significant cost) to be colocated on these lines for data-gathering purposes.

  5. Sea plow? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They do know they plow the cables into the sea bed floor. Something like 2m down. How is buried in the dirt/mud/sand going to read ocean currents, temp, salinity etc?

    1. Re:Sea plow? by NoMaster · · Score: 3, Informative

      They do know they plow the cables into the sea bed floor. Something like 2m down.

      Only where practicable / desirable - usually on the continental shelves & near the coast, where there's a danger of it being snagged by a fishing trawler or anchor.

      AFAIK, the record depth for burying cable is still ~1600m. By comparison, the average depth of the Atlantic is apparently 3339m, and the Pacific ~4100m

      --
      What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
  6. Re:I'm an Australian by geoff_smith82 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Dick Smith doesn't say climate change is caused by foreigners and migrants... he is talking about infinite growth in Australia (and the World)... is not possible with finite resources. As in productive farm land, water, energy, materials mined out of the ground like copper and steal (iron ore). Some efficiencies can make better use of resources.... but they will always be finite and at best reusable.

  7. Re:Basic Physics Fact-Checking by phyrexianshaw.ca · · Score: 2, Informative

    you ever run Long Reach cable?

    the optics are broken at intervals, and repeaters are installed to carry the signal over the remaining distance.

    the repeaters require power, so a few high voltage copper lines are run with the fiber.

    the fiber would provide a wonderful data path, while the redundant power lines would provide both working current as well as the required loop for detection.