In 2022, a research paper sounded the alarm – the ocean is losing its memory. The ocean is vast, its memories ancient. Believed to be where life on Earth first originated, this large body of water holds an enormous amount of information. But with human-induced global warming, it’s almost as if the ocean is developing amnesia, according to the researchers who studied this phenomenon. But how does the ocean lose its memory? What does it mean for the ocean to have memory in the first place?

Here, Dr. Hui Shi, a researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research who was also the lead author of the 2022 research paper, and Dr. Heather Spence, a marine biologist and composer, help us understand what ocean memory means, both for our present, and future.

In ‘The Missing Link,’ The Swaddle’s science podcast, we take a look at humanity’s most urgent questions – and the answers that might be lurking in unexpected science.

Credits:

Hosts: Rohitha Narharisetty and Ananya Singh

Writing and Production: Rohitha Narharisetty and Ananya Singh

Sound Design, Associate Producer: Vibhav Saraf

Marketing Collateral Design: Hitesh Sonar

Art Director: Neha Shekhawat

Executive Producer: Karla Bookman