The flow of digital information through fiber optic cables that line the ocean floor can be compromised by climate change.
According to a new study published in the journal earth science review by scientists from the UK’s National Oceanographic Center and the University of Central Florida. They found that ocean and coastal disruptions caused by extreme weather events are exposing “hot spots” along transglobal cable networks, increasing the risk of internet outages.
The damage from such outages can be devastating to governments, the private sector, and non-profit organizations that rely on the secure flow of digital information.
For example, researchers write that intensifying tropical cyclones in the North Pacific are stressing submarine cables off Taiwan.
Also, in strategically important polar regions, the melting of glaciers and sea ice is “changing ocean conditions more rapidly than in many other places on Earth,” the researchers found.
“Our analysis clearly highlights the need to carefully plan cable routes and landing station locations, taking into account various regional hazards and how they may be affected by climate change. co-author, Thomas Wahl, associate professor in UCF’s Department of Civil Engineering, Environment and Environment. Construction Engineering, said in a release.
The findings are derived from the analysis of a peer-reviewed data set on submarine cable infrastructure and its vulnerability to climate change. Other collaborators in this research include the US Geological Survey, the University of Southampton, New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington, and the International Cable Protection Commission.
“We know that global changes in ocean conditions are very likely as a result of climate change, but the feedbacks and links between climate change, natural processes, and human activity are often complex. Yes, resulting in a high degree of geographic variability,” the researchers wrote.
Such risks are exacerbated by sea-level rise, the authors say. Ocean expansion increases the severity of hazards, creates new hazards, and transfers the risk of hazards to new regions.
At the same time, the global submarine cable network continues to expand. Real-time information from TeleGeography shows a vast network of transatlantic and transpacific circuits from the United States to Europe and Asia. Other continents such as South America and Africa are surrounded by submarine cables that connect them to their coastlines at thousands of interconnection points.
While natural hazards that damage submarine cables are “fewer than those associated with human activities,” such as bottom fishing and ship anchor collisions, examples of cable damage due to natural hazards are “widespread.” It could simultaneously damage multiple cable systems across the region and isolate entire regions,” the authors wrote.
Nicole Starosielski, associate professor of media, culture, and communications at New York University and author of The Undersea Network, says today’s undersea cables are constructed and deployed with attention to disaster risk. increase. But many cable stations, where submarine cables terminate after landfall, were “built before builders took climate change into account,” writes the Canadian website Open Canada.
In 2021, the International Cable Protection Commission, made up of industry and government stakeholders, will publish a “Best Practices” document on protecting and promoting resilience of submarine communications cables. Among its recommendations were distributing the cable infrastructure to provide redundancy and backup measures during extreme events.
The commission also published a report in 2009 jointly with the United Nations Environment Programme, which said rising sea levels could exacerbate erosion and increase flood risk for onshore coastal cable facilities.
In the hurricane and typhoon zone, severe storms “not only attack the coast, but also affect the seafloor stability of the continental shelf through eroding currents and wave formation,” the report said. It causes submarine landslides and greater turbidity.
Mike Clare, lead author of the study and a researcher at the National Oceanographic Center, said it’s imperative that scientists and engineers assess new potential disruptions that could emerge with climate change. said it was.
“Our reliance on cables that are only as wide as a garden hose comes as a surprise to many who consider satellites their primary means of communication,” Claire said in a release. “But satellites don’t have the bandwidth to support modern digital systems. The ‘clouds’ aren’t in the sky, they’re under the ocean. “
Reprinted from E&E News with permission of POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2023. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environmental professionals.
