Our Blue Planet

Asha de Vos has done pioneering work on blue whales and joined this week for a conversation about her work in Sri Lanka. The planet “Earth” should probably be called “Water” since 70% of it is ocean. Of course, that also means any discussion of climate issues should start—and probably end—with the oceans. Increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, declining biodiversity, acidification, and other impacts of CO2 and other greenhouse gas accumulation may be less evident when it comes to the seas than to land but is almost certainly more consequential in the long run. Marine biologist Asha de Vos knows as much as anyone about our blue planet. She has done pioneering work on blue whales, the largest animal on earth, and founded Oceanswell in 2017, Sri Lanka’s first marine conservation research and education organization. In 2021 she was awarded the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. Asha recently joined New Thinking for a New World host Alan Stoga for a conversation about her work in Sri Lanka.