To understand the world you need to understand the ocean. That’s the argument of physicist Helen Czerski who has long studied the complex ecosystems and forces that drive the ‘blue machine’ which covers 71% of our planet. In June 2023, Czerski came to Intelligence Squared to discuss what we should know about these vast bodies of water – the waves, currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls and how they all fit into an interlinked system that shapes the world around us.

In conversation with science editor of The Times Tom Whipple, Czerski discussed how, since the beginning of human civilisation, the oceans have been central to the way human societies have evolved and how threats like climate change and overfishing could threaten our future.