35 years of submarine cables in one map

The 400 or so submarine cables weave an invisible yet crucial network of the contemporary world. 1.3 million km long, they are essential to the smooth functioning of the Internet and host 99% of our intercontinental exchanges.

From VisualCapitalist by Nick Routley

You could be reading this article from nearly anywhere in the world and there’s a good chance it loaded in mere seconds.

Long gone are the days when images would load pixel row by pixel row. Now, even high-quality video is instantly accessible from almost everywhere. How did the internet get so fast? Because it’s moving at the speed of light.

The Information Superhighway

The miracle of modern fiber optics can be traced to a single man, Narinder Singh Kapany.
The young physicist was skeptical when his professors asserted that light ‘always travels in a straight line’.
His explorations into the behavior of light eventually led to the creation of fiber optics—essentially, beaming light through a thin glass tube.

The next step to using fiber optics as a means of communication was lowering the cable’s attenuation rate.
Throughout the 1960-70s, companies made gains in manufacturing, reducing the number of impurities and allowing light to cross great distances without a dramatic decrease in signal intensity.

By the mid-1980s, long distance fiber optic cables had finally reached the feasibility stage.
Crossing the Pond

The first intercontinental fiber optic cable was strung across the floor of the Atlantic Ocean in 1988.
The cable—known as TAT-8*—was spearheaded by three companies; AT&T, France Télécom, and British Telecom.
The cable was able to carry the equivalent of 40,000 telephone channels, a ten-fold increase over its galvanic predecessor, TAT-7.

Once the kinks of the new cable were worked out, the floodgates were open.
During the course of the 1990s, many more cables hit the ocean floor.

Deep on the ocean floor you will find communication cables made to carry signals from one land to another.
The first undersea communications cables, laid in the 1850s, carried telegraphy.

Now these cables carry our phone and Internet traffic.
Yet, they remain relatively hidden in the depths of the ocean.

By the dawn of the new millennium, every populated continent on Earth was connected by fiber optic cables.
The physical network of the internet was beginning to take shape.

As today’s video from ESRI shows, the early 2000s saw a boom in undersea cable development, reflecting the uptick in internet usage around globe.
In 2001 alone, eight new cables connected North America and Europe.

From 2016-2020, over 100 new cables were laid with an estimated value of $14 billion.
Now, even the most remote Polynesian islands have access to high-speed internet thanks to undersea cables.

*TAT-8 does not appear in the video above as it was retired in 2002.
The Shifting Nature of Cable Construction

Even though nearly every corner of the globe is now physically connected, the rate of cable construction is not slowing down.

This is due to the increasing capacity of new cables and our appetite for high-quality video content.

New cables are so efficient that the majority of potential capacity along major cable routes will come from cables that are less than five years old.

Traditionally, a consortium of telecom companies or governments would fund cable construction, but tech companies are increasingly funding their own submarine cable networks.

Source

Amazon, Microsoft and Google own close to 65% market share in cloud data storage, so it’s understandable that they’d want to control the physical means of transporting that data as well.

These three companies now own 63,605 miles of submarine cable.
While laying cable is a costly endeavor, it’s necessary to meet surging demand—content providers’ share of data transmission skyrocketed from around 8% to nearly 40% over the past decade.
A Bright Future for Dark Fiber

At the same time, more aging cables will be taken offline.
Even though signals are no longer traveling through this network of “dark fiber”, it’s still being put to productive use.
It turns out that undersea telecom cables make a very effective seismic network, helping researchers study offshore earthquakes and the geologic structures on the ocean floor.

Links :

• GeoGarage blog : Russian intelligence agents reportedly went ... / Seafloor cables that carry the world's ...  / Russian submarines are prowling around ...  / How the Internet travels across oceans / This map shows the explosive growth of underwater cables ... / Photos of the submarine Internet cables the ... / Submarine cable maps
• TechCrunch : Facebook, telcos to build huge subsea cable for Africa and ...
• Forbes : Russia’s Suspected Internet Cable Spy Ship Appears Off Americas
• DailtScience : Global Submarine Cables Market Growth, Size, Analysis ... / Global Submarine Cables Market 2020 Impact of Covid-19 on Key Players, Segmentation, Consumption, Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Forecast – 2026

That first glide

Arctic

Short film released in 2015,
on the occasion of the publication of the book ARCTIQUE
by French photographer Vincent Munier (Kobalann Publishing).

Coronavirus could disrupt weather forecasting

Data on temperature, wind and humidity collected by commercial airline flights has fallen sharply.

From NYTimes by Henry Fountain

The amount of atmospheric data routinely gathered by commercial airliners has dropped sharply as a result of the coronavirus, the World Meteorological Organization announced.

The drop in airline travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic has sharply reduced the amount of atmospheric data routinely gathered by commercial airliners, the World Meteorological Organization said Thursday, adding that it was “concerned about the increasing impact” on weather forecasts worldwide.

The agency said data on temperature, wind and humidity from airplane flights, collected by sensors on the planes and transmitted in real time to forecasting organizations around the world, has been cut by nearly 90 percent in some regions.

In the United States, airlines are operating skeletal schedules and have opted to store much of their fleets rather than continuing to lose money by flying near-empty planes.

(Nick Oxford/Reuters)

In the United States data declined by 75 percent  during the pandemic, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Under the observational program, established in the 1960s, data from 3,500 aircraft operated by Delta, United, American and Southwest, and by the cargo carriers United Parcel Service and FedEx, is transmitted directly to National Weather Service forecasting operations.

Christopher Vaccaro, a NOAA spokesman, said the decline “does not necessarily translate into a reduction in forecast accuracy since National Weather Service meteorologists use an entire suite of observations and guidance to produce an actual forecast.”
That includes data from satellites, radar and other land- and sea-based instruments and radiosondes, small instruments that are launched into the upper atmosphere on a daily schedule and provide data as they descend.

 Aviation-gathered observations via the AMDAR network on Jan 31. (WMO)

 Aviation-derived weather observations on May 3-4, via the AMDAR network. (WMO)

But fewer than 200 radiosondes are launched each day.
Observations from aircraft have been far more abundant, said William R.
Moninger, a retired NOAA physicist who now works at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado.
Not every airplane supplies data, but those that do transmit readings as often as every few seconds, depending on altitude, he said.

At this time last year, Dr. Moninger said, aircraft in the United States provided nearly 600,000 observations a day.
Now, with far fewer flights, on a recent day in April there were 180,000 observations, he said.

The observational data is fed into weather service computer models that forecast conditions anywhere from several hours to days ahead.
Dr. Moninger and some colleagues are currently studying whether short-term forecasts have been affected.
“The short answer is we haven’t seen an unequivocal impact yet,” he said, noting they have yet to complete their analysis.

 The steep drop in aviation observations from various networks, including AMDAR.

(WMO/Canadian Meteorological Center)

The World Meteorological Organization, an arm of the United Nations that coordinates a global observing system for 193 member nations, said that in addition to aircraft data, surface-based weather observations have been affected in some parts of the world, including Africa and Central and South America, where many weather instruments are not automated and must be visited regularly to obtain readings.

The agency said that automated instruments should continue to function well for some time, but that if the pandemic is prolonged, lack of maintenance and repair may become a problem.

Sign up to receive an email when we publish a new story about the coronavirus outbreak.
The agency also said some countries, especially in Europe, were launching more radiosondes to partially make up for the loss of aircraft data.

National weather agencies “are facing increasingly severe challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in developing countries,” said Petteri Taalas, the agency’s director-general, in a statement.

“As we approach the Atlantic hurricane season, the Covid-19 pandemic poses an additional challenge, and may exacerbate multi-hazard risks at a single country level,” he added.

The aircraft data is also used by airlines as they manage daily flight operations both in the air and at airports.
Observations of wind speeds at cruising altitudes of about 30,000 feet and higher, for example, can help plan for refueling needs.  And if observations during ascent or descent show that it is likely that icing conditions may soon occur at an airport, an airline can save money by moving some aircraft elsewhere.

The data can sometimes be a lifesaver.
In a 2003 paper, Dr. Moninger and others wrote about a 1998 incident in which a plane nearing Miami on a flight from Europe radioed that it was nearly out of fuel because it had encountered strong headwinds.
A quick check of data from three other aircraft showed an alternative track, not far away, with calmer air.

For weather service forecasting, observations during take off and landings are especially useful, Dr.
Moninger said.
Data is collected more frequently than at cruising altitude: advanced instruments take readings every 300 feet between the ground and 10,000 feet.
The resulting collection of readings is called a profile and typically there would be about 12,000 of them a day.
On March 23 this year, there were 3,500.

The data can help forecasters better understand the vertical structure of the lower atmosphere and how it may change in the near term.
“If you’re looking for things like the likelihood of thunderstorms, the vertical structure of the atmosphere is important,” Dr. Moninger said.
“I expect the decrease in weather data could also make a big impact on things like predicting when fog is going to break,” he said.

Air-quality experts also use the data to forecast because it can help predict the appearance of near-surface inversions, when air temperatures, which are normally warmest at the ground, flip and become warmer at higher altitudes.
Inversions trap pollutants, greatly worsening air quality for up to a day or longer.

Links :

• Maritime Executive : Covid-19 impacting weather forecasts 
• The Conversation : Weather forecasts could become more challenging during the ...
• WP : The coronavirus pandemic and loss of aircraft data are taking a toll on weather forecasting
• Smithsonian : How COVID-19 Interferes With Weather Forecasts and ...  
• Phys : COVID-19: Aeolus and weather forecasts 
• The Weather Channel : As Fewer People Fly Due to Coronavirus, Quality of Weather ...

Coronavirus: How is the sailing community weathering the storm?

Leisure sailing was effectively banned when the lockdown restrictions were announced 

photo : Nicolas Fichot

From BBC by Stephen Stafford

For Britain's leisure sailors coronavirus restrictions have meant frustration at not being able to head on to the water, while marine businesses face choppy economic waters.

Recreational sailing was effectively banned by the limits on travel and gatherings introduced in March, with marinas advised to close and the authorities keen to prevent extra strain on the emergency services at sea.

More than 2.5m Britons are estimated to take part in boating activities each year but in 2020 popular events such as the Round the Island Race - the country's biggest non-running mass participation sporting event - have been postponed.

Meanwhile Cowes Week - a highlight of the social calendar for almost 200 years - remains under review.

Helping others cope with the challenges of isolation

During the lockdown Dee Caffari has been sharing her experiences of her single-handed voyages around the world 

Image copyright Dee Caffari

"It'll be a season to remember, but not for the sailing," said record-breaking solo yachtswoman Dee Caffari from her home in Titchfield, Hampshire.
"I was on a beach walk and, looking out, there was not a single boat on the Solent - it's unheard of.
"There's been near perfect sailing conditions so it's frustrating for a lot of people.
But it's understandable - there are lots of potential risks on a boat."

Being the first woman to have sailed single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions, Ms Caffari is used to self-isolation.
"I had to live with myself 24/7.
We don't know what next week or next month will bring so we're dealing with the here and now - planning and developing routines is critical to your wellbeing."

She has been sharing advice on coping with the "mental and emotional challenge" of the lockdown, and has been drawing on her previous career as a teacher to help produce resources on environmental issues for home schooling.

With crew members in close contact during the rigours of yacht racing and at on-shore social gatherings, Ms Caffari said it would be "some time before things get back to normal".
"Ours is such a social sport and racing is difficult if there is that anxiety about social distancing.
"It's so up in the air, so who knows how it will evolve and adapt to come out of the other side?"

Locked down on a yacht

 Image copyright Nomad Sailing

Lou Bundon has been carrying out maintenance work while in lockdown on her yacht
"It's our business and it's heartbreaking - we've worked really hard for it," said Lou Bundon of sail training company Nomad Sailing as she carries out maintenance work on her yacht.

Rather than return to her home in Hastings, she chose to spend the lockdown living on the company's yacht in an all-but-deserted Gosport Marina.
"I spend most of my life on a boat anyway - and I'd go stir crazy in the house."

With a busy spring and summer season of bookings scrapped, she has been using her time to catch up on maintenance work on the firm's two yachts as well as developing online courses and training videos for clients in the hope they will return when the business can refloat.

"It couldn't have come at a worse time. It's pretty soul destroying at the moment, but our customer base is fantastic. It's about keeping people engaged and giving them something to do in honing their navigational skills."

Sailing to the aid of the NHS 

Image copyright Sanders Sails

Peter Sanders has used his sail-making business to create protective scrubs bags for health workers

"We were keen to keep on working and provide something that hospitals would really want." said sail-maker Peter Sanders, who has turned turned his hand to producing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for the NHS during the coronavirus crisis.

When the pandemic hit and sail orders "just stopped", Mr Sanders began using his materials and laser cutting and sewing expertise to help make more than 1,500 waterproof bags for medical staff to carry their scrubs in.

They were snapped up by the local hospital in Lymington, Hampshire, and orders were also received from as far afield as the Outer Hebrides, Belfast and Pembrokeshire.

The company is now helping the effort to produce plastic visors and has supplied more than 5,000 protective gowns to Southampton General Hospital.

Despite doing their bit, he fears "there'll be a lot of casualties in the industry".

"We've lost our busiest time of year. Of course if people haven't been out sailing over the summer, they aren't going to need to replace their sails, so it could be a cold winter for us.
"I've never seen anything like this - it's unprecedented and you can't see an end to it.
Personally, I miss being on the water, but you don't want everything to open again too soon - that would be the worst thing."

E-sailors - on the crest of a virtual wave

Image copyright Ripon Sailing Club

Zoom banter adds a social element to virtual racing at Ripon Sailing Club

With its boating lake out of bounds, Ripon Sailing Club in North Yorkshire has embraced virtual racing, with members taking on each other and other clubs around the country.
"We were thinking about retention and keeping members engaged and also taking into account the demographic of our membership.
A lot of them were self-isolating and so maintaining social interaction was really important for them," said commodore Jamie Kerslake.

Meanwhile, in Manchester's Debdale Outdoor Activity Club, commodore Nicola Stockdale, an avid gamer, has been using virtual sailing software as a training resource.
"There is never any substitute for the feeling of being out on a boat, but it does manage to fill that little hole during this trying period that we are in," she said.
"I really hope that even once we are allowed back on the water, that people still use it."

Sailing lessons on YouTube

Image copyright RYA

Jake Elsbury has fronted YouTube videos to teach kids the basics of sailing

"It's crucial to get kids to fall in love with the sport and keep participating," said sailing instructor Jake Elsbury who has been posting tutorial videos on YouTube for young sailors as part of the Royal Yachting Association's Sail from Home campaign.
He said many young sailors had been "disheartened" at the prospect of losing a summer on the water.

The weekly videos, recorded at his home in Southampton, are intended to instil "fun and interest" and cover subjects like tides, buoys and weather.
"It's really important to keep sailing in young people's minds - it gives them life skills like teamwork, confidence and perseverance," he said.
"Most sailors are used to dealing with what we get - we're in a storm and it's a case of battening down the hatches until we can get back out there."

Links :

• Ouest-France / V&V : Covid-19. La navigation de plaisance est finalement interdite ! La FIN interpelle Matignon /  Covid-19. Les sorties en mer autorisées dès lundi confirme la Fédération des Industries Nautiques / Covid-19. Paroles de plaisanciers pressés de larguer les amarres
• Le Parisien : Déconfinement : «A-t-on le droit de naviguer ?»
• Le Figaro : E-sport et voile, émergence d'un nouveau modèle économique 
• Brisbane Times : Months at sea with no internet, sailing ship heads back to a 'different world'
• The Guardian : Long journey home: the stranded sailboats in a race to beat the hurricanes
• GeoGarage blog :Life on lockdown : How months at sea prepared me for lockdown on land