One of the biggest challenges in drawing ocean maps at any depth has been the relative lack of standardization in how ocean data is shared.

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In a column published by Bloomberg and the Washington Post last month, Wright urges more government and private-sector funding to fill that gap. Why does this matter? Consider that the ocean absorbs about 24 percent of atmospheric CO2 — for perspective, forests and other vegetation handle an estimated 30 percent. Human activities — including trawl fishing and the deep-sea mining activities that some companies are beginning to contemplate — weaken the ocean’s sequestration potential. "To measure the progress of climate change and to study the ocean processes and human activities that affect that process, it is essential to assemble a detailed picture of the undersea world," Wright writes.