The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens28 Mai 2025

The Fish are Fleeing: How Shifting Marine Ecosystems are Upending Life with Malin Pinsky

For all of human history, the oceans and the life within them have remained a stable and fundamental part of Earth as we know it. Yet, for the past few decades, fisheries and scientists alike have observed massive migrations in marine ecosystems unlike anything we've ever witnessed. What is driving these unprecedented movements, and how are they rippling out to affect every aspect of life

In this conversation, Nate is joined by marine ecologist Malin Pinsky, whose decades of research shed light on the dramatic migrations of marine species due to rising ocean temperatures. Malin breaks down the science behind these changes – from declining oxygen levels pushing fish toward the poles, to the cascading impacts on intricate marine food webs, as well as the growing threat of localized extinctions among key fishery species.

How has a cultural disconnect from the importance of biodiversity and the interdependence of life led to such a drastic impact on the function of our oceans? What do these changes mean for humanity, including impacts on global food security and geopolitical stability? Finally, could reconnecting with the ocean's abundant, diverse ecosystems help us reduce our impact on these deep, blue pillars of life?

(Conversation recorded on April 22nd, 2025)

More TGS Ocean Episodes

About Malin Pinsky:

Malin Pinsky is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz with expertise in the adaptation of ocean life to climate change and applications to ocean conservation and fisheries. His more than 120 publications have appeared in Science, Nature, and other journals.

He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an Earth Leadership Fellow, and an Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. Pinsky serves on advisory boards for the Beijer Institute of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the non-profit Oceana, and the Chewonki Foundation. He grew up exploring tidepools and mountains in Maine.

Show Notes and More

Watch this video episode on YouTube

Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.

---

Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future

Join our Substack newsletter

Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(407)

Foundations Before Outcomes: The Future Beneath Your Feet | How to Think About the Future Pt 5, Frankly 150

Today, in Part 5 of the "How to Think About the Future" series, Nate scales his exploration of civilizational futures down to the future of a single human life and analyzes how the same patterns that ...

10 Jul 29min

Can Money Serve Life? How to Fund Communities Doing the Real Work with Matthew Monahan

Every year, hundreds of billions of dollars flow through global philanthropy, yet only a small fraction reaches environmental, climate, and nature-related causes. Meanwhile, in small towns and rural c...

8 Jul 1h 7min

A Legacy Worth Celebrating? Reflecting on 250 Years of the American Experiment | Frankly 149

As America marks its 250th birthday, Nate takes a moment to step outside of the celebrations to seek out a wider boundary perspective on this week's holiday. He poses the question of whether the Unite...

2 Jul 20min

Mordor to the Long Repair: How Might Daily Life Feel in the Next Decades? | How to Think About the Future Part 4, Frankly 148

This week, Nate continues his "How to Think About the Future" series, where he invites listeners to imagine what it's like to live in different versions of the reality that lies ahead. In today's edit...

26 Jun 32min

We Weren't Expecting This: What Does a Super El Niño Mean For the Climate? with Tad Patzek

This year's projected Super El Niño forming in the Pacific could become one of the strongest climate oscillations in over a century. As regions prepare for the effects, and continue to adapt to extrem...

24 Jun 1h 25min

How to Play 5D Chess: It's Not What You Think | Frankly 147

In this week's Frankly, Nate explores a pattern of thinking that permeates so many of our conversations: we often decide what we think before we've fully heard what's being said. Using the metaphor of...

19 Jun 18min

No More Dystopian Stories: How to See a Future Worth Living In with Rob Hopkins

Self-fulfilling prophecies; manifestations; the Oedipus Effect: Humanity has long had an intuition that the stories we tell ourselves the most are often the stories we make come true. Science has foun...

17 Jun 1h 35min

The Ultimate Alternative: Are You Okay With Nuclear Warfare? | Frankly 146

This week's Frankly is another in Nate's recurring series Uncomfortable Questions for Unsettled Times, in which he poses questions about our shared future. Today, he uses headlines regarding a potenti...

16 Jun 23min