In other words, the extraction process, if done improperly, could cause sudden disruptions on the ocean floor, reducing ocean pressure rates and releasing methane gas from hydrates.

FORBES

Storm surges have the potential to be dangerous because they involve a great upwelling of a stretch of ocean - intense low pressure at the heart of a storm literally tugs the sea surface above its normal level to create a massive bulge.

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And you can feel the claustrophobia inside that locked SUV as the windshield slowly cracks from the pressure of the freezing ocean.

FORBES: Connect

But destructive fishing pressure has sharply depleted ocean wildlife, some by 90 percent in 50 years, including sharks, tunas, marlin, menhaden, groupers, snappers, tarpon, turtles, shrimp, crabs and others.

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The tiny compartment that the film-maker sits in is made from thick steel, which is able to resist the 1, 000 atmospheres of pressure he experienced at full ocean depth.

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Maarten Van Sluys, another member of the Brazilian victims' family association, said there was also concern about the condition of the black boxes after two years sitting in corrosive seawater under immense pressure, nearly 4km (2.5 miles) below the surface of the ocean.

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The strength of that pressure may depend in part on the psychological impact of fresh discoveries about the diversity of ocean life.

ECONOMIST: Marine conservation