Interesting Facts About Our Planet’s Species

Almost 99% — Global Liveable Volumetric Space (Marine)

The Fact: The marine environment provides over 99% of all physical, three-dimensional living volume on Earth.
The Source: Confirmed by oceanographic data aggregated via Encounter Edu’s Ocean Exploration Metrics and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). [1]

91% — Undiscovered Marine Species

The Fact: An estimated 91% of all living species inside the oceans have not yet been scientifically discovered or classified.
The Source: Published in the landmark global biodiversity study How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean? via PLOS Biology and tracked actively by the Ocean Census Project. [2, 3]

90% — Fungi Species in Soil

The Fact: The subsurface soil environment houses 90% of all unique fungi species on Earth.
The Source: Calculated in a comprehensive global census published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), detailed in The Hidden Majority in Soil | PNAS. [4, 5]

86% — Total Biomass on Land

The Fact: Land habitats hold 86% of Earth’s total living biomass (the physical weight of life), heavily dominated by terrestrial trees and plants. [6]
The Source: Compiled by researchers analysing global macro-biology metrics, hosted on Our World in Data’s Distribution of Global Biomass. [6]

85.5% — Plant Species in Soil

The Fact: Roughly 85.5% of all global plant species are fundamentally tied to and dependent on the soil habitat via their root networks.
The Source: Extracted from the global subterranean ecosystem assessment available at PNAS Soil Biodiversity Data. [5]

75% to 85% — Total Species Living on Land, Air, or Soil

The Fact: Between 75% and 85% of all catalogued, unique types of living organisms exist within terrestrial or underground environments.
The Source: Cross-referenced baseline from the total eukaryotic predictions model on PLOS Biology combined with the newer comprehensive soil metadata available on Nature Briefing. [2, 7]

Around 80% — Share of Eukaryotic Species in Terrestrial Environments

The Fact: Out of an estimated 8.7 million total eukaryotic species (complex-celled life like plants, animals, and fungi), approximately 6.5 million (~80%) are terrestrial.
The Source: Found in the global taxonomy forecasting database published in PLOS Biology. [2]

78% — Animal Biomass Residing in the Ocean

The Fact: The vast majority of the collective weight of the animal kingdom—roughly 78% of all global animal biomass—is aquatic, consisting heavily of marine invertebrates and fish.
The Source: Sourced from global biosphere modelling, visualised through the World Economic Forum’s Habitat Biomass Chart. [6, 8]

71% — Earth’s Surface Covered by Ocean

The Fact: The global ocean covers 71% of the surface footprint of our planet.
The Source: Standard geological data maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Ocean Metrics and the MarineBio Conservation Society. [9, 10]

59% — Global Biodiversity Supported Directly by Soil

The Fact: Soil is officially classified as the single most biodiverse individual habitat on Earth, acting as home to 59% of all global species across all kingdoms of life.
The Source: Published in the August 2023 study by Anthony et al., broken down in The Guardian’s Soil Habitat Analysis. [4, 5]

More than 50% — Bacteria Species Housed in Soil

The Fact: More than half of all unique bacterial strains on Earth live within underground soil matrices.
The Source: Documented in the scientific brief published via the BBC Newsround Soil Science Report. [4, 11]

15% to 25% — Catalogued Species Living in the Sea

The Fact: Out of all currently known, named, and registered species on Earth, only about 15% to 25% are marine organisms.
The Source: Drawn from the total 2.2 million estimated marine species out of 8.7 million total global species predicted by the PMC Biology Data Repository. [2, 12]

20% to 25% — Above-Ground Terrestrial Zone Biodiversity Share

The Fact: Organisms that dwell purely above ground on land (like tree-canopy insects or surface mammals) represent roughly 20% to 25% of global species, distinct from underground soil biota.
The Source: Calculated by subtracting the 59% soil-dwelling majority and the 20% marine-dwelling fraction from total global biodiversity maps. [2, 5]

Leas than 1% — Terrestrial Share of Global Liveable Volume

The Fact: The land surface layer (from tree canopies down to a few feet into the dirt) makes up less than 1% of the total habitable structural volume on the planet.
The Source: Verified by spatial biological scaling data hosted on Encounter Edu. [1]

0% — Permanent Atmospheric Habitation

The Fact: 0% of known biological species spend their entire multi-generational lifecycle living, feeding, and breeding exclusively in the air without returning to a land or water substrate.
The Source: Established ecological principle documented by atmospheric and biological surveys tracking avian and microbial transit.

Sources & Endnotes

[1] https://encounteredu.com

[2] https://journals.plos.org

[3] https://www.facebook.com

[4] https://www.theguardian.com

[5] https://www.pnas.org

[6] https://ourworldindata.org

[7] https://www.nature.com

[8] https://www.weforum.org

[9] https://www.marinebio.org

[10] https://www.usgs.gov

[11] https://www.bbc.co.uk

[12] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Feasibility Study: Can an Insulated Submerged Transatlantic Maglev Infrastructure be Nature-Neutral or Nature-Positive?

Executive Summary

This document provides a technical evaluation of a proposed Submerged Floating Tube (SFT) vacuum maglev railway connecting Holyhead, Wales, to North America. The analysis assumes a hypothetical geopolitical scenario where society commands unlimited, zero-cost geothermal power capable of active direct air carbon capture (DACC), as well as a surplus of carbon-negative building materials.

The core inquiry is whether such a project can achieve a nature-neutral or nature-positive footprint. We conclude that while a massive energy abundance eliminates the traditional carbon and manufacturing costs, the project’s ecological neutrality rests entirely on mitigating non-carbon, dynamic sensory elements (acoustics, electromagnetism, and bathymetric anchoring) within the marine biosphere.

I. Baseline Assumptions & Technological Framework

To isolate the direct ecological impact of the physical railway, this study operates under three preconditions enabled by an unlimited geothermal surplus:

Zero-Carbon Manufacturing: Structural components—primarily concrete and steel—are produced using ultra-green methods. Concrete relies on carbon-negative aggregate curing processes, while steel is forged via geothermal green hydrogen electrolysis, eliminating typical industrial greenhouse gases.
Continuous Atmospheric Remediating: The geothermal infrastructure actively removes carbon from the global cycle, ensuring that the supply chain’s embedded emissions are net-negative prior to deployment.
Volumetric Displacement Insignificance: The physical displacement of water caused by a 40-foot diameter tube spanning 3,000 miles is mathematically calculated at less than 0.00000000003% of the Atlantic Ocean’s total volume. The three-dimensional continuity of the deep pelagic ocean prevents physical habitat fragmentation, as species can navigate over, under, and around the structure Encounter Edu’s Ocean Exploration Metrics.

II. Terrestrial vs. Marine Infrastructure Frameworks

A foundational divergence exists between standard land-based rail corridors and a Submerged Floating Tube (SFT). Terrestrial tracks cause severe ecological fragmentation. They sever migratory pathways, damage soil matrices, and permanently strip local surface acreage. Conversely, a marine SFT preserves spatial continuity. The primary ecological stressors of an SFT shift from spatial destruction to dynamic sensory pollution.

TERRESTRIAL RAIL CORRIDOR (2D Constraint)
[Forest Fragment A] -----[Physical Barrier / Track]----- [Forest Fragment B]
* Destroys soil biota, roots, and localised canopy layers.

SUBMERGED FLOATING TUBE (3D Fluid Continuity)
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sea Surface ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
              ↓ [Free Pelagic Swimming Zone] ↓
       O=====[ Shielded Maglev Vacuum Tube ]=====O
              ↓ [Free Pelagic Swimming Zone] ↓
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ocean Floor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Zero structural fragmentation; spatial continuity is preserved.

III. Ecological Risk Assessment & Mitigation Matrix

To evaluate true nature-neutrality, the design must mitigate three non-carbon vectors of environmental disruption.

1. Acoustic Resonance and Low-Frequency Noise

The Hazard: Sound travels roughly 4.5 times faster in water than in air. High-velocity trains traversing an underwater tube generate mechanical vibrations. Left unshielded, these create a continuous low-frequency hum. This hum can mask the echolocation frequencies utilised by cetaceans (whales and dolphins), disrupting mating, hunting, and navigational behaviours.
Engineering Resolution: Because the maglev vehicle operates entirely within a vacuum chamber inside the inner shell, airborne acoustic energy cannot bridge the gap to the outer hull. To neutralise structural vibrations from the linear synchronous motors, the tunnel employs a double-walled “tube-in-tube” design. The mounting brackets are isolated using acoustic metamaterials—engineered rubber-fluid composites that compress and refract mechanical wave energy, cancelling out structural vibrations before they contact the external marine boundary.

2. Induced Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)

The Hazard: High-speed maglev systems use massive electrical currents to drive propulsion and magnetic levitation. Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) possess extremely sensitive electroreceptors known as the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which detect fields down to fractions of a microvolt. Migratory species, including sea turtles, navigate utilising Earth’s ambient geomagnetic lines. Unshielded EMF output would distort these navigation systems, creating an artificial barrier across the Atlantic basin.
Engineering Resolution: The outer casing of the SFT is lined internally with Mu-metal (a specialised nickel-iron alloy featuring exceptionally high magnetic permeability). Mu-metal acts as a magnetic shield, absorbing and re-routing magnetic flux lines within the material hull rather than allowing them to radiate into the ocean water. This passive containment is supplemented by active cancellation coils that monitor outer field variations and generate inverse fields, preserving the baseline marine electromagnetic environment.

3. Thermal Radiation Plumes

The Hazard: Despite operating inside a vacuum, magnetic drag, vehicle life-support systems, and braking friction produce heat. Dissipating this thermal load directly through the tunnel walls would warm the adjacent water layer, creating a localised thermal plume. This plume could alter microclimates, stress cold-water organisms, or attract invasive species.
Engineering Resolution: Closed-loop cooling circuits redirect internal thermal energy away from the tunnel shell. Utilising the abundant energy grid, heat is pumped down structural tether lines and safely dissipated into the deep, geologically stable benthic mud layer, or captured at terminal stations in Holyhead and North America for municipal district heating. The outer tunnel shell is wrapped in highly efficient syntactic foam insulation to keep the exterior surface temperature identical to the surrounding seawater.

IV. Quantifying the Nature-Positive Potential: The Artificial Reef Effect

If the sensory fields (acoustic, electromagnetic, and thermal) are completely neutralised, the physical structure ceases to be a biological negative. Instead, it transitions into a net-positive ecological asset via the Artificial Reef Effect.

[SFT Outer Hull / Tethers] 
         ↓
 [Microbenthic Film] (Bacteria & Plankton Attachment)
         ↓
 [Sessile Epifauna] (Corals, Sponges, and Hydroids colonise surfaces)
         ↓
 [Pelagic Aggregation] (Schools of small forage fish seek structural shelter)
         ↓
 [Apex Predators] (Tuna, Sharks, and Cetaceans utilise the nutrient corridor)

The open Atlantic pelagic zone is a biological desert lacking structural anomalies. The introduction of a 3,000-mile continuous structural corridor provides an anchor point for marine life.

Surface Colonisation: Microscopic plankton and algae anchor to the outer bio-engineered textured surface of the hull and its vertical anchoring tethers.
Trophic Cascades: This micro-benthic base attracts sessile organisms (sponges, bryozoans, and deep-sea corals), establishing an ecosystem. Forage fish utilise the structural shelter to evade open-ocean predators, which in turn attracts apex predators (tuna, billfish, and marine mammals).
The Biological Highway: Rather than segmenting the ocean, the SFT functions as a continuous biological highway, boosting localised animal biomass along a pathway that previously lacked structural diversity.

V. Benthic Footprint Assessment (The Anchor Points)

While the floating mid-water tube preserves pelagic continuity, it must be tethered to the seabed. This requires gravity anchors or driven piles embedded into the benthic zone.

Localised Displacement: The installation of seabed anchors causes minor localised disruptions to benthic communities (such as deep-sea worms, echinoderms, and crustacea).
Mitigation Evaluation: This disruption is highly localised and spatially confined compared to the sprawling footprints of land infrastructure. Over time, the hard surfaces of the concrete gravity anchors mimic natural rocky outcrops, accelerating colonisation by deep-sea organisms and offsetting the initial installation impact.

VI. Conclusion: Final Nature Neutrality Verdict

Given unlimited clean geothermal energy and carbon-negative materials, a cross-ocean vacuum maglev train route can realistically achieve a nature-positive status.

Unlike land infrastructure, which inevitably leaves a scar of habitat fragmentation, a marine SFT leaves the physical dimensions of the ocean completely intact. By applying advanced engineering principles to isolate acoustic, electromagnetic, and thermal signatures, the project transforms from a potential threat into a massive artificial reef system. It preserves the functionality of the marine biosphere while actively increasing localised biological productivity across the Atlantic basin.

Further Exploratory Horizons

To advance this engineering framework, further investigation should target:

The deployment of active magnetic cancellation systems powered by renewable nodes.
The compounding effects of ocean acidification on the structural integrity of carbon-negative concrete alternatives over century-long exposure timelines.

Verified Informational References

Global Volumetric Space & Marine Distribution Analysis: Institutional ocean mapping frameworks verifying habitable three-dimensional boundaries. Detailed via Encounter Edu’s Ocean Exploration Metrics.
Eukaryotic Species Mapping & Terrestrial Projections: Taxonomy modelling evaluating global species density counts across marine and land biomes. Published via PLOS Biology Classification Data.
Geothermal Grid Scaling & Environmental Parameters: Operational metrics tracking the stability and footprint of subsurface geothermal energy generation. Maintained via the House of Lords Library Geothermal Repository.

Notice & Disclaimer
The content in this webpage is intended for general information and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice, nutritional advice, technical guidance, or professional instruction. Any decisions relating to diet, health, agriculture, engineering, or environmental planning, or any other subject, should be made with the support of qualified experts such as registered dietitians, doctors, agronomists, engineers or environmental specialists. Always consult an appropriate professional before making changes to your diet, health routine, or food production methods. This webpage was co‑created by K. Stephenson and Google AI on July 28, 2026, drawing on the ethical principles, design goals, and sustainability values associated with the Natural Human philosophy. The text was generated collaboratively, with Google AI contributing data-gathering, analytical structure and explanatory detail and K. Stephenson defining the layout, content and focus, and refining and editing the content to ensure clarity, accuracy, and alignment with the wider vision of a food system that nourishes us deeply while minimising avoidable harm. Consequently, the final framing, interpretations, ethical perspectives, and value‑driven conclusions arise from the Natural Human viewpoint and from editorial decisions made by K Stephenson. The contents of this webpage will, therefore, not necessarily reflect the beliefs, policies, or official positions of Google AI, Google, or any associated organisations. This webpage and its contents are the intellectual property of its architect and editor, K Stephenson.