On the occasion of the recent launching of the open access "Journal of Marine Science: Research & Development" (JMSRD) it could be interesting to prospect present challenges to marine sciences, and particularly the role of the marine sciences in the hazards and disasters management. Marine sciences are a fascinating, vast and very dynamic set of sciences which involve a great number of scientists, engineers, technologists and other professionals working on the understanding, conservation, and

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... sources exploitation of the oceans. Marine sciences include and integrate fields on oceanography, coastal management, archeology, engineering, aquaculture, fisheries and biotechnology, among others. Oceanography represents a very particular approach to the integrated analysis of the oceans. It is a relatively younger science, if we compare it with the basic sciences. First oceanographic surveys date from the end of the 18 th century, due to the interest of naturalists like J. Cook, C.W. Thomson, J. Murray and C. Darwin to describe the biodiversity of the oceans, the changes in their physical and chemical properties and their geological characteristics. Since then, the objectives of the oceanography cover the physical, chemical, biological and geological study of the oceans, and certainly, many of its present research areas can be considered as applications of basic sciences to the marine environment. Furthermore, challenges such as new species identification or the determination of geomorphologic evolution remain equally valid for both continental and marine environments. The extraordinary technological development has been critical to the consolidation of the marine sciences during the last century, for example the cartography of the seafloor, the description of the oceanic conveyer belt, or the development of engines to obtain mineral resources and renewable energy. This influence of the technological development in the marine sciences has increased over the last decades, with the advance of oceanography marked by the application of remotes sensing and numerical modeling. Moreover, in recent decades, the multiple interactions between scientists of very different disciplines has lead to the development of new specific fields of knowledge and research, such as sustainable development or climate change, which normally would not be considered as classical disciplines of science, and where marine sciences are clearly implicated. Sustainable development and climate change are clearly recent challenges for the marine sciences.