We associate the North Atlantic with cod. The motto of Newfoundland used to be 'In cod we trust.' It was a joke but it was essentially true. But there is no cod anymore. And that's extraordinary. It's all because of either greed or politics – Canadian politics.

We associate the North Atlantic with cod. The motto of Newfoundland used to be 'In cod we trust.' It was a joke but it was essentially true. But there is no cod anymore. And that's extraordinary. It's all because of either greed or politics – Canadian politics.

The nature of catastrophe is after all reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins destroys wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event – not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics – then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light.

The nature of catastrophe is after all reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins destroys wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event – not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics – then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light.