Revision of Deep seabed mining has potential to cause significant environmental damage and should be regulated from Tue, 02/03/2015 - 21:21
Deep seabed mining could have serious impacts on the ocean environment and the future livelihoods and well being of coastal communities. An international, multi-sector approach to management and protection, similar to that under development by the International Seabed Authority under UNCLOS, is needed, if we are to ensure the health and sustainable use of our oceans.
Quicktabs: Arguments
The deep oceans, once thought to be lifeless, are home to many extraordinary creatures. But now the deep seabed mining boom threatens their – and our – existence by imperiling the ecosystems that are critical for regulating the global climate.
[ More ]Deep seabed mining interests like DeepGreen have often argued for the environmental and social benefits of mining maganese nodules over land-based methods, especially for the valuable cobalt minerals that will be necessary for any push to build more electric vehicles. To help assess and mitigate the environmental impact of any potential deep seabed mining, two expeditions will be traversing the CCZ to test undersea mining technologies and how much damage they cause to the deep seabed.
[ More ]Private mining firms and arms companies are exerting a hidden and unhealthy influence on the fate of the deep-sea bed, according to a new report highlighting the threats facing the world’s biggest intact ecosystem.
[ More ]Mining agencies promise to minimize harm to ocean ecosystems. Scientists say we can’t predict its full extent — or how to reverse it.
[ More ]Researchers caution not enough is known about the effect of deep seabed mining (and the noise and sediment plumes it generates) on the deep midwaters that compromise almost 90% of the biosphere.
[ More ]Sir David Attenborough has urged governments to ban deep sea mining, following a study warning of “potentially disastrous” risks to the ocean’s life-support systems if it goes ahead.
[ More ]
The scientists who discovered antibiotic properties in a deep-sea sponge warn that such breakthroughs could be lost in the face of mineral exploitation.
[ More ]The International Seabed Authority is preparing to release an 18-year data set showing the environmental impact of deep seabed mining, allowing researchers to assess the effect of mining operations on the deep seabed ecosystem.
[ More ]Plans are advancing to harvest precious ores from the ocean floor, but scientists say that companies have not tested them enough to avoid devastating damage.
[ More ]Mining interests are racing to extract minerals from the ocean bottom that would be used in batteries for electric vehicles but advocates warn that in addition to its effect on the deep seabed ecosystem, mining could have the counterproductive effect of increasing global warming by releasing carbon stored in deep sea sediments.
[ More ]