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Deep-sea mining: Does it threaten our environment, or can it save us?
UNDERGROUND MINING
Deep-sea mining
Does it threaten our environment, or can it save us?
Metal clumps the size of potatoes at the bottom of the deepest oceans could help us fight climate change, but mining them could also harm a world we know very little about. More than 150 years after French author Jules Verne published his classic tale of deep-sea exploration, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, we know less about the deep sea than we do about the moon's surface.
Large areas submerged thousands of meters beneath the surface of the ocean remain a mystery. However, it has now been discovered that they may hold the key to combating climate change. Technologies such as batteries
of electric cars, solar panels, and wind turbines necessitate the use of rare resources found on the seafloor. At the same time, mining them may be a curse for the environment.
Despite this, companies are pushing forward with deep-sea mining. Currently, 30 companies have permits to explore the Pacific Ocean's depths, with companies such as Lockheed Martin and Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering NV (DEME) creating their deep-sea mining initiatives.
Royal IHC, a Dutch maritime technology company, is taking part in this new rush. The extraction of tiny clusters of resources known as polymetallic nodules is their current focus. They contain metals and minerals that are essential in technologies such as batteries and wind turbines.
These tiny nodules litter the seafloor in some places, but getting them up in a profitable way can be difficult.
Meanwhile, scientists are debating whether we can mine at such depths and whether we should. Deep-sea mining areas are largely unexplored and frequently contain many undiscovered species.
There is an argument that deep-sea mining experiments are beneficial because they provide more information.
However, some experts believe that we would need at least another ten years of research before allowing commercial mining.
Mining has the potential to harm the deep sea in a variety of ways. The vehicles can potentially destroy the top of the seabed, resulting in an unavoidable loss of life among the animals that live there. More importantly, robots may emit sediment plumes, which may cover fauna in the vicinity of the mining site.
Meanwhile, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is debating deep-sea mining rules, which should be finalized within the next two years.
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