Marine mining: Underwater gold rush sparks fears of ocean catastrophe

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/01/marine-mining-underwater-gold-rush-sparks-fears-of-ocean-catastrophe/

Marine mining: Underwater gold rush sparks fears of ocean catastrophe
By Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
Saturday, March 1, 2014 23:54 EST

~snip~

This is the last frontier: the ocean floor, 4,000 metres beneath the waters of the central Pacific, where mining companies are now exploring for the rich deposits of ores needed to keep industry humming and smartphones switched on.

The prospect of a race to the bottom of the ocean – a 21st-century high seas version of the Klondike gold rush – has alarmed scientists. The oceans, which make up 45% of the world’s surface, are already degraded by overfishing, industrial waste, plastic debris and climate change, which is altering their chemistry. Now comes a new extractive industry – and scientists say governments are not prepared.

“It’s like a land grab,” said Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer and explorer-in-residence for National Geographic. “It’s a handful of individuals who are giving away or letting disproportionate special interests have access to large parts of the planet that just happen to be under water.”

The vast expanses of the central Pacific seabed being opened up for mining are still largely an unknown, she said. “What are we sacrificing by looking at the deep sea with dollar signs on the few tangible materials that we know are there? We haven’t begun to truly explore the ocean before we have started aiming to exploit it.”

[Judi Lynn]

1. Such sad news. Why can't this be blocked? Unbearable. n/t

[SamKnause]

2. Hi,

Judi

Does it ever enter your mind, that the owners of this planet, have another waiting in the wings to be inhabited by the chosen ???

The rich need water to drink, air to breathe, soil to grow food, rivers and seas for life sustaining fish, etc.

Their insatiable greed, the neverending grab for power, and their ever increasing destructive actions are truly insane and should instill terror in the minds of the sane.

[stuntcat]

6. "actions are truly insane and should instill terror in the minds of the sane."

This is exactly why I feel INsane.
In real life I don't know one single person who isn't a delusional, happy pollyanna buying up whatever the tv tells them to.

[greiner3]

3. "Why can't this be blocked?"

Except for territorial waters, which account for a few percent of the oceans, there is no governing body that can make anybody do/not do anything.

How about the United Nations taking over this crucial task?

[kristopher]

4. They already have a treaty in place.

The UNCLOS ("Law of the Sea" Treaty) covers the mining being talked about. You can find more information by googling the very fascinating topic "manganese nodules". This is what they are talking about going after; and the talk isn't new - it has been bandied about for around 40 years. IIRC they formed some type of enterprise called the Seabed Authority(?) to explore the possibility, but they couldn't do it profitably. I think that might have had something to do with restrictions placed on the way the mining had to be done under their auspices, but my memory isn't that clear on the point (I studied the UNCLOS treaty a number of years ago).

The US has not ratified our membership in the treaty; but we voluntarily adhere to its provisions.

ETA: Those manganese nodules really are one of the most interesting topics I've come across. You might want to dig into it a bit if you are interested in 'the mysteries of nature' so to speak.

[Nihil]

7. Par for the course: "The US has not ratified our membership in the treaty ..."

... and will only "voluntarily adhere to its provisions" up to the point when it
becomes more politically encouraging to stop doing so.


FWIW, I have a seafloor manganese nodule on my bookshelf - a souvenir from one
of my geology (technically oceanography) lectures many years ago. The lecturer
took care to make the point that the impact of an occasional drag of a 2' container
for scientific specimens is a world of difference in impact from any attempt to do
the corresponding thing as a business operation ...

I agree with you about the hidden mysteries of nature & science - it's a fascinating
world if only people take the time & effort to look at it.

[quadrature]

5. marine mining-->bad. ... conflict minerals-->good.....?

how many times to I have to
bring this up?


any thing the US does is bad.
using mercury to extract gold is good?
why is that?