A Heartbreaking Look into the Consequences of Deep-Sea Mining
Underwater Mass Murder.
What is Deep-Sea Mining?
Quick Facts Time:
- Resource Potential: Deep-sea mining means getting valuable things like metals from the bottom of the ocean. There are specific places where these valuable things are found like metal rocks called nodules, underwater volcanoes called seamounts, and more. These things have minerals like copper, nickel, cobalt, and more. People think there are a lot of these valuable things in the deep sea, maybe even more than what we find on land!
- Regulations and Governance: The regulatory framework for deep-sea mining is still under development. The International Seabed Authority (ISA), established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is responsible for regulating activities in international waters. A comprehensive legal framework for commercial mining is yet to be finalized.
- Commercial: Deep-sea mining is interesting to some countries and companies because they think they can make money from it. They want to get the valuable minerals from the deep sea and use them in things like making new technology or energy sources.
Things ‘Global North’ Don’t Want You to Know
When deep-sea mining occurs, it impacts sea life and the overall marine ecosystem. Here are some of these effects:
- Habitat Destruction: Deep-sea mining involves disturbing the seabed and extracting minerals, it results in the destruction of habitats where marine organisms live. Mining equipment, large machines and vehicles, physically damage the seafloor and the organisms living there.
- Loss of Biodiversity: Deep-sea ecosystems are known for their rich biodiversity, with unique species adapted to the extreme conditions of the deep ocean. Mining activities can cause the loss of these specialized species, leading to a decrease in life and potentially disrupting the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
- Sediment Plumes: The extraction process creates sediment plumes, which are clouds of fine particles that float in the water. These plumes can be carried by ocean currents, potentially affecting areas beyond the mining site. Sedimentation can harm marine organisms by reducing light penetration, which in turn disrupts ecosystems and starves animals who feed through filters.
- Chemical Pollution: Deep-sea mining involves the use of chemicals to extract minerals or to process the mined material. Chemicals, such as acids or other solvents, are harmful to marine life when released into the water. Additionally, the mining process can disturb naturally occurring substances in the seabed, releasing toxic elements that can affect marine organisms.
- Natural Food Chains: Deep-sea ecosystems rely on intricate food chains, where organisms depend on each other for survival. Mining activities can disrupt these food chains by removing or damaging key species, which can have cascading effects on other organisms in the ecosystem.
We are one of the most influential species on this planet and hold the fate of wildlife in the palm of our hand. Why do we (more likely big companies and organisations) put our interests above the rest of the animals?
Is it fair?
What’s happening in July 2023
In July 2021, the government of Nauru announced that they; alongside ‘The Metals Company’ which is a Canadian mining company, announced interest in deep-sea mining. Among the controversy there was a rule put in place that they may proceed after 2 years, giving the ISA enough (clearly not enough) time to bring in international laws regarding the mining.
That two years are almost up at the time of writing this and within ten days, plans will go ahead to commence the mining process.
where will the mining occur?
Although commercial mining is not yet legal, test mining is. The ISA has granted thirty-one contracts, allowing the test mining to occur over 1.5 million square kilometres (that is 579,153 million square miles for my U.S folks) for reference that’s 4x bigger than Germany!
A lot of these contracts cover areas in the Clarion-Clipperton zone, which is an area in the pacific ocean that is supposedly rich in minerals.
What can YOU do?
I know you may be wondering, “What can I do if I’m not rich, or a politician?”
here are some petitions I have found that propose a pause or a complete stop to deep sea mining:
- The U.K
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/636545
at the time of writing this petition needs less than 500 signatures for it to be recognised by the parliament - Europe
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/stop-deep-sea-mining - The rest of the world
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/act/stop-deep-sea-mining/
If you’ve made it this far, I’d like to thank you for reading this and caring about our future. If you have any more information on how to stop this atrocity I would love to hear from you.
