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David Attenborough calls for ban on deep sea mining

130 points by maxwell 7y ago

dmix 7y ago
I was curious how this would work, according to wikipedia: > There are two predominant forms of mineral extraction being considered for full-scale operations: continuous-line bucket system (CLB) and the hydraulic suction system. The CLB system is the preferred method of nodule collection. It operates much like a conveyor-belt, running from the sea floor to the surface of the ocean where a ship or mining platform extracts the desired minerals, and returns the tailings to the ocean. Hydraulic suction mining lowers a pipe to the seafloor which transfers nodules up to the mining ship. Another pipe from the ship to the seafloor returns the tailings to the area of the mining site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_mining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_mining
- carapace 7y ago
  I feel that if we proceed with this it will signal Nature to kill us off. We just discovered these areas and we are already working to destroy them out of blind greed. Look at the pictures of these things and how they operate. Great big machines, juggernauts, ravaging the ocean floor. They're the embodiment of techno-industrial greed w/o regard for the consequences. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Deep+sea+mining&atb=v110-1&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Deep+sea+mining&atb=v110-1&ia=imag...
monadic2 7y ago
Does Attenborough have any credibility when it comes to triaging climate change?
- sitkack 7y ago
  As Director of the organization that released the report, I believe he does. https://cms.fauna-flora.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FFI_2020_The-risks-impacts-deep-seabed-mining_Report.pdf https://cms.fauna-flora.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FFI_2... Are you saying we should wait until we know the adverse effects of basically strip mining the ocean floor and how releasing millions of tons of tailings back into the sea might impact the ecosystem, thermal or carbon cycles that operate there?
  - yayana 7y ago
    Attenborough recently accepted criticism that he went too far in avoiding the topic of environmental damage (i.e. finding angles to imply pristine environments where they no longer exist.) I would say that makes him a perfect person to raise these topics as his previous bias is to avoid problems until they are beyond grim.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- torwayburger 7y ago
  Seems like something one could easily look up on their own..
  - monadic2 7y ago
    Surprisingly not! Try it yourself. Personally I don’t see much reason to give his voice any more weight than other media personalities.
    - pvaldes 7y ago
      > I don’t see much reason to give his voice any more weight "Humbledorough effect"
- sxv 7y ago
  The first paragraph (actually it's only one sentence) will tell you that Attenborough is echoing the results of a study (whose authors certainly have credibility) which focuses on biodiversity loss (not climate change).
- chanbam 7y ago
  You're kidding, right?
amelius 7y ago
Video interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EclnszfMdyQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EclnszfMdyQ
Symmetry 7y ago
My understanding of how undersea vents work is that they're constantly shifting with any given vent only lasting a few years before drying up while new vents are constantly forming. There are a lot of important ecological concerns around this, for instance if processing at sea surface dumps silt back into the water that could cover animals deep in the sea or interfere with krill eaters. But I'm not sure the destruction of the vents themselves is a huge issue provided we aren't too rapacious.
- catalogia 7y ago
  How long does any particular region of vents last? If these active geological phenomena are anything like volcanos, some of them might well last for millions of years, which is plenty long for biological evolution. I'm not sure if this is the case, but it seems to me it could be the case that some vent regions are isolated from others, such that life adapted to one cannot find it's way to another. This is certainly the case with many species of troglofauna (cave dwelling creatures.) Destroying one group of ocean vents may wipe out numerous species of life that exist nowhere else.
esarbe 7y ago
I'm pretty sure that there will be a considered approach with regards to the mining of resources in these almost pristine undersea areas that take into consideration the uniqueness of these ecosystems and that potential profit will be carefully weighted against the damage done by further loss of biodiversity. Haha, just kidding. The mining companies will probably preemptively poison everything in range just to circumvent such a ban. Our predatory exploitation of the ecosystem knows no boundaries. As long as there's a dollar to be made, we'd cut our own air supply.

130 points by maxwell 7y ago

dmix 7y ago

I was curious how this would work, according to wikipedia: > There are two predominant forms of mineral extraction being considered for full-scale operations: continuous-line bucket system (CLB) and the hydraulic suction system. The CLB system is the preferred method of nodule collection. It operates much like a conveyor-belt, running from the sea floor to the surface of the ocean where a ship or mining platform extracts the desired minerals, and returns the tailings to the ocean. Hydraulic suction mining lowers a pipe to the seafloor which transfers nodules up to the mining ship. Another pipe from the ship to the seafloor returns the tailings to the area of the mining site. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_mining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_mining

carapace 7y ago
I feel that if we proceed with this it will signal Nature to kill us off. We just discovered these areas and we are already working to destroy them out of blind greed. Look at the pictures of these things and how they operate. Great big machines, juggernauts, ravaging the ocean floor. They're the embodiment of techno-industrial greed w/o regard for the consequences. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Deep+sea+mining&atb=v110-1&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Deep+sea+mining&atb=v110-1&ia=imag...

monadic2 7y ago

Does Attenborough have any credibility when it comes to triaging climate change?

sitkack 7y ago
As Director of the organization that released the report, I believe he does. https://cms.fauna-flora.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FFI_2020_The-risks-impacts-deep-seabed-mining_Report.pdf https://cms.fauna-flora.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FFI_2... Are you saying we should wait until we know the adverse effects of basically strip mining the ocean floor and how releasing millions of tons of tailings back into the sea might impact the ecosystem, thermal or carbon cycles that operate there?
- yayana 7y ago
  Attenborough recently accepted criticism that he went too far in avoiding the topic of environmental damage (i.e. finding angles to imply pristine environments where they no longer exist.) I would say that makes him a perfect person to raise these topics as his previous bias is to avoid problems until they are beyond grim.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
torwayburger 7y ago
Seems like something one could easily look up on their own..
- monadic2 7y ago
  Surprisingly not! Try it yourself. Personally I don’t see much reason to give his voice any more weight than other media personalities.
  - pvaldes 7y ago
    > I don’t see much reason to give his voice any more weight "Humbledorough effect"
sxv 7y ago
The first paragraph (actually it's only one sentence) will tell you that Attenborough is echoing the results of a study (whose authors certainly have credibility) which focuses on biodiversity loss (not climate change).
chanbam 7y ago
You're kidding, right?

amelius 7y ago

Video interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EclnszfMdyQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EclnszfMdyQ

Symmetry 7y ago

My understanding of how undersea vents work is that they're constantly shifting with any given vent only lasting a few years before drying up while new vents are constantly forming. There are a lot of important ecological concerns around this, for instance if processing at sea surface dumps silt back into the water that could cover animals deep in the sea or interfere with krill eaters. But I'm not sure the destruction of the vents themselves is a huge issue provided we aren't too rapacious.

catalogia 7y ago
How long does any particular region of vents last? If these active geological phenomena are anything like volcanos, some of them might well last for millions of years, which is plenty long for biological evolution. I'm not sure if this is the case, but it seems to me it could be the case that some vent regions are isolated from others, such that life adapted to one cannot find it's way to another. This is certainly the case with many species of troglofauna (cave dwelling creatures.) Destroying one group of ocean vents may wipe out numerous species of life that exist nowhere else.

esarbe 7y ago

I'm pretty sure that there will be a considered approach with regards to the mining of resources in these almost pristine undersea areas that take into consideration the uniqueness of these ecosystems and that potential profit will be carefully weighted against the damage done by further loss of biodiversity. Haha, just kidding. The mining companies will probably preemptively poison everything in range just to circumvent such a ban. Our predatory exploitation of the ecosystem knows no boundaries. As long as there's a dollar to be made, we'd cut our own air supply.