A Very Bad Idea -deep sea mining for precious metals
By benhilo
@benhilo (871)
Tripoli, Libya
July 4, 2011 1:31am CST
The BBC recently reported "Japan finds rare earths in Pacific seabed". With China having 97% of the worlds production this find sounds like a blessing. Think again! There are those who say that mining has caused not only man-made disaster but thoses that appear natural as well. Flooding, earthquakes and weather changes. The same could also happen if mining were to be wide spread. The number of firms seeking licences to dig through the Pacific Ocean floor is growing rapidly. It is easier in some countrys to get these licenses. Another thing that could go wrong with deep sea mining is the release of a vast quanity of methane gas stored in the great oceans of the world. Methane gas is one of the leading green house gases. If these gases were released on a large scale, it would cause great environmental harm. Or do you really care? What's on next?
See this link for full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14009910
1 person likes this
3 responses
@veejay19 (3589)
• India
4 Jul 11
What you have written is really scary and worrying.Its not just that release of methane into the earths atmosphere could cause environmental disasters on land but think of what damage it will do to marine life.How many precious and varieties of sea life will get killed and become extinct.What will happen to the fish and how many people whose livelihood depends on fishing will lose their profession? Japan has already the dubious reputation of killing whales en masse with many trawlers doing illegal fishing of whales.There is a serial going on at present on the Discovery channel called 'Whale Wars' where a ship from an NGO keeps chasing such illegal trawlers from Japan to prevent them from haphazard whale fishing. And now if this country starts to mine the seabed ne can only imagine what damage it will do to the worlds environment.The UN should move immediately to stop this diasater in the making without any further ado.
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@polaris77 (2040)
• Bacau, Romania
4 Jul 11
I definitely care because this news is really worrying for people who still think first about the environment and try to protect it as much as they can,although this almost seems to be a lost battle against corporations and governments who would do anything for me;I'm sure they will appear in press conferences and minimize the risks,they will tell people how beneficial deep sea mining would be for world economy,and regardless of any protests they will carry on with their plans,and then we'll see and live the disastrous consequences of their reckless actions.
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@dont_pick_your_nose (2279)
• Australia
4 Jul 11
Yes of course i care about our environment! I am pleasently surprised about the amount of people in Australia who is standing up to climate change and doing what we can to reduce our own power usage. Alot of people are switching to solar power and i think it's a great start that people are accepting they will have to do something if there is any hope of saving the planet from what damage we have already done to it, i certainly believe that humans are solely to blame for the global warming climate problems and the extreme weather events. I can't believe there are still so many people in the country who want to dig an dmine what minerals and oil we have left until it is all gone. I agree methane on a large scale could harm the population surrounding the release i wouldn't like to be subjected to it, as far as i know It smells like farts?
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