GDB4 | Will a paradigm shift from on-shore to off-shore mining serve the future of humanity?
Tue, 16:15
EDI
Will a paradigm shift from on-shore to off-shore mining serve the future of humanity?
Convener: Holly Stein | Co-conveners: Viktor J. Bruckman, Lisa Wingate, Luca Caricchi
Programme
| Tue, 29 Apr, 16:15–18:00 (CEST)
 
Room E1
Tue, 16:15
Paradigm shifts are by definition untested. They confront the status quo based on new evidence or new discoveries and form the basis for change. Real, constructive change, however, must be bigger than the likes of us, must be comprehensive and inclusive of others and, most importantly, must examine and quantify cause-and-effect in advance of implementation. Predicting Earth’s future is no longer possible using the natural sciences alone. We must include social sciences and the arts.
Deep-sea mining will not eliminate land-based mining, nor will it resolve poverty as the poorest of humanity dig in the mud, hand-filling and carrying impossible sacks of slurry and ore-bearing rock on bare backs. Such artisanal operations are lethal, if not through accidents, then through truncated workers’ lifespans on exposure to toxic metals, notably mercury, closely associated with gold mining. Nevertheless, steps forward are being taken to improve working conditions.
Deep-sea mining on a continental shelf or shallow underwater ridge will have uniquely different consequences than deep sea ploughing of gargantuan expanses of unconsolidated abyssal sediment to comb together and raise polymetallic (Co-Ni-Cu) nodules growing over tens of millions of years at thousands of meters water depth. Neither locality has been appropriately tested. Most agree it is essential to evaluate in advance the effects of mining on fragile and remote ecosystems which we barely understand. Perhaps a better quantification of river deterioration from artisanal mining could be made before jumping wholesale into the sea where 70% of our planet’s surface is stored out of view.
Deep-sea mining will remove chemosynthetic life support, throwing our planet’s primary food chain into chaos. Extraction of metalliferous deep-sea nodules is unsustainable on the human time scale. Will humanity’s great 21st century experiment for green energy be our legacy as we leave marine life choking on dredged waste material, and create a seafloor that cannot re-establish its biota?

Programme: Tue, 29 Apr | Room E1

The oral presentations are given in a hybrid format supported by a Zoom meeting featuring on-site and virtual presentations. The button to access the Zoom meeting appears just before the time block starts.
Chairperson: Holly Stein
16:15–16:20
16:20–17:20
17:20–17:50
17:50–18:00