Deep-sea mining Good and Bad
                     D E E P - S E A  M I N I N G :  
G O O D  A N D  B A D
Introduction
 Some so lu t ions  to  dea l  w i th  c l imate  change  cou ld  
damage  the  env i ronment .  An  idea under  sc rut iny  i s  
deep-sea m in ing  -  the  explora t ion  o f  meta ls  used  
for  'g reen'  p roducts ,  wh ich  cou ld  undermine  
de l i ca te  ocean ecosys tems.  
Disadvantage for 
Wildlife
 In the  deep sea,  we fi nd underwater  
mounta ins that  are  oases for  sea creatures,  
anc ient  coral  reefs  and sharks that  can l ive  
for  hundreds of  years .  
 These are among the  longest  l iv ing creatures  
on Earth,  which makes them part icular ly  
vulnerable to physical  d is turbance because of  
the ir  s low growth rates.  
 Researchers  est imate  that  harm to wi ld l i fe  
f rom mining “ is  l ike ly  to last  forever on 
human t imescales” .
Source: www.greenpeace.org
Extinction of creatures 
found nowhere else on 
the planet
 The creatures of  the  deep sea,  specia l ly  
adapted to l ive  in the extreme al ien 
environment of  the ocean depths,  a lmost  look 
l ike something f rom another p lanet .  
Source: www.greenpeace.org
Disturbing one of our 
best allies against 
climate change 
 The deep sea is  an incredib ly important  store  
of  ‘b lue  carbon’ ,  the  carbon that i s  natura l ly  
absorbed by marine  l i fe ,  and which remains  
stored in deep sea sediment for  thousands of  
years  after  these creatures die  –  he lp ing to  
s low c l imate change.  
Source: www.greenpeace.org
Disturbing one of our 
best allies against 
climate change cont.
 But by impact ing on natura l  processes that  
store carbon,  deep sea mining could even 
make c l imate change worse.  
 The disrupt ion caused by the machines may 
re lease carbon stored in  deep sea sediments,  
and the wider impacts could disrupt  the  
processes that  s tore carbon in those 
sediments .
Source: www.greenpeace.org
Impacting the ocean 
food chain 
 This  widespread disrupt ion to marine l i fe  
would impact the  whole ocean food chain.
Source: www.greenpeace.org
Source of renewable 
energy
 The deep sea environment holds a weal th of  
minerals ,  such as manganese,  cobalt ,  copper,  
and n ickel ,  which could be  used for  rapidly  
growing renewable energy technologies  
inc luding solar  panels ,  wind turbines,  and 
e lectr ic -vehic le  batter ies.  
Source: oilprice.com
Potential Opportunity
 But whi le  some raise concerns about  the  
impact deep sea mining could have on the  
environment,  others  highl ight the  potent ia l  
opportunity  of  becoming one of  the  fi rst  
countr ies  to explo i t  these resources.
Source: oilprice.com
Increase in demand
 As the demand for  metals  and minera ls  
cont inues to  increase wor ldwide,  mining 
act iv i t ies are  rapid ly expanding as  var ious  
countr ies  look to lead the  growing global  
industry.
Source: oilprice.com
Deep sea mining 
industry
 The nascent  deep sea mining industry wi l l  
l ike ly  begin to be  deve loped despi te  growing 
environmenta l  concerns over rushing 
regulat ions  in the  sector.
Source: oilprice.com