Underwater mining and it's consequences - Evie Cantú

 Mining for minerals and ores has been something prevalent in society for quite a long time by now, and while most mining takes places on solid ground- recently there has been a push for underground mining. Deep sea mining takes place on the ocean floor in an attempt to find “polymetallic nodules” which contain a variety of metals like copper and iron (Phys.org). Although countries at the present moment aren’t able to make money off deep-sea mining, the intention to at some point commercialize the mining is definitely there. Expects have expressed concern for the possibility of deep-sea mining becoming abundant because it could have very harmful consequences not only for key-species in the ocean but also create more issues for the already prevalent climate issues happening. When mining companies are finished with their business, they have to return collected water and sediments back into the ocean, which creates a “murky plume of particles” that have roughly the same size of the food that zooplankton eat (Phys.org). Being a key part of any marine ecosystem, if the zooplankton end up eating the particles it could become a huge issue and potentially harm the zooplankton population. In a worst case scenario this could cause a domino effect as the consumers that rely on the zooplankton as food would be affected, and any other fish after that in the food chain would be harmed as a consequence. Regarding climate issues, groups have advocated against the mining because it could possibly cause the release of more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere due it being “sequestered in the ocean and on its floor”, contributing to the on-going climate crisis (Phys.org). When looking at the ordeal through a big picture lens, all of the potential consequences are concerning to say the least, and one would assume that those consequences would be enough to deter countries from commercializing off of deep-sea mining, however, unfortunately most only care about money and resources.

If anyone would like to read the article here it is: 

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-deep-sea-disrupting-marine-food.html

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