Critical minerals are key components of clean-energy technologies, which are essential to replacing fossil fuels and stabilizing the climate. At present, the United States is highly dependent on critical minerals to support a growing electric vehicle market. Yet, the United States is also vulnerable to growing geopolitical realities and supply-chain bottlenecks. China, a major supplier of these minerals to global markets, just announced a ban on some exports to the United States.
This situation raises a red flag for Ocean Conservancy as we strive to protect our ocean forever and for everyone. While some are looking to the ocean as the next frontier for securing these minerals, countries like China are positioned to mop up the international seafloor. Should they do so, this would only further weaken the United States by bolstering China’s dominance over critical mineral supplies.
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However, according to two new reports by Planet Tracker, an award-winning nonprofit that focuses on sustainable finance, deep-sea mining would be an economic boondoggle, particularly for developing countries. Simply put, seabed mining would be little more than a gold rush, benefitting the few at the expense of the many.
In its first report, Planet Tracker evaluated the financial impact of deep-sea mining on the economies of 12 developing countries that currently obtain critical minerals from land-based mines. All 12 countries are characterized as dependent or highly dependent on the mining sector for revenue.
A market influx of marine-derived minerals, particularly cobalt, copper and nickel, is expected to directly compete with these land-based sources, depressing export earnings of countries with land-based mining operations. Planet Tracker estimates that these 12 countries, with a combined $560 billion in export revenue, would be vulnerable to potentially destabilizing price shocks as a result.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) previously confirmed that seven of the countries in Planet Tracker’s analysis are at the greatest risk of economic harm from market saturation if or when companies begin extracting polymetallic nodules from the seabed. ISA is required to compensate developing countries for economic losses related to the impacts of seabed minerals on their export or market prices. However, the annual amount of ISA compensation each country could expect would be only $1.1 million, a paltry sum considering the 12 countries each currently generate between $5-240 billion in critical mineral export revenues.
In Planet Tracker’s second report, ISA member countries or states sponsoring mining companies were found to receive nominal payments, either in taxes or royalties, should deep sea mining proceed. The amounts of payments to members depends on the number of ISA’s financial and legal obligations, which could be substantial and take precedence over payouts to members. For example, ISA could be required to restore seafloor habitats damaged by mining, with the potential to significantly reduce royalties to member states. By one estimate, the cost to restore the seafloor on a per km2 basis could be as high as $5.3-5.7 million. According to ISA, a typical 20-year mining operation could impact an area of around 8,500 per km2. This means the potential total cost to restore the footprint of a 20-year mining tract could be as high as $48 billion, all but depleting funds for payments.
Developing countries sponsoring mining companies also might not see a dime in corporate income taxes because of the sponsorship agreements that waive company taxes. Small Island Developing States could also receive far fewer royalties than more populous countries if the amount of money to be distributed from the ISA royalty fund is tied to population size.
To add salt to the wound, Small Island Developing States could potentially experience a greater share of the environmental impacts from mining operations if the marine ecosystems on which they depend for food or cultural uses are harmed. According to one study, some Small Island Developing States or developing countries catch as much as 10% of their tuna from areas likely to see some of the earliest and largest deep-sea mining operations. In a separate study, Ocean Conservancy identified the overlap of fisheries with prospective locations for mining critical minerals in U.S. federal waters. The potential impacts of deep-sea mining on ecosystem services like fisheries and seafood are among the reasons Ocean Conservancy is advocating for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
When you add up all the financial and economic impacts, the conclusion is that deep-sea mining would be tragically unnecessary for the ocean and for local communities, especially those located in Small Island Developing States.
But we can put the energy transition on a different path, one not dependent on minerals scoured from the deep seafloor. Technological innovation is already rapidly moving electric car batteries away from the types of minerals or metals found on the deep seabed. Some minerals, such as cobalt, a critical component in electric vehicle batteries, can instead be extracted directly from seawater, which contains 70 times more cobalt than land. Decommissioned offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico could serve as structures for harvesting cobalt, an elegant example of how old energy infrastructure can support new sources of climate- and ocean- friendly energy.
An international moratorium on seabed mining is needed to prevent further dominance of the global mineral supply chain by China and other countries. This action would give the U.S. valuable time to achieve critical mineral independence through a domestically centered supply-chain strategy that prioritizes technological efficiency, material substitution and circularity.
Society simply has too much to lose ecologically—and very little to gain economically—by plundering the deep seabed for critical minerals.
If we don’t act now, we risk sleepwalking into deep-sea mining and doing irreversible harm to the ocean. Take action with Ocean Conservancy to halt seabed mining in its tracks.
The post The Risks of Deep-Sea Mining appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
By Leonie Jaeger (ICBM Oldenburg)
The ocean is the dominant climate regulator of our Earth. I am on board the RV Meteor to conduct measurements that helps us better understand the critical processes at the interface between the atmosphere and the ocean. The focus of these measurements is heat and freshwater fluxes, two key drivers that both influence and regulate Earth’s climate.
The ocean stores and transports vast amounts of heat across the whole globe. The exchange of heat between the atmosphere and the ocean is controlled by different surface heat fluxes. The sun emits shortwave radiation, which warms the surface ocean, though part of this radiation is reflected at the water surface. At the same time, the ocean emits longwave radiation towards the sky due to its temperature, some of which is reflected and absorbed by water vapor and clouds. To quantify these fluxes, I use radiometers: sets of upward- and downward-looking sensors that measure radiation coming from the sky and from the ocean. Specifically, pyranometers measure shortwave radiation, while pyrgeometers measure longwave radiation.
Over the open ocean, freshwater fluxes result from two processes: evaporation and precipitation. Approximately 80% of the global freshwater flux occurs over the ocean, underscoring the ocean’s dominance in the global water cycle and its influence on climate over land. In a warming climate, evaporation is expected to intensify as temperatures rise and the atmosphere’s capacity to hold moisture increases. That makes is very important to better understand these fluxes. However, high-quality measurements of precipitation and evaporation using remote techniques remain challenging. On this cruise, I am using a disdrometer, an instrument that measures rain in high resolution. It allows us to investigate not only the total amount of rain but also the velocity and size of individual raindrops, enabling a detailed characterization of rain events.
Our cruise track crosses the Atlantic Ocean from South to North, passing the equator. This transect will provide a valuable dataset. Importantly, we will cross the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a region near the equator characterized by heavy rain and thunderstorms. These storms originate from warm, moist air that rises continuously. As the air rises, it cools and condenses, forming thick clouds and intense precipitation. Because the ITCZ is driven by the convergence of trade winds from both hemispheres, it maintains persistent bands of convection. In this zone, these convective systems can trigger even more convection in the atmosphere driving the tropical climate. Together with warm surface temperatures, these high-energy processes can lead to the genesis of tropical cyclones. Thus, the atmosphere influences the ocean, and the ocean influences the atmosphere. Direct measurements at their interface are essential to better understand these processes shaping our climate. My responsibilities include installing and maintaining the measurements systems, as well as data validation and data storage. Maintaining sensors close to the ocean requires frequent cleaning, because sea spray leaves salt deposits everywhere, leading to corrosion. Together with ship-based measurements such as air temperature, wind speed and humidity, and oceanographic underway measurements including continuous observation of the water temperature, salinity, turbidity and chlorophyll, our data will provide a comprehensive dataset to study fresh and heat water fluxes between the ocean and the atmosphere.
Welcome to the M219 ocean blog!
Here, we will share updates and stories about the scientific work taking place during this research expedition. We also hope to offer a glimpse into daily life and work at sea.
For many members of the scientific party, this is their first time aboard METEOR. It will also be their last, as METEOR is embarking on its final voyage before retiring from service as a German research vessel after more than 40 years at sea. Over the course of its distinguished career, METEOR has travelled more than 1.7 million nautical miles, which is equivalent to more than 8 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Throughout those decades the vessel has supported countless scientific discoveries and generations of marine scientists. We are very grateful and honored to be part of the final chapter of this remarkable ship’s history and to accompany her on the last few thousand miles of her legendary journey.
The scientific program of this cruise focuses on long-term observations of ocean currents off the coast of Brazil and at the equator, as well as interdisciplinary measurements near the Cape Verde Islands. At all these sites, GEOMAR has maintained observational programs for the past 10 to 20 years. Over the next four weeks, we will introduce these regions and the measurements carried out there in more detail. But first, let’s look at what happened in Brazil before the cruise began.
On Thursday, May 28, many of the scientists and students left the hotel early in the morning to attend a seminar at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), celebrating the long-standing scientific collaboration between Brazil and Germany.
The seminar was opened by Prof. Dr. Marius Müller, a former student at GEOMAR and now a professor for biological oceanography at UFPE. These meetings have become a valued tradition, having been organized for more than 20 years by now. This year marked the 9th edition of the seminar since its inception over 20 years ago.
A total of 8 scientists and students from Brazil, Germany, and the U.S. presented their research on various aspects of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. We would like to thank Marius Müller, Doris Veleda and all the Brazilian scientists and students who helped organize the seminar and provided such a warm welcome. We greatly enjoyed the exchange of ideas and look forward to celebrating the 10th seminar in the years to come.
After the seminar we returned to the hotel, but there was little time to rest. Later that same day, the captain of METEOR and the German Consul General in Recife hosted a reception aboard METEOR in the Port of Recife.
The event brought together members of the scientific party, representatives of local institutions, and guests from the Brazilian and German scientific communities. It provided an excellent opportunity to celebrate the long-standing partnership between the two countries.
On Friday, May 29, the scientific party finally boarded METEOR. There was little time to settle into our cabins and workspaces, as preparations for departure were already in full swing. We left the Port of Recife as soon as possible and at around 1pm METEOR set sail and began the final voyage of her remarkable career.
About 12 hours after leaving port, we arrived at our first station. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of technical and scientific teams, all instruments had been installed and prepared in time for the start of operations. This station marked the beginning of our observational program off the coast of Brazil, which includes the deployment and recovery of tall moorings as well as CTD measurements. An intensive first week lies ahead, with a demanding schedule of measurements and mooring operations. After months of planning and preparation, everyone is excited to finally begin the scientific work and make the most of the final weeks aboard METEOR.
There are more than 2,000 species of gobies (Gobiidae) known to science today, making them the largest family of fish in the ocean. But these small creatures are far more complex and essential to marine ecosystems than first meets the eye. Found all around the world in brackish, fresh and salt water in tropical and subtropical regions, they are an astonishingly diverse group of fish with several curious characteristics that set them apart.
Most gobies are quite small and don’t usually measure more than six inches long. Measuring just about eight millimeters long, the dwarf pygmy goby (Trimmatom nanus) is not only the tiniest goby known to science but also one of the smallest of all fish species in the world.
Primarily bottom-dwellers, gobies are known to be excellent foragers and have evolved expert burrowing behaviors over time. As they sift around looking for food like copepods, seaworms and tiny crustaceans, their movement helps to aerate sediment and keep algae in check. Some are even known to be “cleaner fish,” snacking on parasites they remove off larger creatures. It’s like a spa day for the animal being cleaned and a choose-your-own-adventure buffet for the gobies. Studies also show that cleaner goby activity is largely tied to the microbial health of coral reefs, showcasing that even the tiniest of species are essential to functioning marine ecosystems.
Gobies have some unique aspects to their anatomy, too. First, their fused pelvic fins are designed to help them form a strong suction cup to perch on coral reefs, rocks and other ocean terrain amidst turbulent currents. Some freshwater species are even known to use this suction to climb waterfalls. It may come as no surprise then that gobies are cousins to mudskippers, animals known to “walk” through mud. There are more species-specific features that set certain gobies apart. From the use of bioluminescence to symbiotic relationships with shrimp, the adaptations within the goby family are truly wide-ranging. Some species have even been found to use marine terrain memorization to navigate back to the tide pools where they were born. Isn’t nature mind-blowing sometimes?
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Gobies have equally complex and varied behaviors. Male gobies are infamous for being territorial protectors of their nests. Many larger males are known as “guarders;” these hopeful fish make careful nests to attract a mate, and once fertilization occurs, guarders will remain diligently near the nests to keep eggs safe. However, there’s another type of male goby that complicates this dynamic. These other males are known as “sneaker gobies” and are called that for one reason: They’re sneaky! If guarder gobies aren’t careful, sneakers can creep into the nest, fertilize some of the eggs and quickly escape. As if on an underwater episode of Maury, guarder males who aren’t careful could end up unknowingly babysitting little gobies that aren’t their actual offspring.
Gobies serve as indicators of ecological health and are essential to keeping delicate food webs in check. Unfortunately, many changes in our ocean threaten their ability to survive and thrive today. Coral bleaching and degradation endanger the health of one of their key habitats, and a combination of warming waters and coastal development can make it difficult for both juvenile and adult gobies to survive and thrive.
Healthy gobies mean a healthy ocean. Their essential role in marine ecosystems demonstrates that even the tiniest creatures play a major role in helping hold together the beautiful yet fragile habitats that make up our beloved ocean. Visit Ocean Conservancy’s Action Center and join the movement to protect our blue planet today and for years to come—from the tiniest goby to the largest whales, our ocean is counting on us.
The post All About Gobies appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
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