Laying waste to the deep: parallel narratives of marine carbon dioxide removal and deep-seabed mining

作者：Susanna Lidström, Lisa A. Levin, Sarah Seabrook · 发表于：npj Ocean Sustainability · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1038/s44183-024-00075-5 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses、Coastal and Marine Management、Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena

The deep ocean (below 200 m depth) is facing mounting, and often compounding, anthropogenic impacts including climate change, pollution, and resource extraction 1 . Two nascent threats currently motivated by climate change are marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) and deep-seabed mining (DSM). mCDR seeks to enhance atmospheric carbon removal and deposition of carbon into the deep ocean in the form of artificially fertilized phytoplankton blooms, macroalgae, crop, and wood waste or direct injection of liquid CO 2 2 . DSM seeks to extract cobalt, nickel, and copper from nodules, crusts, and sulfides on the seafloor to support electric battery production 3 . Because these enterprises both target the deep ocean, they face similar challenges: the location of operations is remote and challenging to access and study, there is a lack of relevant data, impacts are difficult to estimate and contain, and enforcement of regulation is problematic.