Deep sea mining

Mason- said:
Do you attribute 'special' status to humans?

Isn't there something about the atmosphere used to be majorly CO2 based, and it caused a crap load of sea algae to bloom to the point where they consumed so much CO2 and produced so much O2 that it flipped the atmosphere to be more oxygen based? The point is, if you were an outside observer watching earth, would you really say what humans are doing is unnatural, abnormal? All animals if given an environment in which they can flourish will consume all the resources until they're all gone, why do you think we're any different? Are you religious?
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Not religious at all. I understand what you are saying but I do think that humans operate at a significantly higher level than the other species on Earth. We have a greater awareness of our actions and, as such, should probably have a greater responsibility over them when they affect the place we call home (Earth).

Unfortunately, what is happening is that people are becoming ever more isolationist within themselves and their immediate tribe (family/friends) to the point that nothing else matters outside of that sphere and so its largely ignored
 
Mason- said:
Do you attribute 'special' status to humans?
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Not in any divine way of course, but being the life form on this planet that has developed intelligence to the point we have which gives us the ability to see what effects our actions cause, then yes and it's entirely normal to collectively want to continue the existence and progress of the species. And a good way of doing that is not turning the climate into one that is more inhospitable to that aim.

Mason- said:
Also, being blunt, unless you're a leader of a large company or country, you can worry all you want but it won't change much.
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Individually sure, but collectively I wouldn't agree with that. Weight of public opinion/actions can and do drive political and capitalist directions.
 
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For all our advancements we can't escape innate selfishness

Its at a point now where an individual could many huge sacrifices (not flying, not having kids, not owning a car etc etc) and it won't make an iota of difference.

Because we've dawdled any mega green initiatives would seriously hurt those alive today for those coming next.

And we just aren't prepared to do this.


Populations always boom and bust. We must be on the cusp of a bust. Our technology (all way from cooking to computers) have allowed us to boom beyond that of most animals.

But we're still limited by resources on earth.
The same as animals.
We also have capitalism. And we can't bring everyone up to our standard. As more people compete for fewer resources it's all getting harder.


Can we technologically develop our way out of disaster? It's the only hope really imo
 
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Diddums said:
What he's failing to realise is that even though I don't meet his PHD requirements, my workplace is literally called the "cathedral of conservation".

In my daily routines I am constantly talking to some of the world's most highly regarded conservationists, scientists, biologists, and even a few chats with Sir David Attenborough himself. These aren't one off things, this is my daily life. I ensure that their conservation areas and labs are perfectly lit, at the perfect temperature, at the perfect humidity levels and my team and I support them more than anyone else in the building. If anything goes wrong, it's me they call. I have a team of 17 engineers looking after these people and their facilities.

I've been to more conservation talks and presentations by industry leads this year alone than he's attended his entire life, and I'd put money on that.

But ya, what do I know, I'm just "facility maintenance man" :cry:
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Amazing, very happy for you. How does that change my point exactly? Not sure how you keeping a place lit means you should be condescending to someone who gave their opinion.

Regardless to be on topic, clearly as technology progresses and the need increases I guess its inevitable that deep sea mining will become more and more viable. If there is a general regulation on how its done and tracked then I guess it should encourage consistent behaviour than incentivising bad actors.
 
danlightbulb said:
Its like a cult in here sometimes. Dare to say something slightly controversial and the hounds are released.
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"Controversial" and herping forth something as utterly dim-witted as "[t]he ocean is massive, can't see there will be much impact of a handful of operators trying to extract some minerals from deep down" are not the same thing.
 
Mr Jack said:
"Controversial" and herping forth something as utterly dim-witted as "[t]he ocean is massive, can't see there will be much impact of a handful of operators trying to extract some minerals from deep down" are not the same thing.
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Its true though? That's what amuses me. The ocean is massive, and the impact from a handful of operates might be minimal to nothing. The impact from oil rigs has been minimal to nothing hasn't it? So what are you scared of? Some movie-style catastrophe that destroys us all?
 
danlightbulb said:
Its only silly to you because you believe something else.
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No, it's silly because it's factually wrong.

You care about the environment, thats great, but don't pretend it has any greater meaning.
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Creak. Creak. Oh, look, it's Dan moving the goalposts. After someone gets called out for saying something objectively stupid, Dan pretends that it's the value judgement that's at stake. You are free to argue that the environment doesn't matter; but you are not free to pretend that human actions don't impact the environment. You are free to argue that the Ocean ecosystem doesn't matter; you are not free to argue that because the Ocean is big you can just do what you want and it won't affect anything as if that's not an argument that's been proven wrong repeatedly in a thousand different ways.
 
Mr Jack said:
No, it's silly because it's factually wrong.



Creak. Creak. Oh, look, it's Dan moving the goalposts. After someone gets called out for saying something objectively stupid, Dan pretends that it's the value judgement that's at stake. You are free to argue that the environment doesn't matter; but you are not free to pretend that human actions don't impact the environment. You are free to argue that the Ocean ecosystem doesn't matter; you are not free to argue that because the Ocean is big you can just do what you want and it won't affect anything as if that's not an argument that's been proven wrong repeatedly in a thousand different ways.
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Ok fine lets go back to the original topic about deep sea mining. What are you scared of and how likely is it?

Give us some scenarios that could destroy the eco system of the whole ocean?
 
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