Second negative briefs
SK/N230 SEABED MINING: Disad
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- 2. SEABED IS EXTREMELY FRAGILE
- 3. MINING CAN’T HELP BUT DAMAGE THE OCEAN
- 4. MINING WILL TEAR UP THE OCEAN FLOOR
- 5. NODULE MINING WILL KILL MILLIONS OF ORGANISMS
- 6. SULFIDE MINING WILL DO SIMILAR DAMAGE
- 7. MINING METHANE HYDRATES IS ASKING FOR TROUBLE
- 8. CLAIMS THAT MINING WILL BE SAFE ARE BOGUS
- B. PROTECTIONS AGAINST RISK ARE PITIFUL 1. INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY OVERSIGHT IS LACKING
- 2. INDIGENOUS PACIFIC ISLANDERS ARE BEING IGNORED
- C. IMPACT OF MINING COULD BE CATACLYSMIC 1. OCEAN FOOD CHAIN COULD BE DESTROYED
- 2. MILLIONS OF SPECIES COULD GO EXTINCT
- 3. EARTH’S EVOLUTION COULD BE FATALLY ALTERED
- 4. HUGE RISKS REQUIRE ABANDONING SEABED MINING
- SK/N231. SHIPPING INDUSTRY Disad A. NEW SHIPPING REGULATIONS WILL CRIPPLE INDUSTRY
- B. BALLAST WATER REGULATIONS ARE TOO BURDENSOME
- C. EMISSIONS REGULATIONS ARE UNJUSTIFED
- SK/N232. SONAR CURTAILMENT: Solvency 1. NON-MILITARY SONAR IS AS RISKY AS MILITARY SONAR a. COMMERCIAL SONAR HAS STRANDED WHALES
SK/N230 SEABED MINING: Disad A. RISKS OF SEABED MINING ARE ENORMOUS 1. DATA IS EXTREMELY SPARSE SK/N230.01) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 359. Extensive studies on the potential effects of nodule mining are, as yet, impossible because large-scale commercial mining of this type has never been done. SK/N230.02) A.C. Brown, ISLE OF MAN TODAY, March 27, 2014, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. The Research Centre insists - and it's hard to disagree - that long-term research is needed on the impact on fish stocks and the health of the sea-bed ecology, before more of this damaging activity is undertaken. The team adds that there is at present no real understanding or experience of this type of mining. SK/N230.03) Mark Schrope, NATURE, March 21, 2013, p. 294, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Data are so far sparse on the degree to which the operations would threaten deep-sea life such as sediment-dwelling sea cucumbers, worms and small crustaceans, or creatures that live higher in the water column, such as fish. A study at a nodule plain off Peru found that sea-floor communities showed limited recovery after disturbance, with sediment dwellers gradually returning over 7 years. SK/N230.04) Mark Schrope, NATURE, March 21, 2013, p. 294, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Cindy Van Dover, director of the Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort, North Carolina, has worked on assessments of deep-sea mining impacts. She says, "I don't think there are red flags but I do think there are yellow flags." Her main concern is one of scale. "One tiny patch is not going to make any difference but what I can't figure in my head is what happens when that's multiplied." 2. SEABED IS EXTREMELY FRAGILE SK/N230.05) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 357. The deep seabed is an extremely fragile environment that has little to no sunlight and very few nutrients. The organisms at the deep seabed survive almost exclusively on detritus from above. As a result, even slight disturbances can have big impacts. 3. MINING CAN’T HELP BUT DAMAGE THE OCEAN SK/N230.06) Dennis Small, PACIFIC ECOLOGIST, Winter 2011, p. 19, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Although there may be great uncertainty about the exact nature and extent of the impact of deep sea mining, there is no doubt there will be adverse effects on the marine environment. SK/N230.07) Dennis Small, PACIFIC ECOLOGIST, Winter 2011, p. 19, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Increasing CO2 is probably having a deleterious effect on the planktonic basis of marine life, as well as land life. Adding deep-seabed mining to this growing global damage and pollution in the oceans would be ecologically disastrous and commit us to unsustainability on an ever greater scale. 4. MINING WILL TEAR UP THE OCEAN FLOOR SK/N230.08) STATES NEWS SERVICE, June 9, 2014, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Deep-sea mining is one of the most extreme activities taking place in the ocean: huge underwater bulldozers and robots tear up the seafloor, smashing and vacuuming finite minerals and other metal resources, such as copper, gold, zinc, manganese or cobalt. SK/N230.09) A.C. Brown, ISLE OF MAN TODAY, March 27, 2014, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. Giant underwater cutters and robotic submarines would be involved in what is essentially strip-mining, where vast areas of the ocean bed are removed and brought to the surface as slurry. The valuable minerals are then siphoned out, and the waste - which may contain a variety of toxins and heavy metals from processing - are dumped back into the water. Another equally destructive method, vacuum mining, involves the seabed being sucked up by machines and similarly dealt with. SK/N230.10) A.C. Brown, ISLE OF MAN TODAY, March 27, 2014, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. Scientists from Duke told the annual general meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that these processes have the potential to irrevocably destroy the seabed, along with the unique wildlife it supports. Sensitive species will be smothered by sediment and noise will have a detrimental impact on whales and other marine life. Meanwhile, fishing communities could suffer the loss of their livelihood. SK/N230.11) THE MERCURY (South Africa), February 19, 2014, p. 8, LexisNexis Academic. The last great unexplored wilderness is about to experience industrial-scale mining that could change the seabed for generations to come, scientists from Duke University, North Carolina, have warned. Access to the mineral deposits and rare-earth metals on the seabed has never been easier, with the use of robotic submarines. There are already 19 leases for prospecting in international waters and another five leases pending. Strip-mining, involving giant underwater cutters where vast areas of the seabed are removed and brought to the surface as slurry, and vacuum-mining, where the seabed is sucked up by machines, are the sort of operations that could be commonplace in a few years time, the scientists said. 5. NODULE MINING WILL KILL MILLIONS OF ORGANISMS SK/N230.12) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 357. As stated earlier, the most probable form of nodule mining involves a collector vehicle gathering small balls of minerals scattered across the seafloor and then grinding the minerals up to be sent to the surface through a long hose. This type of mining has four known negative environmental impacts: collector vehicle crush, sediment plume, waste water discharge, and noise pollution. SK/N230.13) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 357. The collector vehicle crawls along the seabed floor, sucking up the top layer of sediment and nodules and crushing them to be sent to the surface. This process is highly invasive and, due to the actual treads of the vehicle and the collection of nodules, the mortality rate of organisms in the direct path is 95% to 100%. SK/N230.14) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 357. The collection vehicle also kicks up sediment from its propulsion, which can bury organisms in the immediate area outside the direct path and kill fauna. The sediment plume created by the collector can also cause problems for organisms that live slightly above the seafloor, because the water in the surrounding area becomes choked with sediment. Studies have shown that significant decreases in species abundance can be found at least nine months later. SK/N230.15) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 358. The lift system and the waste water discharge by the floating mining platform also pose significant short-term risks. The larger contributor is the waste water discharged by the mining platform. The mining platform receives the ground up nodules and sediment from the collector device and the valuable nodule pieces are separated. The excess is dumped back into the ocean. This process causes oxygen depletion, light depletion, water temperature, and density fluctuations that disrupt the water column and trace minerals release. SK/N230.16) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, pp. 358-359. Noise pollution has a vast potential for harm as noise can travel great distances underwater. This idea originally sprang up in the 1970s and 1980s with studies on the effect of human generated sound on marine mammals. The effects on aquatic mammals can be immediate and can cause direct damage including hearing loss, hemorrhaging, and confusion leading to mass beachings, or long-term effects like behavioral modifications and habitat loss. More recently, the harmful effects of man-made noise on fish have been studied. These studies have shown potential disruption of fish distribution, reproduction, and predator evasion ability. The effect of noise pollution could potentially be even higher in an environment where there is no light and sight is not a primary sense. SK/N230.17) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 359. Hydraulic mining systems are far from silent as the collection vehicle, hydraulic pump system, and support vessels on the surface all make a tremendous amount of noise. Noise pollution poses the most potential for unquantifiable risk and ignorance because it is an area where there is still a very large knowledge gap. In addition, the potential harm is very high as sound can travel 1,500 miles or more underwater. 6. SULFIDE MINING WILL DO SIMILAR DAMAGE SK/N230.18) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, pp. 359-360. The environmental concerns from polymetallic sulfide mining are difficult to assess for multiple reasons. Unlike polymetallic nodule mining, no single likely mining technique has emerged. The most promising method at this point would be a continuous recovery system that has rotating blades that chop the sulfide deposit into a slurry that is then sucked up to the surface. In theory, this system would be similar to that used for polymetallic nodule mining. As a result, this system would have many of the same environmental impacts and uncertainties as nodule mining, with huge disruptions of flora and fauna loss at the mining site as well as other disruptions, such as: oxygen depletion; light depletion; water temperature and density fluctuations that disrupt the water column; sound pollution; and a release of trace minerals. SK/N230.19) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 361. Chemosynthetic ecosystems are still relatively new to science and the knowledge gap is quite large. This type of mining has never been done before and its effects on the immediate ecosystem and surrounding vent sites have never been observed. Therefore, uncertainty as to the effects of sulfide mining at deep sea vents is marked by unquantifiable risk and a large potential for significant amounts of ignorance. 7. MINING METHANE HYDRATES IS ASKING FOR TROUBLE SK/N230.20) MENA REPORT, February 18, 2014, pNA, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Methane hydrate known as burning ice, abounds in seas around Japan but low-cost extraction technology has yet to be established. SK/N230.21) Dennis Small, PACIFIC ECOLOGIST, Winter 2011, p. 19, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Despite growing evidence of severe ocean disturbance, there are still technocratic fantasies about mining methane ice, i.e. the methane clathrates or methane hydrates on the ocean floor. Methane, of course, is a highly potent greenhouse gas. To think to mine methane is begging for trouble in the oceans already beset by so many problems from our industrial over-activity. SK/N230.22) Jessica Shugart, SCIENCE NEWS, October 19, 2013, p. 22, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Some scientists fear that an increase in temperature or drop in pressure could liberate large amounts of methane at once--an event that could destabilize the seafloor. That would pave the way for massive underwater landslides that could trigger tsunamis. Such a large-scale release could also fuel climate change. 8. CLAIMS THAT MINING WILL BE SAFE ARE BOGUS SK/N230.23) Dennis Small, PACIFIC ECOLOGIST, Winter 2011, p. 19, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. At the time of the OMI experiment, Dr Robert Burns of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gave several revealing insights into the technocratic approach of the industry's drivers. Dr. Burns saw "no demonstrable connection upward from benthic [bottom living], deep-ocean floor fauna into that part of the marine fauna that we are concerned with, the fish we eat." Burns also felt mining would be unlikely to really hurt "bottom critters" because so few populate the deep-sea floor. In light of today's more informed, yet still very limited knowledge, his views seem quite absurd. B. PROTECTIONS AGAINST RISK ARE PITIFUL 1. INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY OVERSIGHT IS LACKING SK/N230.24) EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL, Winter 2013, p. 6, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. But international oversight of the potential environmental impact of the deep-sea mining is still lacking. "There's no regulatory framework, either at a national or international level, for deep-sea mining," says Helen Rosenbaum, campaign coordinator for the Australia-based Deep Sea Mining Campaign, a nonprofit watchdog group. She says the International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the open seas outside national territories, has done too little to investigate and regulate the potential for environmental damage. SK/N230.25) Dennis Small, PACIFIC ECOLOGIST, Winter 2011, p. 19, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A key environmental principle is the precautionary principle, i.e. being preventively proactive if current or proposed activities risk "high and irreversible" damage. An early example of implementation of this principle is the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft (Oslo Convention, 1972). But no such set of effective protocols apply to an international regime for deep seabed mining. 2. INDIGENOUS PACIFIC ISLANDERS ARE BEING IGNORED SK/N230.26) US OFFICIAL NEWS, May 23, 2014, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. A concerned group of NGOs say deep sea mining in the Pacific is being pushed forward without regard for ethics and moral principles. The Pacific Civil Society group has issued a statement, signed by the PNG-based Bismarck Ramu Group, the Pacific Conference of Churches and the Pacific Network on Globalisation, saying there is too much emphasis on financial benefits, and too little on the impact on the environment and people. SK/N230.27) US OFFICIAL NEWS, May 23, 2014, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. But the Pacific Civil Society group says the Pacific is again being used as a testing ground, after nuclear testing last century, and there has been little consultation with landowners. C. IMPACT OF MINING COULD BE CATACLYSMIC 1. OCEAN FOOD CHAIN COULD BE DESTROYED SK/N230.28) Sarah Blackman, PROGRESSIVE MEDIA, May 30, 2013, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. Activists including 'Kiwis against Seabed Mining' believe that suction dredging akin to open-cast mining, where the entire top surface of the seabed is removed to depths of up to 20 metres, will wipe out organisms, including mussels, worms and crustaceans, which in turn support larger marine animals in the food chain. SK/N230.29) Dennis Small, PACIFIC ECOLOGIST, Winter 2011, p. 19, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Impacts on pelagic [surface living] fish of water columns containing mining discharge materials were another concern Dr. Burns dismissed. Food chains could be disrupted, including the demise of zooplankton species. Oxygen might be depleted by bacterial growth on suspended particles, and heavy metals could be concentrated along marine food chains. There could even be reduction in primary productivity in oceanic ecosystems due to the shading of light, needed by phytoplankton, caused by mining discharges, coupled with detrimental concentrations of trace minerals. 2. MILLIONS OF SPECIES COULD GO EXTINCT SK/N230.30) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, pp. 360-361. Chemosynthetic ecosystems are not known for their stability. Each organism has evolved to a very specific niche that exists at its individual vent. This niche may only exist in a very small area and once this small area is disturbed by mining, there is nowhere for disrupted organisms to go. This means that even mining in a small area can bring an organism to extinction. Because each chimney is home to a unique and diverse set of organisms, the mining of a single site could lead to the extinction of a rare species. SK/N230.31) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 364. Large aspects of nodule mining and sulfide mining are marked by unquantifiable risk and have a large potential for unrecognized risks and negative outcomes. Additionally there are potentially severe adverse outcomes that could include the extinction of entire unique ecosystems. SK/N230.32) Dennis Small, PACIFIC ECOLOGIST, Winter 2011, p. 19, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. Scientific evidence clearly indicates: "there is great potential for serious environmental impacts on the sea floor and at the depth zones from the discharge of mine tailings and effluent." There could be very harmful benthic impacts from direct crushing of life forms and coverage with sediment, contrary to Dr. Burns’ preliminary 1978 assessment. Some scientist estimate there is possibly up to 100 million species living on the ocean floor, as yet unknown to humanity. 3. EARTH’S EVOLUTION COULD BE FATALLY ALTERED SK/N230.33) Marcel Honore, THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER, December 9, 2013, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. Companies and countries around the world have secured at least 12 mining exploration claims across a vast swath of ocean several hundred miles south of Hawaii called the Clarion Clipperton fracture zone, according to a UH news release. Eventually, they could scrape the sea floor in those areas for manganese, copper, cobalt, nickel and other resources. Such materials are used to manufacture smartphones and other electronics that have taken off in recent years due to global consumer demand. But the mining would also destroy a variety of life on the ocean floor there, more than 16,000 feet below the surface, UH researchers say. "Just like fishing is not good for the ocean, mining is not good for the ocean," UH oceanography professor Craig Smith said Friday. Mining has never occurred in international waters, he said. SK/N230.34) Marcel Honore, THE HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER, December 9, 2013, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. Scientists know that the zone is rich in biodiversity, but it's also about the size of the continental United States and poorly sampled, the UH release said. The scientific approach that Smith and his group used to determine which areas should be protected, despite the sampling challenges, was published last month in the science journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. "There are thousands of species" there, Smith [University of Hawaii oceanography professor] said Friday. "If you wipe out a lot of biodiversity, you're changing the course of evolution on Earth." 4. HUGE RISKS REQUIRE ABANDONING SEABED MINING SK/N230.35) David Hartley [Temple U. Law School], TEMPLE INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE LAW JOURNAL, Fall 2012, LexisNexis Academic, p. 359. The predicted impacts of nodule mining have been judged to be so large that a number of studies have recommended the abandonment of nodule mining efforts to avoid a large-scale and long-term risk to ocean ecosystems and fisheries. SK/N231. SHIPPING INDUSTRY Disad A. NEW SHIPPING REGULATIONS WILL CRIPPLE INDUSTRY SK/N231.01) THE ECONOMIST, March 30, 2013, p. 69(US), GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The shipping industry now faces the cost of complying with a deluge of new rules. To make matters worse, it is in the middle of a slump caused by too many ships chasing too little trade. As the deadlines for all these rules approach, shipping bosses are firing off distress flares. Masamichi Morooka, chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), a lobby group, lamented on March 19th that the cost could run into "hundreds of billions" of dollars. He begged regulators to take into account the dire state of shipping firms' finances. B. BALLAST WATER REGULATIONS ARE TOO BURDENSOME SK/N231.02) THE ECONOMIST, March 30, 2013, p. 69(US), GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. The IMO is also pressing on with planned new rules on cleaning up ships' ballast water. These may come into effect this year, once enough national governments have signed up for them. A study last year in the Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology reckoned that around 60,000 ships worldwide would need refitting with one or more cleansing units, costing up to $1.7m each. In that case, shipping firms could be whacked with a bill of the order of $50 billion. How they will persuade banks to lend them the money for this is unclear: whereas measures to cut CO2 emissions produce a return in the form of lower fuel bills, there is no such payback on ballast-water equipment. C. EMISSIONS REGULATIONS ARE UNJUSTIFED SK/N231.03) THE ECONOMIST, March 30, 2013, p. 69(US), GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. At a conference in Athens recently John Platsidakis, a Greek shipping boss who chairs an association of bulk-cargo operators, grumbled: "We carry 90% of world trade and we emit only 2.7% of the CO2 but still we are treated as if we are acting with indifference to the environment." Philip Roche, a solicitor at Norton Rose who advises transport industries on regulatory matters, says that airlines, for example, have lobbied more shrewdly than shipping firms. SK/N232. SONAR CURTAILMENT: Solvency 1. NON-MILITARY SONAR IS AS RISKY AS MILITARY SONAR a. COMMERCIAL SONAR HAS STRANDED WHALES SK/N232.01) DAILY MAIL (London, England), September 28, 2013, pNA, LexisNexis Academic. Whales become stranded on beaches because they are disorientated by sonar systems used in shipping, research has confirmed. It has long been suspected that the noise from the high-frequency sonar systems, used by military, commercial and research vessels, can cause the animals to become confused and swim into the wrong areas. Now an independent scientific review panel has found that the systems were responsible for the mass stranding of 100 melon-headed whales in Madagascar in 2008. SK/N232.02) Josh Lieberman, NEWSWEEK, October 11, 2013, p. 1, GALE CENGAGE LEARNING, Expanded Academic ASAP. A special scientific research team has finally published its answer to a grisly mystery. Five years ago, something drove a group of approximately 100 melon-headed whales, ordinarily a deep-ocean species, into the shallows of the Loza Lagoon system, off the Madagascar coast. Despite urgent efforts to guide the animals back to the open sea, at least 75 of the stranded whales died. Now the independent panel of five scientists has concluded that the "most plausible and likely behavioral trigger" for the incident was sonar emissions from a seafloor survey vessel. That's bad news for ocean explorers. "This is the first known such marine mammal mass stranding event closely associated with relatively high frequency mapping sonar systems," says the panel's report, released by the International Whaling Commission. It has long been known that low-frequency sonar can cause physical trauma to whales and disrupt their diving and migratory patterns. As a result, commercial survey vessels generally use high-frequency sonar systems, which until now were considered relatively harmless to whales. SK/N232.03) Lenny Bernstein, THE WASHINGTON POST, October 7, 2013, p. A18, LexisNexis Academic. The mysterious stranding of about 100 melon-headed whales in a shallow Madagascar lagoon in 2008 set off a rapid international response - a few of the eight- to 10-foot marine mammals were rescued, necropsies conducted, a review panel formed. Did they follow prey into the lagoon? Were they sick? Was it the weather or chemical toxins? The panel recently gave its best answer, and it is causing ripples of concern. For the first time, a rigorous scientific investigation has associated a mass whale stranding with a kind of sonar that is widely used to map the ocean floor, a finding that has set off alarms among energy companies and others who say the technology is critical to safe navigation of the planet's waters. Download 0.49 Mb. Share with your friends:
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