Smartphones are an environmental killer, accelerating the extinction of rare deep-sea creatures
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According to foreign media reports, last March, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was exploring the deep seabed of Hawaii, they made an amazing discovery. Under the illumination of the remote-controlled submersible's detection light, a lavender unknown octopus species appeared in front of them. This gel-like little octopus stared at the camera cutely, instantly becoming popular on the Internet and earning it a cute nickname: Casper (a character in the movie "Casper"). Unfortunately, the deep-sea environment where these adorable octopods live is under serious threat in the near future. The seafloor plains where Casper and many other deep-sea species live are littered with nodules of various metals, including manganese, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, and more. These are metals that humans are in great demand for, in part because they can be used in electronic devices such as smartphones. Mining companies have coveted these areas for decades, but have been unable to access them - until now. With the advent of cost-effective deep-sea mining technology, species such as Casper's octopus, which were previously unmolested by human activities, are in danger. Polymetallic nodules are potato-sized pieces of metal that form much like pearls in oysters: metal fragments slowly combine with tiny objects over time. Although the time required for their formation is still debated, Otto Pazer, an ecologist at the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, said that in the time of Napoleon or Caesar, these objects were probably only about half a millimeter thick, so they formed very slowly. "They are always distributed in deep waters in all major oceans of the world, with different distribution densities," Pazer said. However, he also said that the density of these objects is higher in deep-sea basins between 3,000 and 6,000 meters in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific contains about 21 billion tons of manganese nodules, covering an area the size of Europe. The metal nodules are scattered in the sand, but because there is no other hard substrate where they are located, they act as reefs. Sponges and other attached organisms can anchor themselves to these metal rocks, which in turn provide habitats for various deep-sea creatures. Deep-sea polymetallic nodules Some large mobile organisms, such as sea cucumbers, deep-sea shrimps, deep-sea fish, sea brittle stars, and the cute casper octopus, live in these metal nodule areas, foraging and reproducing here. Under the muddy seabed, there are also many creeping creatures that live and die in the mud. " There are many creatures in this mud," said Pazer. Crabs, shellfish and copepods make their homes in the sediments, and casper octopuses can use their tentacles to forage in the mud. However, these mysterious deep-sea animal homes are about to be invaded by large machines. Currently, the International Seabed Authority has designated an area of about 1.4 million square kilometers at depths between 800 and 6,000 meters for mining companies to explore. "Mining will start soon, possibly as early as next year," said Patzer. Octopus Casper By then, not only will starfish and other animals that live directly on the metal nodules die, but mobile creatures such as the casper octopus will also be negatively affected. If the metal nodules are removed, the sponges that rely on them for spawning will also disappear. In addition, the disappearance of top predators such as octopuses will trigger a chain reaction that will break the balance of the seabed ecosystem. Mining companies are likely to use a huge machine similar to a potato harvester. These 300-ton robotic tractors will "plow" the seabed, rolling sediments and shoveling up manganese stones. This will cause a "mud cloud" to rise on the seabed, which will have a devastating effect on the animals living in it. These machines may even exacerbate climate change because it will destroy the ocean's natural carbon storage process. "These are often very old, very slow-growing ecosystems," said Douglas McCauley, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "The species found there are nowhere else on Earth, and many are just being discovered." Because so little is known about these mysterious ecosystems, it is difficult to get protective legislation before mining begins. Patzer said the International Seabed Authority must take the initiative to come up with protection plans, and hopefully it won't be too late.As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity. |
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