A new consideration for miners
The researchers agree that the mining industry should consider this discovery before planning deep-sea mining activities. According to Geiger, the total mass of polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone alone is enough to meet the global demand for energy for decades. But Geiger looks to mining efforts in the 1980s as a cautionary tale.
“In 2016 and 2017, marine biologists visited sites that were mined in the 1980s and found not even bacteria had recovered in mined areas,” Geiger said.
“In unmined regions, however, marine life flourished. Why such ‘dead zones’ persist for decades is still unknown. However, this puts a major asterisk onto strategies for sea-floor mining as ocean-floor faunal diversity in nodule-rich areas is higher than in the most diverse tropical rainforests.”
microbes living in bark or in the wood itself are removing atmospheric methane on a scale equal to or above that of soil. They calculate that this newly discovered process makes trees 10% more beneficial for climate overall than previously thought.
Also, unexpected.