2022年11月12日VOA慢速英語：尋找礦物增加了人們對深海采礦的興趣

 


The mining industry is pushing to explore more of the world's deep oceans to find metals and minerals used for electric vehicles and other technologies.
采礦業(yè)正在推動探索世界上更多的深海，以尋找用于電動汽車和其他技術(shù)的金屬和礦物。
 
But some scientists are worried that deep sea mining will damage the environment and the biological systems important to the atmosphere.
/>但一些科學(xué)家擔(dān)心深海采礦會破壞環(huán)境和對大氣重要的生物系統(tǒng)。
 
Scientists, lawyers and government officials are meeting until November 11 in Jamaica to discuss the issue. The International Seabed Authority, (ISA), an independent group created by a United Nations treaty, organized the meeting.
科學(xué)家、律師和政府官員將于 11 月 11 日在牙買加開會討論這個問題。國際海底管理局 (ISA) 是根據(jù)聯(lián)合國條約成立的一個獨立組織，組織了這次會議。
 
The ISA has given 31 exploration licenses for deep ocean waters outside of any country's territory. While it has not given any licenses to begin mining, some experts worry it will do so soon before rules are in place.
ISA 已授予 31 個在任何國家領(lǐng)土以外的深海水域的勘探許可證。雖然它沒有頒發(fā)任何開始采礦的許可證，但一些專家擔(dān)心它會在規(guī)則到位之前很快這樣做。
 
Experts say the mining would create dirty water, noise, and light that could harm the ecosystem in the deep sea. They also note that scientists do not know a lot about the deep sea and need to learn more before making decisions about mining.
專家表示，采礦會產(chǎn)生臟水、噪音和光線，可能會損害采礦業(yè)深海的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)。他們還指出，科學(xué)家對深海了解不多，需要在做出采礦決定之前了解更多。
 
Less than one percent of the world's deep ocean waters have been explored. Most of the current exploration activity is in a large region between Hawaii and Mexico.
世界上只有不到百分之一的深海水域被探索過。目前的大部分勘探活動都在夏威夷和墨西哥之間的大片地區(qū)。
 
Mining companies argue that deep sea mining is less costly and causes less damage than mining on land.
礦業(yè)公司認為，深海采礦比陸地采礦成本更低，造成的損害也更小。
 
The International Energy Agency estimated that demand for minerals will increase six times by 2050. A report from Fitch Ratings that was released in October said demand will increase because electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies need minerals found in the sea.
國際能源署估計，到 2050 年，對礦物的需求將增加六倍。惠譽評級在 10 月發(fā)布的一份報告稱，由于電動汽車和可再生能源技術(shù)需要在海洋中發(fā)現(xiàn)礦物，因此需求將會增加。
 
 
Nauru, a small island northeast of Australia, is leading the push for mining. It hopes to financially gain from the mining for minerals that are used in technologies such as electric car batteries.
瑙魯是澳大利亞東北部的一個小島，正在引領(lǐng)采礦業(yè)。它希望從開采用于電動汽車電池等技術(shù)的礦物中獲得經(jīng)濟收益。
 
Need for study and rules
需要研究和規(guī)則
 
But officials in other countries are worried about the effects of mining and are pushing for new rules.
但其他國家的官員擔(dān)心采礦的影響，并正在推動新的規(guī)則。
 
 
"We are still very concerned about the consequences," said Elza Moreira Marcelino de Castro, Brazil's representative at the meeting.
出席會議的巴西代表埃爾扎·莫雷拉·馬塞利諾·德卡斯特羅說：“我們?nèi)匀环浅?dān)心后果。”
 
French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this year that he supports a ban on deep sea mining. Germany, which has two exploration contracts, announced on Wednesday that it would not sponsor such mining at this time.
法國總統(tǒng)埃馬紐埃爾·馬克龍今年早些時候表示，他支持禁止深海采礦。擁有兩項勘探合同的德國周三宣布，目前不會贊助此類采礦。
 
New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa want a ban on the mining until more is known about its possible effects, a move supported by some scientists and legal experts.
新西蘭、斐濟和薩摩亞希望在了解更多關(guān)于其可能影響的信息之前禁止采礦，此舉得到了一些科學(xué)家和法律專家的支持。
 
The ocean holds more carbon than the Earth's atmosphere, plants and soil, and scientists are finding new kinds of plant and animal life during exploration trips.
海洋中的碳含量比地球的大氣層、植物和土壤還多，科學(xué)家們在探索之旅中不斷發(fā)現(xiàn)新的植物和動物生命種類。
 
Diva Amon is a marine biologist. She said studies take months or even years to complete.
Diva Amon 是一名海洋生物學(xué)家。她說，研究需要數(shù)月甚至數(shù)年才能完成。
 
"We do not understand what lives there, how they live there, the global function that this ecosystem plays," she said. She added that because minerals grow only one to 10 millimeters every million years, the deep sea is slow to recover from damage.
“我們不了解那里生活著什么，它們?nèi)绾紊睿约斑@個生態(tài)系統(tǒng)發(fā)揮的全球功能，”她說。她補充說，由于礦物每百萬年僅增長 1 到 10 毫米，因此深海從破壞中恢復(fù)的速度很慢。
 
Other concerns over deep sea mining include how money would be divided and how mining companies would be supervised.
其他關(guān)于深海采礦的擔(dān)憂包括如何分配資金以及采礦公司將如何分配受到監(jiān)督。
 
Countries who have signed the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea can sponsor private companies seeking exploration licenses. The United States is one of several countries that is not party to the convention.
已簽署《聯(lián)合國海洋法公約》的國家可以贊助尋求勘探許可證的私營公司。美國是未加入該公約的幾個國家之一。
 
Pradeep Singh is a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany. He said there are worries that private mining companies might look for a sponsor country based on reduced tax deals, weak environmental laws and other influences.
Pradeep Singh 是德國波茨坦高級可持續(xù)發(fā)展研究所的研究員。他說，人們擔(dān)心私營礦業(yè)公司可能會基于減稅協(xié)議、薄弱的環(huán)境法和其他影響尋找贊助國。
 
Michael Lodge is the secretary general of the ISA. He said at the meeting in Jamaica that the agency wants to ensure protection of the marine environment while member countries work on proposed rules.
Michael Lodge 是 ISA 的秘書長。他在牙買加的會議上說，該機構(gòu)希望確保在成員國制定擬議規(guī)則的同時保護海洋環(huán)境。