Background Image 1 - (Kosovo Times, 2016)
After reviewing the detrimental impacts that terrestrial mining has on the dynamic Earth systems the beneficial aspects of moving mining off Earth and potentially onto asteroids can be explored.
Figure 23 - (Tevlin, 2012)
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Hydrosphere
Liquid water is a resource only currently found on Earth and supports all life processes. Where-ever mining activity starts, the water quality goes down, be it surface water negatively impacted by spilt tailings from opencast mines or acid mine drainage from subsurface shafts poisoning aquifers. These impacts may last for decades after the activity has ceased and leave an environment permanently scarred.
If extraterrestrial mining does become a reality the pressures on water quality from resource extraction can be removed and give local hydrospheres a chance to recover from the damage of mining activity. Asteroids have no liquid water systems to speak of meaning mining on these objects would have no detrimental effects on their hydrospheres. |
Figure 24 - (Amazon Aid, 2014)
Figure 25 - (Dvorsky, 2016)
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Biosphere
Ecosystems suffer not only from direct impacts from anthrosphere interactions with the biosphere through habitat loss, disturbances and extinctions. They also indirectly through anthrosphere interactions with the hydrosphere since liquid water is required for all life. So far life and liquid water have only been observed on Earth meaning the more detriment to the hydro and biospheres that occurs, the rarer these precious resources become, ultimately damaging the anthrosphere through less drinkable water and lower biological productivity from plants that feed humanity potentially through soil and water pollution.
Asteroid mining could not only preserve water resources for future generations but also preserve biodiversity on Earth in spite of an exponentially expanding human population with ever growing expectations for their quality of lives through relieving the pressures on habitats and the water resources needed by all life. Asteroid mining could be the first step in space industrialisation where harmful practices such as mining could be taken off Earth and performed in environments with no life or liquid water to impact on with almost infinite sources of platinum group metals and other resources that may run-out on Earth. |
Figure 26 - (Charles, 2013)
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Seabed Mining as an Alternative to Asteroid Mining
Asteroid mining promises high grade ores and a wide variety of resources to extract however ocean-based black smokers may also provide a varied, high grade resource pool for humanity to use in the future. However, seabed mining (while potentially easier and initially cheaper) poses a big threat to unique, and fragile, deep oceanic ecosystems that have spent millennia in isolation from the impacts of the anthrosphere. If seabed mining becomes a reality, not only would it literally smother deep ocean life with sediment plumes, it would not lead to anything other than ecological disaster and the postponing of the inevitable move into space that humanity needs in order to survive.
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