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Your Call

One Planet: What will it take to stop deep-sea mining?

IMAGE OF THE DEEP SEABED FLOOR, SHOWING POLYMETALLIC NODULES | COURTESY OUTLAW OCEAN PROJECT

On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, we'll find out what scientists and ocean activists are doing to stop deep-sea mining.

The rising demand for electric cars and other clean technologies coupled with the depletion of minerals and metals on land is driving interest in mining the seafloor to extract cobalt, nickel and lithium.

Scientists are warning that scraping the seafloor will damage deep-sea ecosystems and kill animals not yet discovered.

Guests:

Farah Yasmin Obaidullah, ocean advocate and founder of Women4Oceans

Lisa Levin, professor of biological oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and board member of the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative

Web Resources:

In Too Deep documentary

Grist: Deep-sea mining could begin next year. Here’s why ocean experts are calling for a moratorium.

Mongabay: ‘Antithetical to science’: When deep-sea research meets mining interests

The Guardian: Race to the bottom: the disastrous, blindfolded rush to mine the deep sea

The Guardian: Seabed regulator accused of deciding deep sea’s future ‘behind closed doors’

Malihe Razazan is the senior producer of KALW's daily call-in program, Your Call.
Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.