The Race to Mine the Deep Sea
Okean tubini qazib olish poygasi
Sarlavha va pastdagi so‘zlarga qarang. Matn nima haqida bo‘lishi mumkin? Bir daqiqa o‘ylab ko‘ring — bu miyani o‘qishga tayyorlaydi.
Okean tubidagi foydali qazilmalarni qazib olish: imkoniyatlar, xavflar va bahslar.
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Scattered across vast areas of the ocean floor, at depths of four to six kilometres, lie billions of potato-sized lumps of rock known as polymetallic nodules. They are rich in nickel, cobalt, manganese and copper, metals that are essential for the batteries of electric vehicles and for the storage of renewable energy. As demand for these metals soars, a number of companies and governments have begun to argue that the deep seabed could become the next great mining frontier. Others warn that it could also become one of the greatest environmental mistakes of the century.
Okean tubining keng hududlari bo‘ylab, to‘rt-olti kilometr chuqurlikda, polimetall konkretsiyalar deb ataladigan milliardlab kartoshkadek kattalikdagi tosh bo‘laklari sochilib yotibdi. Ular elektr transport vositalari akkumulyatorlari va qayta tiklanadigan energiyani saqlash uchun zarur bo‘lgan nikel, kobalt, marganets va misga boy. Bu metallarga talab keskin oshib borar ekan, bir qator kompaniyalar va hukumatlar okeanning chuqur tubi navbatdagi buyuk tog‘-kon chegarasiga aylanishi mumkinligini ta’kidlay boshladi. Boshqalar esa bu asrning eng katta ekologik xatolaridan biriga ham aylanishi mumkinligidan ogohlantirishmoqda.
The nodules form extraordinarily slowly, growing by just a few millimetres every million years as metals precipitate from seawater around a fragment of shell or a shark’s tooth. The richest known deposits lie in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico roughly the size of Europe. Because these waters lie beyond any nation’s jurisdiction, mining there is regulated by the International Seabed Authority, a body established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which treats the resources of the deep seabed as “the common heritage of mankind”.
Konkretsiyalar g‘ayrioddiy sekin hosil bo‘ladi: metallar dengiz suvidan chig‘anoq parchasi yoki akula tishi atrofida cho‘kib, har million yilda atigi bir necha millimetrga o‘sadi. Ma’lum bo‘lgan eng boy konlar Gavayi va Meksika o‘rtasidagi Tinch okeanining taxminan Yevropa kattaligidagi hududi — Klarion-Klipperton zonasida joylashgan. Bu suvlar hech bir davlatning yurisdiksiyasiga kirmagani uchun u yerdagi qazib olish ishlari BMTning Dengiz huquqi to‘g‘risidagi konvensiyasi asosida tashkil etilgan va chuqur dengiz tubi resurslarini “insoniyatning umumiy merosi” deb biladigan Xalqaro dengiz tubi boshqarmasi tomonidan tartibga solinadi.
Supporters of deep-sea mining present it as an environmentally preferable alternative to mining on land. Terrestrial mines for nickel and cobalt have been associated with deforestation in Indonesia, toxic pollution and serious human rights abuses, including child labour in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Collecting nodules lying loose on the seabed, they argue, requires no blasting, no removal of overlying earth and no displacement of communities.
Chuqur dengizda qazib olish tarafdorlari uni quruqlikdagi qazib olishga nisbatan ekologik jihatdan afzalroq muqobil sifatida taqdim etishadi. Nikel va kobalt uchun quruqlikdagi konlar Indoneziyadagi o‘rmonlarning kesilishi, zaharli ifloslanish va jiddiy inson huquqlari buzilishlari, jumladan Kongo Demokratik Respublikasining ba’zi qismlarida bolalar mehnati bilan bog‘langan. Ularning ta’kidlashicha, dengiz tubida bo‘sh yotgan konkretsiyalarni yig‘ish portlatishni, ustidagi tuproqni olib tashlashni va jamoalarni ko‘chirishni talab qilmaydi.
Marine scientists, however, point out how little we know about the ecosystems that would be affected. The abyssal plains were once assumed to be biological deserts, but surveys have revealed astonishing diversity; in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone alone, researchers have identified thousands of species, the great majority of them previously unknown to science. Many live attached to the nodules themselves, which provide the only hard surface in a landscape of soft sediment. Removing the nodules would therefore remove their habitat for millions of years.
Biroq dengiz olimlari ta’sirlanadigan ekotizimlar haqida qanchalik kam bilishimizni ta’kidlashadi. Okean tubidagi tekisliklar bir paytlar biologik cho‘llar deb taxmin qilingan, lekin tadqiqotlar hayratlanarli xilma-xillikni ochib berdi; faqat Klarion-Klipperton zonasining o‘zida tadqiqotchilar minglab turlarni aniqlashgan, ularning katta qismi ilgari fanga noma’lum edi. Ko‘plari yumshoq cho‘kindilardan iborat manzarada yagona qattiq sirtni ta’minlaydigan konkretsiyalarning o‘ziga yopishib yashaydi. Shuning uchun konkretsiyalarni olib tashlash ularning yashash muhitini millionlab yillarga yo‘q qiladi.
The likely duration of the damage is suggested by an experiment carried out in 1989 off the coast of Peru, in which scientists ploughed a section of seabed to simulate mining. When they returned more than twenty-five years later, the plough tracks were still clearly visible and many forms of life had not recovered. There are also concerns about the clouds of sediment that mining machines would stir up, which could spread over large distances and smother filter-feeding animals, and about noise and light in an environment that has been dark and silent for millions of years.
Zararning ehtimoliy davomiyligi haqida 1989-yilda Peru qirg‘oqlari yaqinida o‘tkazilgan tajriba dalolat beradi, unda olimlar qazib olishni taqlid qilish uchun dengiz tubining bir qismini shudgorlashgan. Yigirma besh yildan ko‘proq vaqt o‘tib qaytib kelishganda, shudgor izlari hali ham aniq ko‘rinib turgan va hayotning ko‘p shakllari tiklanmagan edi. Qazib olish mashinalari ko‘taradigan cho‘kindi bulutlari haqida ham xavotirlar bor, ular katta masofalarga tarqalib, suvni filtrlab oziqlanadigan hayvonlarni bo‘g‘ib qo‘yishi mumkin, shuningdek, millionlab yillar davomida qorong‘i va sokin bo‘lgan muhitdagi shovqin va yorug‘lik haqida ham.
The economic case is also contested. Battery technology is evolving rapidly, and manufacturers are already developing chemistries that use less cobalt and nickel, or none at all. Improved recycling of metals from old batteries could further reduce demand for newly mined material. Several major car manufacturers and technology companies have pledged not to use metals from the deep sea until its environmental effects are properly understood, and dozens of countries have called for a moratorium or a precautionary pause.
Iqtisodiy dalillar ham bahsli. Akkumulyator texnologiyasi tez rivojlanmoqda va ishlab chiqaruvchilar allaqachon kamroq kobalt va nikel ishlatadigan yoki umuman ishlatmaydigan kimyoviy tarkiblarni ishlab chiqmoqda. Eski akkumulyatorlardan metallarni qayta ishlashni yaxshilash yangi qazib olingan materialga talabni yanada kamaytirishi mumkin. Bir qancha yirik avtomobil ishlab chiqaruvchilar va texnologiya kompaniyalari chuqur dengizning ekologik ta’siri to‘g‘ri tushunilmaguncha undan olingan metallarni ishlatmaslikka va’da berishgan va o‘nlab mamlakatlar vaqtinchalik taqiq yoki ehtiyot chorasi sifatida to‘xtatishga chaqirishgan.
The debate over deep-sea mining poses a dilemma that will become increasingly familiar: the transition away from fossil fuels requires vast quantities of materials, and every source of those materials carries costs. The question is whether we will weigh those costs carefully before acting, or, as so often in the past, only after the damage has been done.
Chuqur dengizda qazib olish haqidagi bahs tobora tanish bo‘lib boradigan dilemmani keltirib chiqaradi: qazilma yoqilg‘ilardan voz kechish ulkan miqdordagi materiallarni talab qiladi va bu materiallarning har bir manbai o‘z xarajatlariga ega. Savol shundaki, biz bu xarajatlarni harakat qilishdan oldin puxta tortib ko‘ramizmi yoki o‘tmishda tez-tez bo‘lganidek, faqat zarar yetkazilganidan keyinmi.
Tushundingizmi?
Javob topa olmasangiz, «O‘qish» bosqichiga qaytib, matnga qarang — bu ham mashq.
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Asosiy g‘oya
1 What is the main purpose of the article?
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2 Why are polymetallic nodules valuable?
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3 What is the main argument of supporters of deep-sea mining?
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4 What did the 1989 experiment off Peru show?
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5 Why is the economic case for deep-sea mining described as “contested”?
True / False / Not Given
True — matnda aynan shunday deyilgan. False — matn aksini aytadi. Not Given — matnda bu haqda ma’lumot yo‘q.
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1 Polymetallic nodules are found at depths of four to six kilometres.
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2 Nodules grow by several centimetres every year.
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3 The International Seabed Authority was established under a UN convention.
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4 Scientists have found very few species in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
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5 Mexico has started mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
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6 Land mining for cobalt has been linked to child labour.
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7 All car manufacturers have agreed to use metals from the deep sea.
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8 The Clarion-Clipperton Zone is roughly the size of Europe.
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9 The 1989 experiment was funded by a mining company.
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10 Recycling can already supply all the metals needed for batteries.
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11 Many deep-sea animals live attached to the nodules.
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12 Dozens of countries have called for a pause or moratorium.
So‘zni ma’nosi bilan juftlang
Chapdan so‘zni, o‘ngdan uning ma’nosini tanlang. Hammasi juftlansa, natija chiqadi.