Can We Avoid Mining the Deep Sea?

Today mining companies and entrepreneurs are looking at the deep sea with dollar signs in their eyes.

- By Marcus Griswold

They aren't planning to fish or search for sunken treasure; they see money in potato-sized balls called polymetallic nodules. These seabed rocks grow several millimeters every million years. What makes them so attractive is that they are full of manganese, cobalt, copper, and nickel. These are all key minerals used in a range of high-tech products-including electric car batteries.

As climate change has sped up, humans and animals have experienced more extreme weather events, droughts, and higher sea levels. It has made it harder to survive. To combat climate change, scientists are calling for more to be done to reduce the use of fossil fuels like gasoline. In April, US President Joe Biden announced plans to increase the use of electric passenger cars. He set a goal to make two-thirds of all new cars sold in the United States electric by 2032.