Exploring Oceans 2. What are the opportunities and threats arising from the use of ocean resources?
- Created by: DanBish
- Created on: 08-05-22 20:51
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- What are the opportunities and threats arising from the use of ocean resources?
- Biological resources
within oceans can be used
in sustainable or
unsustainable ways. - Whales
- Whales act as pump that recirculates fish and zooplankton ingested toward surface as nitrogen-rich ***** matter. Nutrients are essential to primary production of marine ecosystem.
- Uses of whales
- Primary use is the meat - Japan, Iceland and Norway are the only countries recognised by WWF to eat whale meat
- Blubber cooked to an oil, used in fuels and makeup/soap
- Baleen used in clothes
- Alternatives exist for all of these
- Management of whales
- International Whaling Commission (IWC) - NGO
- International laws
- International Whaling Convention (IWC) - management of whaling worldwide
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) - imposes duty on nations that've signed, to conserver marine mammals
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)? - Provides protection for wild animals in international trade - whales
- Economic reasons
- Alternatives to whale products, such as meat, blubber and baleen
- Whale meat is a delicacy in countries like Japan. Blubber is cheaper than normal oil
- Resilience of Whales
- Most whales live from 20-90, and blue whales are 80-90, and sexually mature in 7-10 years
- Politics
- Indigenous tribes use whale meat to eat, and baleen for clothes, although in heavy moderation, and no excess
- Japan is the only country to hunt whales in Antarctica, and sometimes go outside of their own international boundaries
- The use of ocean
energy and mineral
resources is a contested
issue.
- Ocean energy resources
- Oil and gas
- Impacts
- Positive - Employment opportunities; wealth creation; raw materials; artificial reef creation
- Negative - Oil spills; visual pollution; ecosystem disturbance; communities becoming dependent
- Hydrocarbons found in large quantities in Gulf of Mexico, Persian Gulf and North Sea
- Commercial drilling rigs operate in water depths of 2000m with next gen rigs proposing 3500m depth. Deeper water drilling increases risk and cost, requiring great investment in on and off-shore infrastructure
- Supertankers require 30m+ depth and 2km minimum stretch of open water in which to turn.
- Impacts
- Wave and tide
- Flow resources - naturally regenerated by sun energy, and gravity from sun and moon
- Tides reliable, regular + predictable. 2 high + low tides per day
- Tide power dependent on physical + human geography
- Wave higher potential than tidal. Energy used to compress air or fluids
- Oil and gas
- Sea-bed minerals
- Magnetite - An iron oxide which is key in steelmaking
- Titanium oxide - Required for titanium used to make alloys used in aviation, defence and medical equipment
- Vanadium oxide - Used to increase strength, heat, and corrosion resistance of steel
- Ocean energy resources
- Biological resources
within oceans can be used
in sustainable or
unsustainable ways. - Whales
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