Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The ocean minerals

What Would You Do?

1.       Summarize the controversy about ocean mineral rights.
Wealthy nations spend their money on mining minerals beneath the ocean floor.  Poor nations think the profits from the ocean floor should be shared.  

2.        The concerns of wealthy nations with those of developing nations.  How could you reassure developing nations that they won’t be left out? 
Well developed countries have more resources, money, people, and technology to explore and mine the ocean floor.   Since they do all the work to get the minerals from the ocean floor, they want to keep the profits for themselves and their countries which is greedy I think.  To help developing countries I think, a portion of the minerals found on the ocean floor and a portion of the profits from these resources should be given to less fortunate countries especially if they come from international waters which are owned by all nations.
3.       Who should share the mineral profits of the Pacific Ocean?  From the Atlantic Ocean?   State your opinions and support with facts.
  Since coastal nations own the rights to the portion of the ocean that borders their land, they should be able to keep the mineral profits from those areas only.

The mineral profits from all of the world’s oceans should belong to the companies that mine the minerals in other areas.  I think that companies that want to mine in international waters should pay a fee that is shared with all nations. Whoever pays the highest fee for mining rights should get to explore and drill in certain areas.  I think that all international waters should be divided among all countries.  Each country gets the land they already have and a certain percentage of international ocean waters.   All countries need access to minerals to develop.  Sharing mineral access could benefit all nations since it would help less fortunate develop more quickly. 

If everyone starts mining in the oceans, they will become more polluted than they already are.  Therefore, it is important that companies that are allowed to mine they must protect the environment and leave the ocean better than they found it. 


  1. Well stated opinion on question 2. The division of the ocean's minerals is a good idea. Good incorporation of the Reclamation Act in your conclusion. What about question 4 that I sent about the Arctic Ocean.