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Monitoring and assessment must underpin development of a new international agreement Increasing exploration and industrial exploitation of the vast and fragile deep-ocean environment for a wide range of resources (e.g., oil, gas, fisheries, new molecules, and soon, minerals) raises global concerns about potential ecological impacts ( 1 – 3 ). Multiple impacts on deep-sea ecosystems (>200 m below sea level; ∼65% of the Earth's surface is covered by deep ocean) caused by human activities may act synergistically and span extensive areas. Cumulative impacts could eventually cause regime shifts and alter deep-ocean life-support services, such as the biological pump or nutrient recycling ( 2 , 4 , 5 ). Although international law and national legislation largely ignore the deep sea's critical role in the functioning and buffering of planetary systems, there are promising developments in support of deep-sea protection at the United Nations and the International Seabed Authority (ISA). We propose a strategy that builds from existing infrastructures to address research and monitoring needs to inform governments and regulators.

As the mining depth of coal mines continues to increase, the problem of mine heat damage becomes increasingly prominent. In response to the heat damage problem in deep mines, this paper presents a novel approach of mine heat damage control and geothermal resource exploitation under the collaborative effect of extraction and ventilation. Taking Sanhejian Coal Mine in Xuzhou as the research object, numerical simulation is conducted using finite element simulation analysis software to analyze the evolution law of the temperature field of roadway surrounding rock and air in the roadway during the variation of different key factors. Additionally, in the process of continuous tunneling, the optimal cooling scheme for roadways at different locations is obtained. The conclusions are as follows: (1) Treating mine heat damage under pure ventilation has the advantage of rapid cooling speed. The temperature at the observation point in the roadway can be reduced to approximately 283 K at its lowest. However, the disadvantage lies in the large temperature difference before and after the roadway (no less than 7 K) and the need for continuous ventilation. (2) During the extraction process, reducing the average injection water temperature and decreasing the distance from the roadway can effectively enhance the effectiveness of mine heat damage control. Nevertheless, under pure extraction, the temperature reduction rate of roadway surrounding rock is relatively slow. When the distance between the roadway and the injection well does not exceed 30 m and the average injection water temperature does not exceed 190 K, the surrounding rock temperature can be reduced to below 303.15 K within one year. (3) The extraction-ventilation synergy method not only can effectively narrow the temperature difference before and after the roadway but also can improve the temperature reduction speed in the roadway to a certain extent. Moreover, the geothermal resources generated by extraction can also yield certain economic benefits. This research provides a new perspective for cooling the coal mining face of coal mines.

The international seabed area (“the Area”) harbors abundant metal mineral resources that are critical to address global metal supply–demand and sustainable development. However, exploitation of mineral resources in the Area faces complex risks spanning politics, economy, technology, science, environment, society, industry, and law. No commercial-scale deep-sea mining operations have been conducted to date. Systematic risk identification and prioritization can inform strategic planning for stakeholders. This study employs literature analysis and an 80-expert questionnaire to identify key risk factors affecting mineral exploitation in the Area. Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), we quantitatively assess the relative importance and weightings of these risks. Our results indicate that Level 1 risk groups prioritize (1) policy and public opinion risk, (2) extended continental shelf (ECS) delineation risk, (3) high sea marine protected areas (HSMPAs) establishment risk, and (4) mining area economic value risk. The five most critical Level 2 risk factors are (i) policy changes in contractor states, (ii) ECS-mining area boundary conflicts, (iii) environmental provisions in exploitation regulations at the international seabed (ER), (iv) ER implementation delays, and (v) mineral resource uncertainty. These findings provide actionable insights for contractors, policymakers, and stakeholders to optimize decision making in deep-sea mining projects.

Due to rapid socioeconomic development, seeking the coordination of resources exploitation and the ecological environment has become an objective requirement for the healthy and sustainable development of the mining industry. This paper selects 23 indicators with which to construct an evaluation index system for mineral resources exploitation and the mining geological ecological environment of Shanxi Province from 2003 to 2015. It then establishes a development index model, a coupling degree model and a coupling coordination degree model. Using a time-series analysis, the comprehensive development level, coupling status and coupling coordination degree of the two systems are analyzed. The results are threefold. (1) The overall level of mineral resources exploitation improved, but, after 2012, the level dropped significantly. The ecological environment in the mining area has improved as a whole, but, due to the ecological fragility caused by long-term extensive mining and acute treatment, the state of the ecological environment fluctuates greatly. (2) The coupling degree between mineral resources exploitation and the mining ecological environment is stable, and it has been in the antagonistic stage for a long time. Although the degree of coupling coordination has improved, it remains at a low level. (3) Further improvement in the coordination between mining exploitation and the mining ecological environment in Shanxi Province has been restricted due to several indicators with greater weights. Recommendations to be considered by policy makers include insufficient sustainable development concepts, outstanding historical issues and the lack of guarantees for environmental protection funds.

The exploitation of solid and liquid mineral deposits is a basic way to use rock mass in Poland. The degree of utilization of shallow rock mass areas—for any purpose other than exploitation of minerals—is low. Deeper areas are used to store natural gas, oil, and fuel; another option is underground waste storage. The use of rock mass in Poland in the future will be associated with the exploitation of minerals (including thermal waters), waste disposal, and storage of fuels and natural gas in the pore space of aquifers, hydrocarbon reservoirs, and salt deposits. Poland is characterized by complex geological structure, composed of three main geological units: the East European Craton, Western European Variscan Belt, and the Alpine-Carpathian chain. The aforementioned structures differ in geological structure, which affects the possibilities of underground space use. Most of the Polish Lowlands is prospective for the presence of thermal waters and raw mineral deposits. This area offers the best prospects for the development of waste disposal and storage of substances in the pore space, which can interfere with the other ways of underground space use. In order to properly exploit the potential of the rock mass and to avoid conflicts of interest, the appropriate land use has been suggested. Recommendations for future legislation in this area have been determined. They should—in case of a conflict of interest, associated with a number of ways of utilization (exploitation of mineral resources, thermal waters, underground storage, etc.)—determine which activities should be a priority.

Eminent domain is the power of the state to expropriate privately or communally owned land subject to the meeting of the requirements of \"public use\" and payment of just compensation to the affected parties. Contentiously, scholars have been divided on the \"public-use\" doctrine of eminent domain. While some scholars argue that eminent domain is needed for socio-economic development (public interest), others stressed that the exercise of eminent domain serves only private interest. However, this debate has not been fully extended to South African mineral resource development. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to extend the theoretical and conceptual argument of \"public-use\" discourse of eminent domain to some mineral-rich communities in South Africa. Based on the conceptual analysis of public use discourse of eminent domain, this study developed a three-stage model of eminent domain discourse. It is expected that this model would help deconstruct the complex relationship between the four major stakeholders in the mineral resource extractive space in South Africa in order to highlight sources of conflict as well as opportunities for sustainable relationships.

Lithic raw material analysis is the key to understanding prehistoric foragers’ resource exploitation strategies, mobility patterns, cultural interactions and exchange networks. Previous geochemical study of obsidian artifacts from Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic sites on the Tibetan Plateau revealed possible human interactions in the Chang Tang and southern Tibet. However, obsidian is rare in sites on the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) and adjacent low elevation regions. To understand the lithic raw material economy and related human interactions on the NETP and the surrounding regions, here we analyze lithic raw materials from these regions through macroscopic rock type identification, Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis. We found that at least four varieties of lydite (a type of basaltic rock, Lydite A, B, C, and D) and three varieties of red jasper (Jasper A, B, and C) were used in these sites. The Northern Tibet volcanic belt in the central Tibetan Plateau and Alashan Gobi Desert may be the sources of the two most dominant materials, Lydite A and Jasper A. The maximum, “as the crow flies,” transportation distances are more than 900 km for Lydite A and 580 km for Jasper A among archaeological sites, indicating Epipaleolithic foragers in NETP and adjacent low elevation regions were either highly mobile or formed vast exchange networks. Long distance exploitation of lydite resources might have encouraged human occupation of the high central Tibetan Plateau in the early Holocene. In addition, the spatial distribution of Epipaleolithic sites sharing the same varieties of lydite and red jasper in the study area suggests that the river valleys connecting the Qilian Mountains, the Hexi Corridor and the Tengger Desert oases were important channels for human movements during Epipaleolithic period. Therefore, lithic raw material analysis here provides important information for resource exploitation and mobility strategies of Epipaleolithic foragers in NETP and surrounding regions.

Southern Ocean ecosystems are under pressure from resource exploitation and climate change 1 , 2 . Mitigation requires the identification and protection of Areas of Ecological Significance (AESs), which have so far not been determined at the ocean-basin scale. Here, using assemblage-level tracking of marine predators, we identify AESs for this globally important region and assess current threats and protection levels. Integration of more than 4,000 tracks from 17 bird and mammal species reveals AESs around sub-Antarctic islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and over the Antarctic continental shelf. Fishing pressure is disproportionately concentrated inside AESs, and climate change over the next century is predicted to impose pressure on these areas, particularly around the Antarctic continent. At present, 7.1% of the ocean south of 40°S is under formal protection, including 29% of the total AESs. The establishment and regular revision of networks of protection that encompass AESs are needed to provide long-term mitigation of growing pressures on Southern Ocean ecosystems. Tracking data from 17 marine predator species in the Southern Ocean are used to identify Areas of Ecological Significance, the protection of which could help to mitigate increasing pressures on Southern Ocean ecosystems.

In response to foraging for foods that fluctuate in availability, generalists often exhibit the ability to switch between different food sources. Many of the Carnivora on an omnivorous–frugivorous diet display temporal dietary switching and specialism, but the mechanisms underlying this are incompletely understood. Here we studied the diet of the opportunistically frugivorous yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula) with regard to food-resource exploitation in a subtropical forest of central China. Diet was determined through scat analyses combined with surveys to estimate local food abundance. Peak fruit consumption and the lowest utilization of small mammals occurred when fruit abundance reached its temporal maximum in the environment in synchrony with a concomitant peak in small mammal abundance. When both fruits and small mammals were least abundant in the environment, the marten's diet shifted to the maximum utilization of small mammals with no fruit consumption. This dietary switching could not be explained by the fluctuation in the abundance of principal prey in the environment, that is, small mammals, but by the ease of procurement of fruit at peak fruiting season. The marten's diet thus does not simply reflect primary resource abundance but is a function of the relative abundance and inferred availability of alternative food types. This case study of the yellow-throated marten provides insight into foraging strategies that depend on the relative, temporal availability of food types, a phenomenon observed for other generalist omnivores (including several Carnivora).

Assessing anthropogenic effects on biological diversity, identifying drivers of human behavior, and motivating behavioral change are at the core of effective conservation. Yet knowledge of people's behaviors is often limited because the true extent of natural resource exploitation is difficult to ascertain, particularly if it is illegal. To obtain estimates of rule‐breaking behavior, a technique has been developed with which to ask sensitive questions. We used this technique, unmatched‐count technique (UCT), to provide estimates of bushmeat poaching, to determine motivation and seasonal and spatial distribution of poaching, and to characterize poaching households in the Serengeti. We also assessed the potential for survey biases on the basis of respondent perceptions of understanding, anonymity, and discomfort. Eighteen percent of households admitted to being involved in hunting. Illegal bushmeat hunting was more likely in households with seasonal or full‐time employment, lower household size, and longer household residence in the village. The majority of respondents found the UCT questions easy to understand and were comfortable answering them. Our results suggest poaching remains widespread in the Serengeti and current alternative sources of income may not be sufficiently attractive to compete with the opportunities provided by hunting. We demonstrate that the UCT is well suited to investigating noncompliance in conservation because it reduces evasive responses, resulting in more accurate estimates, and is technically simple to apply. We suggest that the UCT could be more widely used, with the trade‐off being the increased complexity of data analyses and requirement for large sample sizes. Una Aproximación Novedosa para Evaluar la Prevalencia y Factores de la Cacería Ilegal en el Serengueti