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“The biggest risk to the ocean right now is global warming,” says Kris Van Nijen, managing director f the Belgium-based deep-sea-mining company Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR).
“目前海洋面临的最大风险是全球变暖，”总部位于比利时的深海采矿公司全球海洋矿产资源(GSR)的董事总经理克里斯·范·尼扬(Kris Van Nijen)说。
“And the solution can be found on the seafloor, where there is a single deposit that provides the minerals we need for clean-energy infrastructure.”
“在海底可以找到解决方案，那里有一个矿藏，可以提供我们清洁能源基础设施所需的矿物质。”
GSR has already trialed a 12-m-long, 25-ton nodule-sucking robot that zigzags across the ocean floor on caterpillar tracks, kind of like a giant underwater Roomba.
GSR已经测试了一个12米长、25吨重的吸核机器人，它可以像毛虫一样在海底蜿蜒行走，有点像一个巨大的水下扫地机器人。
They dubbed their prototype “Patania,” after the world’s fastest caterpillar.
他们以世界上爬行最快的毛虫给它命名为“帕塔尼亚”。
Commercial mining is not yet permitted in international waters.
国际水域还不允许商业开采。
The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N. body tasked with managing seafloor resources, is still deliberating how, and under what conditions, mining should be allowed to proceed.
负责管理海底资源的联合国机构国际海底管理局(ISA)仍在考虑如何以及在什么条件下允许采矿。
A few private companies, including GSR and Barron’s Metals Company, have scooped up a couple of dozen metric tons of the nodules on exploratory missions, and are now pressuring the ISA to approve commercial operations.
包括GSR和Barron 's Metals Company在内的几家私营公司已经在探索任务中收获了几十吨的结核，现在正向ISA施压，要求其批准商业运营。
Barron is already telling potential investors that he expects to be harvesting nodules by 2024.
巴伦已经告诉潜在投资者，他预计将在2024年开始收集结核。
GSR says that by the time they are up and running, they will be able to collect up to 3 million tons a year with just two of their mining robots.
GSR表示，到投入运营的时候，仅用两个采矿机器人，他们每年就能收集多达300万吨的矿石。
Not everyone is on board.
并不是所有人都赞同。
Scientists, conservationists , the European Parliament and some national governments are calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining until its ecological consequences can be better understood.
科学家、环保主义者、欧洲议会和一些国家政府呼吁暂停深海采矿，直到更好地了解其生态后果。
The ocean environment is already under threat from climate change, overfishing, industrial pollution and plastic debris, they argue; added stresses from heavy machinery and habitat destruction could tip it over the edge.
他们认为，海洋环境已经受到气候变化、过度捕捞、工业污染和塑料垃圾的威胁; 重型机械和栖息地破坏带来的额外压力可能会让它崩溃。
Three miles below the ocean’s surface, the deep seafloor boasts some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet;
在海洋表面三英里以下，深海拥有地球上最具生物多样性的生态系统；
the perpetual darkness, intense cold and strong pressures foster unique life-forms rarely seen elsewhere, such as a newly discovered ghostly white octopus dubbed “Casper” and an armored snail that researchers believe doesn’t need to eat to survive.
永久的黑暗、强烈的寒冷和强大的压力培育了在其他地方罕见的独特生命形式，比如新发现的幽灵白色章鱼“卡斯帕”，以及研究人员认为无需进食就能生存的甲壳蜗牛。
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