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As time progresses, technology advances and population gets larger. As technology advances and population gets larger, we use more natural resources and create more man-made items. The demand goes up. Most of the natural resources we use come from underground, such as minerals, metals, oils and gases, all non-renewable resources. Non-renewable resources are resources that are not renewable over a short period of time. These resources cannot be renewed at the same rate in which we are using them, which is very problematic with the amount of supply the Earth gives us. To retrieve these resources, we must mine for them, or dig below the Earth's surface. By extracting these resources from the ground, we are obstructing the natural formation of the Earth's crust and influencing natural processes. When we do these things, we damage our natural environment and cause harm to the health of all living things on the planet. Our society today has become so reliant on these new technologies and materials, and combining that with growing population of this society, we are excessively mining every plot of land that is left. By digging up all that we can find, we are leading our way into a serious problem of resource depletion and pollution.
Mining has brought us a lot of good things over the centuries. The types of minerals we mine for are used for almost all man-made items. For example, tantalum is used for cell phones, computer chips, DVD players, cameras, etc. Without tantalum, we would not have these things. We mine for copper, tin, iron, nickel, manganese, and so many others. Technology has progressed so much with the findings and supply of these minerals and metals, making more convenient ways of living and better quality of life in some ways. Not only do we dig for minerals, but the oils and natural gases have given us fuel for transportation and machinery, helping us get from point A to point B faster and machinery to help us get jobs done quicker and more efficiently. These new technologies have helped us produce more product at a faster rate, improve quality of buildings and homes, create safer vehicles, and so many other things. With all of these technologies, it has made our population boom and expand. By expanding, we find more land to utilize, whether is be developed to homes and cities, farmland, or mining sites. Without these resources, we would not have all of the luxuries we have today.
There are seven techniques of mining, most differ on what we are mining for or where we are mining. There is what we call strip mining, which basically we will remove layers of land until the resource is exposed. This method is most common when the resource is near the surface. When a resource is found deep below the surface, miners will have to tunnel underground to retrieve the resource and return to the surface with it. This type of mining is called subsurface mining. When the resource is far underground, but the land is not fit for tunneling, we might approach mining with open pit mining. This is basically digging up a gigantic hole in the ground and retrieving the resource that way. If the resource is not underground, but found in rivers or an area of flowing water, that is where we would sift through the mud or water to find the resources. This technique is called placer mining. If there is a resource found deep within a mountaintop, we might remove the mountaintop to retrieve the mineral, in mountaintop removal mining. For salts and some copper and uranium that can be dissolved in water, we might approach mining with the solution mining technique. This way, if the mineral is deep underground, we will drill a hold down to where the mineral will be, then we drain some sort of liquid into the hole whether it be water or acid. This liquid will dissolve the mineral, then we can suck up the liquid that now has the mineral and the water or acid in it. All but one of these methods require use of some sort of machinery to get the job done. These machines help the miners dig more up at a faster rate, increasing production and making a more convenient and quick way to mine. The more convenient we make mining and the more demand there is, the more we mine.
No matter what technique is used for mining, they all retrieve necessary resources for today's technologies and society, but also all have negative impacts on our environment. One major concern is acid drainage. Acid drainage is when sulfide mineral or the waste from the ore that they extracted the mineral out of, interact with oxygen and create sulfuric acid. This sulfuric acid runs off the mining site and can get into our waterways and wells. If the mine is a big pit or hole, the sulfuric acid will run into the bottom of the pit creating a pool of acid drainage. This acid drainage could acquire for thousands of years and does affect wildlife. Acid drainage pollutes the ground and causes problems with restoration. As for the sifting through the waterways' mud, you wouldn't think that does much damage to the environment, but it does. Sifting through the water damages the environment because of the waste from it flows down the rivers. Mountaintop removal is probably the most impactful on the environment. This technique requires miners to dump waste rock somewhere, and where is that somewhere? This waste rock goes into valleys and streams polluting the water and the valley. The waste rock contains lots of hazardous and toxic metals that really hurt our health and our environments health.
Not only does the mining itself impact the environment in all these ways and more, the machines we use to perform the mining hurts our environment. These machines are trucks and tractors that require some sort of oil, natural gas or diesel to power them. These oils and gases are, of course, first mined for, then burned off into the atmosphere to power the engines. These gases that are let off into the atmosphere create hazardous air that we breathe, and also factor in with global warming. Just like our vehicles and all other means of transportation, these machines only add to the problem. These fumes that are let out into the environment can be replenished and purified through the forests and rain, but our forests are all being cut down for mining sites, and of course for paper and timber.
Mining is dangerous and hazardous to the workers. The workers are up close and personal with all of the fumes and dust. The workers have to sometimes be lowered down into tunnels underground and retrieve minerals. That is dangerous because of the amount of dust and fumes, but also dangerous because of the chance that the tunnel could collapse. They sometimes create explosions underground too that help them dig out the holes and tunnels. If they are not far enough away from these explosions, they could be blasted as well or could suffer hearing issues from the loud explosion. The fumes and dust that they breathe in give them lung problems, and can even affect their brains. According to Maureen Salamon from livescience.com, the workers are exposed to dust, radon (radioactive odorless gas), welding fumes, mercury, noise and heavy loads causing injuries. All of these things greatly affect these workers' health. There have been several instances where workers have been trapped underground too. "For the 33 trapped Chilean miners potentially facing months in crammed quarters, their immediate health may be threatened by the air quality in the chamber and the limited ability to move, which can lead to blood clots"(Salamon). These situations can be very serious to mining workers. They are risking their lives just for us to have luxury and convenience, and we don't even realize it. Especially people in third world countries. They are working even harder in the blistering sun, all day long trying to just make enough to survive. We don't understand how good we have it, and how much we take these things for granted. When we don't see the effects immediately or directly, we do take these things for granted, and then that results in careless consumption and waste leading to more work to find more minerals, metals and oils.
These days, we cut down forests for many reasons, mining sites being one of them. We have to cut down these forests so we can dig it all up and extract whatever we can get out of the soil and dirt. After we do this, most times there is no coming back for those forests. When we create mining sites, it is extremely difficult, near impossible to reconstruct these forests. The forests have such a difficult time replenishing itself because we mix up the layers of rock and soil that is in the crust. The acid drainage is extremely difficult to remove, and can affect the growth of new plants and trees. Also, extracting the minerals from the ore found in the soil takes away natural minerals needed for forest growth and the waste of the leftover ore is hazardous to rebirth of new organisms. We need these forests to replenish our water and air, to give us oxygen, and give animals and insects a home. We take away from all of these things and we are currently dealing with a problem of resource depletion. Once we take up all the available land and every mineral and oil it has to offer the ecosystem, we will not only have limited to no resources left from the ground, but also will not have natural land, plants and animals to perform their natural ecosystem functions.
The carbon cycle is greatly affected by mining. Naturally, plants and organisms will draw out carbon from the air and use it for the process of photosynthesis, respiration and food webs. Plants store carbon, and when they die will then release carbon back into the air. Ocean organisms also intake carbon, and when they die, the carbon will accumulate into the ocean floor and get buried back into the ground. This is the natural process, so the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, in plants and in organisms is fine. When we take the fossil fuels out of the ground and bring them out to the surface to burn them off into the atmosphere, then that is where it becomes excessive and harmful. On top of that, we have taken away a lot of forests for mining sites, which leaves limited organisms to draw out the excess carbon in our air. "Mining re-configures the land and its contours. Rain and subsequent ground water is diverted. As equipment is sunk and the ground hollowed out, chemicals such as cyanide, mercury, methyl-mercury and arsenic are forced through pipes (tailings). The water that runs off goes into streams, creeks, rivers, and lakes."(Menter).
There are many laws being put in place today, and many laws and regulations that have been put in place over the years as we gain more knowledge. There is still a lot of things we do that has to stop, but it is difficult to just completely take some of these things away. We rely on so much from mining, that if we just took it all away, we would no longer have phones, a lot of technology, transportation, and many other miscellaneous items. Over the years, there has been the clean air act, the clean water act, mining laws and so forth. Also, there are a lot of areas throughout the United States that reserve land as a national forest to preserve the area as a forest area only, meaning no urban development or any sort of deforestation. Costa Rica has dedicated its entire country to preserving the forest and restoring what has been lost. There, the government actually pays farmers to preserve wildlife. They do still use material drawn from mining and fracking, but not as much. Costa Rica does not consume as much as, say, the United States or India or China. "And if everyone in the world began consuming tantalum at the rate of U.S. citizens, then it would last for only 15 years!"(Withgott & Laposata 647). Tantalum is not the only metal we consume at a high rate, so imagine all the many other resources we consume and waste every day.
Mining is horrible for our environment, and it has to stop, but what should we do instead? We have progressed so much and grown in population so much that there is no way everybody is just going to stop living the way we do with our cell phones, our means of transportation, our electricity, and everything we know. We need to develop a more sustainable way of living. We are consuming so many minerals, metals and oils to a point that we already can predict when we'll run out of them. Nickel is the first one to go in the next 50-100 years. That sounds like a long time, but not long at all when it takes thousands to millions of years to recover. We have been venturing off to different resources trying to find substitutes, but then what happens when we use all of those resources up? We need to start recycling every piece of material we have on this planet and greatly reduce the amount of minerals we mine for. Once we run out of indium, we will no longer have LED screens for our phones and computers. Recycling and reusing is the only way to go, that and also creating more sustainable resources.
Hi Katelyn, first of all, WELCOME to the Essay Forum Family, it's overwhelming to WELCOME yet another member of the EF family.
We strive to provide you with the most accurate and effective feedback in order to create a well written essay with a strong substance and the right writing technique.
Now, as I read through your essay, I must say this is a form of research paper, correct me if I'm wrong, but with its length as well as the information provided, I believe you are writing a research paper. Having said that, a research paper needs the following paragraphs;
- introduction, this part will tackle the meaning and the basic information towards the research or study, you will talk about the background of your study in order to prepare your reader on what to expect in your case study
- the body of the research, this is where you discuss the findings, observations, data gathered and all the relevant current events that is necessary to the development of your study.
- the final paragraph, this will be your conclusion, the paragraph should showcase the answer to the question, What does mining do to the environment?, pretty much a summary of your study
Last but not the least, a short or couple of sentences that includes your personal opinion to the task or the case study at hand. This sentences will add personality to your paper. Also, the citations should be written side by side the information that is drawn from your source, this way you are able to ensure your readers that you have a credible source.
Overall, the paper is written fairly well, however, it does not have the right format to be considered a formal writing or a research paper per say. I believe a proper grouping of your ideas into paragraphs will create a better outcome of your research.
