Coal mining, particularly surface mining, leads to large areas of land being temporarily disturbed. The mine workings collect and conduct water that is in contact with the widespread pyrite, a mineral that produces iron and sulfuric acid when exposed to air and water. In this lab, you will see first-hand the reasons why mine drainage can be harmful to the local drainage system if left untreated.…
In this file of SCI 207 Week 4 Laboratory Questions you will find the next information:…
Mountaintop removal is currently the most commonly used form of mining throughout Appalachia and it has a significant impact on life there. These different effects are environmental, physical, mental, emotional, and economical. While mountaintop removal may be safer for the miners themselves, the big question is how mountaintop removal is affecting the very way of life of the people of Appalachia…
Mountaintop Removal is a process of strip mining that is extremely dangerous to the environment. This process is done in multiple methods such as: cross-ridge mining, box-cut method, steep slope method, area method or mountaintop mining (Mountaintop Removal 101, appvoices.org). The first step…
In the essay “Green Guilt” by Stephen Asma, the writer claims that environmentalism has become a substitute for religion. This claim holds a strong argument when paired with the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary definition of the word religion which states that religion is “a pursuit or interest to which someone awards extreme importance.” With this definition of religion a strong argument could be made that anything we hold important can be our religion. However, a strong argument could also be made that our society and culture has not changed to make environmentalism similar to a religion, but to make religion similar to environmentalism. It is not a far cry to say that religion is not what it once was. Our society has changed and…
The stakeholder’s moral failings come only thinking of the revenue that mining would bring and not the effect on the environment. The beauty of the Green Valley will change with industrial growth. The involvement of politics may play a role since the land is public and owned by the government. Bureau of land Management is in charge of issuing permits for drilling, and some people think that they are catering to particular political groups.…
Palmer M, Bernhardt E, Wilcock P, et al. Mountaintop Mining Consequences. Science [serial online]. January 8, 2010;327(5962):148-149. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 2, 2012.…
Reece, Erik. Lost Mountain: a Year in the Vanishing Wilderness: Radical Strip Mining and the Devastation of Appalachia. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print.…
Bussière, B., Benzaazoua, M., Aubertin, M., & Mbonimpa, M. (2004). A laboratory study of covers made of low-sulphide tailings to prevent acid mine drainage. Environmental Geology, 45(5), 609-622.…
In his critique, “The Trouble with Wilderness or Getting Back to the Wrong Nature,” William Cronon argues against the romantic conceptualization of nature that a great portion of the environmentalist movement has embraced. Subsequently, Cronon revokes the Romantic and even quasi-religious notion that wilderness spaces are separate from those inhabited by man. He argues that by eliminating the divide in perception between the human constructs of the natural world and the civilized world, man will be encouraged to take more responsibility for his actions that negatively impact the environment. In prefacing his conclusion, he writes, “Home, after all, is the place where finally we make our living. It is the place for which we take responsibility,…
It is difficult to find writers more passionate about the natural environment than John Muir and Edward Abbey. Both Muir in a section from his book A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf and Abbey in a chapter titled Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks channel anger and frustration at the environmental policies of their time into literature that argues fervently for preservation of national parks and other areas of wilderness. In Hetch Hetchy Valley, Muir reverently describes in vivid detail the beautiful landscape of a river valley in Yosemite called the Hetch Hetchy Valley, condemning anyone who supports a government plan to dam the Hetch Hetchy River and flood the valley. In a famous quote Muir says, “no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man” (Muir 112). Abbey employs a highly sarcastic and satirical tone to outline the consequences of further expansion of roads and highways into national parks. He aims to incite anger with sharp language and insults to draw the reader in emotionally. “This is a courageous view, admirable in its simplicity and power… It is also quite insane” (Abbey 422). Both pieces easily stand alone, but when looked at together they suggest even more strongly that it is deceptive and dishonest to advertise industrialization of wilderness as any kind of favorable progress for society. This “progress” does not actually benefit anyone. Those who proclaim this as their reason for supporting industrial development are more likely motivated by the short-term economic benefits they will receive.…
This report will explain the impact of mining in Kakadu National park and what effect it has on such topics as marine life, flora and fauna, tourism, climate and the history of Kakadu National Park.…
Over the years, the planet’s luscious greenery, vast bodies of ocean, and clear blue skies have declined at a steady rate with the overtake of industrial buildings and pollution from technology . For the explorers and hard-core transcendentalists who devote themselves to living on the healthy and undeveloped parts of the world, nature and “the life and simple beauty of it is too good to pass up.” (McCandless 12/7/16) If technological advancements continue to occupy most of Earth, this appreciative view of the planet will no longer be attractive to those whose lives depend and thrive upon its bare soil. To some Transcendentalist preachers, like Henry David Thoreau, nature is also perceived as “daily to be shown matter to come in contact with,” giving people a chance to ask “Who are we?…
Mining companies would spray the mountains with high pressure water to make all the sediment come down and extract the gold from the sediment. This was not well regulated at the time and ended up having disastrous effects on the rivers in California. After the harm was done it was then outlawed in the state. This will most likely be the same thing that happens with fracking.…
1. This article is related to environmental science because it relates to the human interaction with the environment and how the goal of reaching fossil energy deposits can deteriorate…