Thursday, May 23, 2019
Impact on Environment by Mining Essay
OverviewRainforests atomic tour 18 the biggest source of oxygen, wood and medicines on this earth. Amazon rainforest is known for alluvial gold deposits. Gold is prove both in river channels and at the banks of the river after floods (floodplains). Hydraulic archeological site techniques atomic number 18 used for tap gold. The regularity involves blasting at the banks of the river. This has caused irreversible monetary value to trees, birds and animals. While separating the sediment and hydrargyrum from the gold-yielding gravel deposits, small-scale miners who argon less equipped than industrial miners, may ignore release of some mercury into the river. This mercury enters the food chain through aquatic animals and their predators. Highly poisonous compound cyanide is also used to separate gold from sediment and rock. In malignity of all precautionary measures, it sometimes escapes into the surrounding environment. Those who eat fish are at greater risk of ingesting such tox ins.Read more thanBad make of Festivals on EnvironmentEffect on LandDeforestation digging requires large areas of land to be cleared so that the earth could be cut into into by the miners. For this reason, large-scale deforestation is required to be carried out in the areas where mining has to be done. anyway clearing the mining area, ve demandation in the beside areas also needs to be cut in order to construct roads and residential facilities for the mine workers. The human population brings along with it other activities that rail at the environment. For example, various activities at coal mines release dust and gas into the air. Thus, mining is one of the major causes of deforestation and pollution.Loss of Biodiversity The forests that are cleared for mining purposes are home to a large number of organisms. Indiscriminate clearing of the forests leads to loss of habitat of a large number of animals. This puts the survival of a large number of animal species at stake. The cu tting down of trees in itself is a big threat to a number of plants, trees, birds and animals growing in the forests. contamination Despite measures organism taken to release the chemical forsake into the nearby rivers through pipes, a large amount of chemicals still leak out onto the land. This changes the chemical composition of the land. Besidesthis, since the chemicals are poisonous, they make the soil unsuitable for plants to grow. Also, the organisms that live in the soil find the fould environment hostile for their survival.Effect on WaterPollution Chemicals like mercury, cyanide, sulfuric acid, arsenic and methyl mercury are used in various stages of mining. Most of the chemicals are released into nearby water bodies, and are prudent for water pollution. In spite of tailings (pipes) being used to dispose these chemicals into the water bodies, possibilities of leakage are always there. When the leaked chemicals slowly percolate through the layers of the earth, they reach the landwater and pollute it. Surface run-off of just soil and rock debris, although non-toxic, can be harmful for vegetation of the surrounding areas. Loss of Aquatic Life Release of toxic chemicals into the water is obviously harmful for the flora and fauna of the water bodies. Besides the pollution, mining processes require water from nearby water sources. For example, water is used to wash impurities from the coal. The conduct is that the water content of the river or lake from which water is being used gets reduced. Organisms in these water bodies do not have enough water for their survival.River dredging is a method adopted in case of gold mining. In this method, gravel and fuck up is suctioned from a particular area of the river. After the gold fragments are filtered out, the remaining mud and gravel is released back into the river, although, at a location different from where they had been taken. This disrupts the natural flow of the river that may cause fish and other o rganisms to die. Previously buried metallic element sulfides are exposed during mining activities. When they come in contact with the atmospheric oxygen, they get converted into strong sulfuric acid and metal oxides. Such compounds get mixed up in the local waterways and contaminate local rivers with heavy metals.Spread of DiseasesSometimes the liquid waste that is generated after the metals or minerals have been extracted is devoted in a mining pit. As the pit gets filled up by the mine tailings, they become a stagnant pool of water. This becomes thebreeding ground for water-borne diseases causing insects and organisms like mosquitoes to flourish.Examples of the Environmental Impact of Mining1. Environmental Impact of Mining In GuyanaIn 1995, in Guyana, more than four billion liters of waste water that contained cyanide, slipped into a tributary of the Essequibo when the tailings dam, which was filled with cyanide waste, collapsed. All the fish in the river died, plant and animal life was completely destroyed, and floodplain soils were heavily poisoned, do the land useless for agriculture. The main source of drinking water for the local people was also polluted. This was a major set-back for the eco-tourism industry on the river. When trees are cut (forest clearing for the construction of roads and mines, wood for the immigrated people, workers, etc.) and water sources are contaminated, animal populations migrate or die. Moreover, hunters are hired to feed the people running(a) at the mining sites.2. Mining in GoaIllegal mining in Goa is being projected as a bigger scam than Bellary. While tax revenue losses from illegal mining has been estimated at about Rs 3,000 crore, the loss by way of damage to the environment and loss of livelihood has not been estimated. Take the example of Caurem village in Quepem taluka in south Goa. It has 2,000 families whose farms have been destroyed by illegal mines operating in the area. The silt from mining has entered th e fields which now agree a large quagmire. Tukaram Velip, a resident says that the perennial stream that irrigated the village fields is polluted and agriculture has been completely destroyed. People are left with no means of earning their alimentation, he says.Most of the mines in the state are concentrated in four talukasBicholim in north Goa, and Sattari, Sanguem and Quepem talukas in south Goa. Activists say that an estimated 100,000 people living in the villages in these four talukas are affected. Besides loss of livelihood, they are also suffering from the adverse effects of air noise and waterpollution.Mining has caused irreversible damage to forests, agriculture, fisheries and water aquifers, says Abhijit Prabhudesai, member of Goyencha Xetkarancho Ekvott (GXE), a non-profit in Margaon city. He says the government has allowed mining even in forest areas despite the presence of wildlife. The mining has also affected the Salaulim dam on the Salaulim river in Sangeum taluka, which supplies drinking water to half the states population, besides providing water for irrigation and to industries. Over 20 mines are operating in the vicinity of the dam. Heavy silt has settled in the dam reservoir because of mining.An official in the state water resources department admits that mining has damaged the states water resources and says the department is now reassessing the life bridge circuit of the Salaulim dam. The dam was commissioned in the 1970s with an expected life span of 100 years. A study conducted by The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) in 1994 showed excess iron and manganese levels in the Salaulim reservoir water. This was when mining was at a much lower scale as compared to present level of mining. We have repeatedly asked the government to conduct a study on water availableness and quality, but nothing has been done till date, says Prabhudesai.3. Environmental Impacts Of Mining On Bundelkhand RegionIn the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, mining has had a huge negative mend on the environment. A Study was done to quantitatively evaluate the extent of the impact and the results were disappointing. The desirable limit of Fe is 0.3 mg/l and maximum tolerable limit is 1.0 mg/l as per Indian standards. If water content more than these limit gives brackish color and bitter or metallic taste, accordingly may not be use for drinking purposes. Concentrations of Cu in GW and SW samples varies from 0.029 to 0.088 mg/l and 0.039 to 0.062 in all the three seasons indicates that samples have more than permissible limit of Cu (
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