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Coal Is Bad For The Environment

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Coal is something we’re all familiar with. We know that people mine it, it comes from decayed plant material, and also that it sends a lot of black smoke into the air. However, a lot of people also think that coal is a part of our past and that we’ve moved on to other forms of energy. Coal is very much a part of our present day, though, making up 24% of our world power and 69% of our energy mostly because of the fact that it doesn’t cost very much. So, while coal is cheap, the burning of coal is bad for the environment because it pollutes the air, coal is bad for the human body, and coal is also a non-renewable resource.
Even though coal, as stated before, is something we’re all familiar with let’s go ahead and go over what exactly coal is. …show more content…

If you go by factories that process coal, there is a high chance that you will see heavy black smoke coming out from the roof of them and spitting what can’t be used into the air. Coal also has a history of creating acid rain and if you lived in Los Angeles in the 1970’s, you would have been just one of the many people having to wear a gas mask just to be outside of your house because the air was so toxic.
Coal has also been shown to be extremely toxic to the human body. Pneumoconiosis, or Black Lung Disease, is a disease of the lungs caused by breathing in mineral and coal dust. This disease is most often contracted by miners and got its nickname because of the black tinge the lungs acquire. One main symptom is hypoxemia, or low oxygen levels, which is dangerous since this can put all of the other organs in the body in danger, particularly the heart and brain. There is also an increased risk of cancer, COPD, and low birth weight.
The effects of coal extend beyond the mines when the method is surface mining and over to the communities they border. The explosives in particular carry a risk of poisoning the citizens in surrounding communities as well as damaging water tables and contaminating the water. The explosions can even cause debris to go flying into homes killing residents, and the diseases seen in mines have also showed up in those

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