“There's big money to be made in asteroid mining”. This was the title of a news story just about a week ago from Business Insider. Most people, including me, would likely react to this headline in the the same way, specifically, “There’s no way! That is ridiculous. Asteroid mining? They can’t be serious.” However, it is true. There does exist a couple big companies trying to get out to asteroids and strike it rich! Ultimately, this idea, of venturing out in into the depths of space to obtain valuable and/or greatly needed resources, really proves how desperate the human race is for valuable or needed resources and the great lengths we are willing to go to get them. Similar to asteroids, there is a place that holds mines and deposits virtually …show more content…
Uranium, gold, oil, copper, diamonds, zinc, iron, nickel, and more unsustainable resources are getting depleted faster than we can mine them. So naturally people are looking for solutions, other ways of getting what we need. Many have tried synthesizing some of the materials however, attempts have been mostly unsuccessful. Even semi-successful synthetics have either not held all the qualities of the natural resource or just failed altogether. Others have tried finding other places to mine, as highlighted at the outset with asteroid mining. Extreme as this sounds, it’s what it’s come down to. But what about the oceans? We depleted our lands so how about we now go for the …show more content…
Often mining destroys habitats, spreads pollution both from energy consumption and leaked/ exposed pollutants, species endangerment and extinction, slow and uncertain habitat rehabilitation, toxic fumes, noise, and just a few examples of potential cons of any mining project. And that is just regular mining. The ocean, especially deep sea, is so vastly unknown and unpredictable. We, realistically, have no idea what could happen. About deep sea mining, an article by Richard Steiner entitled “Deep Sea Mining, a New Ocean Threat” on The Huffington Post says, “Environmental risks and impacts of deep sea mining would be enormous and unavoidable, including seabed habitat degradation over vast ocean areas, species extinctions, reduced habitat complexity, slow and uncertain recovery, suspended sediment plumes, toxic plumes from surface ore dewatering, pelagic ecosystem impacts, undersea noise, ore and oil spills in transport, and more.” and, “the impact of vent mining would be disproportionately high relative to terrestrial mining. Full-scale nodule mining on the abyssal plain would affect thousands of square miles of ocean floor, kill attached invertebrate communities, and create huge subsea sediment plumes that would flow and settle over thousands of square miles of seafloor. Such sedimentation would smother seabed habitat, reduce habitat complexity and biodiversity over vast areas, and
Colorado has an astonishing 23,000 abandoned mine lands. However, long-term mining impacts on ecosystems and ecosystem recovery are not well understood. Studies show that mining activity increases sediment erosion and exposes large amounts of heavy metals that can runoff into nearby lakes. Increased sedimentation and heavy metal pollution can have long-term impacts on surrounding ecosystems. Water and vegetation resources from the surrounding area are used to help power the mine which can result in high levels of deforestation and water level change. Miners also live in the area surrounding the mine and rely on natural resources for their survival. Even after a mine has been abandoned and activity has stopped, acid mine drainage can continue
Major exploration may harm the environment due to how we exploit resources. According to Philippe Cousteau’s commentary, he states that “the world has fished, mined and trafficked the ocean’s resources to a point where we are actually seeing dramatic changes that are seriously impacting today’s generations” (70). This emphasizes that attempting major exploration has an impact in our environment. Additionally, Elisabeth Rosenthal’s “Stinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans’ Decline” gives us an idea how pollution affects the climate. Dr. Josep-MarÍa Gili
The word race is defined at its core as a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, boats, etc. to see which is the fastest in covering a set course. Well, interestingly enough, a race of a different kind occurred between two countries from the years 1957 to 1969. The competition was unclear, and the opponents were on two entirely different continents, not something as simplistic as two horses. The United States and the United Soviet States of Russia both set out as arch rivals in the “Space Race,” a quest for dominance beyond the known Planet Earth. Ironically enough, just as communism was spreading to all parts of the world, the United States always sought to squash this form of government, despite somewhat dire consequences. Now, with
...old mining is the leading source of human-caused mercury emissions while the smelting of metals, including gold, is a primary source of arsenic emissions and other toxins”. Smelting, which is a particular method of metal extraction, releases toxins into the air such as: lead, nitrogen, sulfur ,mercury, zinc, cadmium, uranium, and sulfur dioxide, which leads to acid rain. In addition, smelters release very dangerous greenhouse gasses called peflurocarbons (pollution from aluminum smelters) which are almost 9,200 times more capable of heat-trapping than carbon ; moreover, these greenhouse gasses will remain in the atmosphere for tens of thousands of years. All of the above listed environmental tribulations caused by mining have the potential to irreversibly harm the planet, however, mining also impacts the world socially, economically, politically, and culturally.
Mining has a great impact on aquatic ecosystems, like creeks,wetlands, and lakes. From the perspective of a ecological and recreational point of view, the impact mining has is significant. This mining affects all of its inhabitants whether it being the fish that supplement nutrients through creeks, to the people who drink it.(Klemow Effects of mining on aquatic ecosystems n.pg) Prior to the 1977 federal water pollution control act, Mining companies would proceed with the exercise of strip mining, and the removal of culm material would proceed, without regarding the destruction of the ecosystems.(Frelich, n.pg) Water goes through some mines, and can seep into fractured bedrock which in result can contaminate water when resurfaced down the watershed.(Frelich, n.pg) Stream channels are usually altered on mined sites due to the contaminated water because the bedrock can contain radioactive substances, which cause a lot of erosion and some species cannot handle the amount of sediment deposition.(Frelich, n.pg) Another concern is the destruction of wetlands. they have many benefits in regard to the environment, and are now in protection by the government.Wetlands trap sediments and dissolved pollutants. But due to Mining has caused dirty water to to block the absorption of the sediments and can cause flooding in forests. Mining also impacts forests and terrestrial ecosystems.dissolve other materials such as metals and they can leak
Objectives • To evaluate the difficulty of mining and reclamation To calculate costs, expenses, income, and profit from a hands-on mining exercise. • To evaluate the effectiveness of reclamation and its added costs to mining. To describe the increasing rarity of some non-renewable mineral resources. Introduction Minerals play an important role in our day-to-day life, but we often do not contemplate how the minerals are obtained. Minerals are scattered all over the world, just like any other resource.
Mining can effect the environment majorly; one of these ways is deforestation. Before the mining process begins, the whole land that is being mined has to be cleared. Deforestation decreases the amount of habitats for animals. In worse cases this can even lead to death of animals. Land dredging happens when holes are filled with contaminated water. The holes then become a breeding nest for mosquitoes and other disease carrying insects. This can lead to spreading of diseases.
Colonizing Mars, it seems like a distant achievement. Some say impossible, some say it will happen soon. Since Elon Musk has entered this field of exploration colonization of Mars has seemed even more plausible. Still, problems have surfaced to make this much more difficult than it has to be. This makes some believe this to be impossible or unlikely for the time. Despite what side you are on we can both agree that we want to advance in space exploration.
The “gold rush” could soon become the “asteroid rush”. Mining space is something that has never been conducted behind NASA, but behind private companies this is a new venture that can be explored. Although, the technical aspects still need to be worked out and the thought of mining asteroids is ludicrous, this is a very feasible option. Many companies have already constructed a plan on how they could mine these asteroids. In an interview with Elon Musk, he discusses how mining asteroids will one day be able to sustain the space economy. When Musk refers to the space economy he is referencing his idea and plan of one day colonizing Mars along with constant interplanetary travel. “Others [asteroids] are substantial and potentially packed full of water and various important minerals, such as nickel, cobalt, and iron. One day, advocates believe, those objects will be tapped by variations on the equipment used in the coal mines of Kentucky or in the diamond mines of Africa. And for immense gain: According to industry experts, the contents of a single asteroid could be worth trillions of dollars” (Shaer). The thought of wiping out the entire United States debt with one or two successful excavations of an asteroids should be enough to gain public support of privately funded space programs. Although private, these companies will need immense public support. In order to gain billionaire investors and find people willing to risk their life to pioneer space, people want a plan. Private companies such as Blue Origin and SpaceX have provided the world with numerous plans on how we can commercialize space on our journey to discover more of the vast
Knowing the impermanence of the Earth, do humans have a moral obligation to find and
Oil drilling is an issue that needs more attention, attention to the destruction It is causing, attention to how it is impacting our environment. The accident in the gulf of Mexico should have opened up our eyes in how idiotic and dangerous oil drilling is that 's why we need to stop them. To narrow down where we should stop is Alaska. "In recent reports by the NRC ,confirms that oil drilling in the north slope of Alaska has had an environmental and economic effect in the last three decades." ("Save ANWR") and by continuing to take oil out of the ground there are now empty holes under ground, which means with one bad earthquake will cause a huge catastrophe in Alaska, making harder for animals and maybe humans to live there. By taking out and not replacing what we took is creating our own fates. It creates multiple problems.
Santhebennur, Malavika. "The Pros and Cons of Deep Sea Mining [INFOGRAPHIC]." N.p., 21 June 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. .
There is a huge amount of water and energy consumption goes to the extraction and production of metals (about 7% of world energy and 0.03% of world water)(Izatt et al., 2014:p.2460), and the new technological advances are allowing the extraction of lower grade minerals at the expense of increasing energy consumption (Richards, 2005:pp.133–135). Another environmental aspect is mining activities which include blasting mountains to reach minerals,() , this causes permanent damage to the landscape and habitat modification (Anon, 2015). Another concern is the chemicals, loose soil, and minerals that can be washed with rainfall into the water stream, affecting downstream fish, plant life and water usability for human activities. Mine wastes represent a huge environmental problem. Hudson et al define them as “those waste products originating, accumulating and present at mine sites, which are unwanted and have no current economic value”. The scale of mine waste is huge, they are considered as one of the largest waste streams in the world despite them having a high concentration of hazardous chemicals and elements that are deadly to the wildlife and humans (Hudson et al, 2011). They have been discharged to marine, rivers, and lakes which is very lethal for the environment. New technologies, laws, and procedures are required for recycling and reusing these materials in sustainable
Though it has had many negative impacts on the environment in the past, mining is a vital industry completely necessary to our economy and lives. Nearly every item we use or encounter in our day to day lives is mined or contains mined products. Without the excavation of such materials things like computers, televisions, large building structures, electricity, and cars would not be possible. Virtually every technological and medical advance uses minded materials, without which millions would suffer. Some examples of minerals in the home include the telephone which is made from as many as 42 different minerals, including aluminum, beryllium, coal, copper, gold, iron, silver, and talc. A television requires over 35 different minerals, and more than 30 minerals are needed to make a single personal computer. Without boron, copper, gold and quartz, your digital alarm clock would not work. Every American uses an average 47,000 pounds of newly mined materials each year, which is higher than all other countries with the exception of Japan, which is a staggering figure representative of our dependence and need for mined minerals. Coal makes up more than half of nation’s electricity, and will continue to be the largest electrical supplier into 2020 & accounting for some 95 percent of the nation's fossil energy reserves – nine of every ten short-tons of coal mined in the United States is used for electricity generation. As the population of the world grows more mineral resources must be exploited through mining in order to support the rising demand for such products. Though it may present a hazard to the environment and those physically located nears the mines, the materials extracted from mines...
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.