Coal: A Human History was written by Barbara Freese to focus on the history of coal and how mankind has used it as part of their lifestyle. Ever since the times when early nomads used the slash-and-burn method, coal has been around acting as jewelry for the Romans and as fuel for peasants and the noble class in Britain. Coal was in such high demand that many inventions were utilized for the convenience of retrieving it from intolerable conditions such as vacuums and the construction of more efficient underground tunnels. The book gives insight of how this small stone has been so vital to humans that they were able to adapt to the ways coal best functions.
Freese wrote this non-fiction book to inform how coal has affected humans socially, economically, and medically. As an Assistant Attorney General of Minnesota she has helped enforce the major pollution laws of her state. Freese suppose that the public need to know how to contain themselves and use coal in moderation, unlike our prior generations. It is thought by Freese that if humankind continues to act greedy with coal, the planet will only continue to get abused by the actions of humans. The book explains in vast detail how a greasy lump of fertilized plant and soil has given many opportunities for human growth to prosper. Offering heat as an energy source, coal has made a lasting impression on what humans are today. It is stated in the book that without the use of coal many inventions would not be around due to the facilitation of its connection to coal and life today would be most certainly different.
As humans first discovered coal, like every other commodity on Earth, there had to be experiments before the best use for it was found. Freese illustrates the introduction ...
... middle of paper ...
...as changed my point of view in the way I see and value coal. Like stated in the book, coal is thought of as a sign of poverty and weakness. However after Freese explains this statement and how it is not true, I began to understand how important coal was for molding the lives we know today.
Though this book would not be one which is read for enjoyment, there are overwhelming amounts of detail and descriptions which makes it a valid source of information. From the early stages of jewelry to heating houses to fueling locomotives, coal has been around as a strong and reliable source. This is a commodity which has truly stood through the test of time and its vast powers will allow it to prosper even more. It is safe to say that without coal the lives of humans would not be operating as currently known to civilization, due to the path it paved in all aspects of a society.
Roughly 68 percent of the electricity generated in the United States of America is produced by fossil fuels. That includes petroleum, natural gases and coal. Although coal contributes around 37 percent to the factor, it is by far not the cleanest of them all. Some might argue that it is good for the economy because it is cheap and it creates jobs.. But the other side of the story portrays coal mining as a process that kills thousands of coal miners a year and that it practically destroys the environment around the mining with soot and air pollution. Mining now days is a big part of urbanization; due to how cheap the process is. There are different ways that coal mining is done. Mainly mountain top removal is done but there are many other
Coal is one of the world’s most abundant fossil fuels. Coal was formed during the Carboniferous Period when dead plant material was buried and subjected to high pressure and heat. Coal is classified by moisture content and composition. There are four d...
Coal was an essential of life, especially concerning warmth and food preparation, for Victorians. The use of coal has a longer history than many suspect; predates the Victorian Era by hundred of years. The Victorians spent a great deal of time not just using various coal products, but also spent a long time thinking and disagreeing about a wide range of issues that concerned such an essential product for their way of life.
Coal was the cutting edge of energy generation before any other source was extensively used. Wood, wind, water, and muscle power provided nearly all of the energy before the widespread adoption of coal. The greater energy density of coal provides a greater efficiency than these other methods of generating power; combine that greater efficiency with its ease of transportation and coal easily becomes the fuel of a nation. In its early days, coal was mined and consumed in England, a country short on wood and usable water power. This shortage in other areas left a gap that the relatively cheap coal could fill. Coal allowed for industry and manufacturing to grow and produce profits greater than almost any other industry. Coal gained its popularity mainly because it had an economic value in that it provided energy in quantities and in locations that were unobtainable and unreachable for the other energy sources at the time. This start in England led to momentum in ta...
Coal Has provided my home, my famines home, my friends home, and many other homes in the state with heat. There is a large chain of events that help West Virginia. The coal mines is started near a river or t creates a river, then people move to the area creating a stable job for people in the area. The coal is mined and transported to homes around the state. This heats homes and creates families for future coal miners. This will keep the coal industry booming for many years to come
Coal, coal, coal, it is everywhere, and in the 1920’s people found out how powerful it was. There was a great move to find and get as much coal they could. So many people packed up what they had and went to mine coal for a living, but soon found out that it was not a wonderful life. It was hard and tough life. People somehow found a way to survive in these old Kentucky hills. Mining has improved greatly over the years by the type of equipment they have produced and the new safety restrictions they have put in place but mining it is still a hard life. There are still challenges that they face every day. People overcome them and face the fear that comes with the. People come and go in this old Kentucky hill but what they do when they are here changes them forever.
With all the coal dust in the air, it made it so you were always breathing it in. In the long term it made it very dangerous for your health. Sometimes if there was just one little spark it could set off an explosion. It is a combination of coal, dust and gas. It creates a kind of tornado effect. The miners were all very well educated on this. Coal gives off a gas that is impossible to see. It is often called the white damp. A lot of mining companies cut corners to make more money and not go under. This was catastrophic to the mine and the miners. When cutting corners this caused a lot of explosions and people working in very dangerous situations and conditions. When an explosion happened most miners were trapped like helpless animals. They couldn’t do anything so they died of being burnt
The Chinese Republic of Coal: Why the excessive combustion of coal in China poses detrimental impacts on its environment and society, as well as the rest of the world.
Although coal mining is important to local and global economies, there are many environmental impacts of both the mining and use of coal that must be considered. Actions can be taken to mitigate these environmental impacts but it is up to scientists to identify these potential problems and put plans into action before it is too late.
The natural resource that I am writing this paper on is coal. Coal is a cheap, dirty fossil fuel which we burn to create power. Coal is the most abundant in North America and in Russia, including the area around it. China also has a fairly good amount of coal in it too. Coal, like all of the other fossil fuels is nonrenewable and will eventually run out, in the not so near future. Coal is very important to many of the countries of the world. The countries that use the most coal are China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan. These five countries “account for 76% of total global coal use.” (World Coal Association, 2014).
Most of america does not know but two out of twelve percent of the united states coal will be shut down by or in 2025.(Jeff Spross) This is terrible because coal is what the world runs on. People in america are happy because it is going to make the environment better, but when it comes down to it they will complain when electric prices go up because it cost more to make energy. Coal is what powers phones, houses, schools, restaurants, gas stations, it is what powers the tools to build the houses that keep us warm at night, and the cities and towns we all call home across America.
In her book Coal A Human History, Barbara Freese states "The mundane mineral that built our global economyand even today powers our electrical plantshas also caused death, disease, and environmental destruction" (front flap) Today, coal provides for more than 55% of the electricity generated in the U.S. (Cullen, Robert Vol.272) Coal miners have had one of the most dangerous jobs in history before government regulation. Many miners had to work underground for 10 + hours a day and 6 days a week(Cobb, James "Coal") The number of deaths per year is the equivalent of a Titanic going down in the nation's coal fields each year (Turkington, Carol) According to James Cobb from the World Book Online Reference Center mine safety involves four main types of problems including accidents involving machinery, roof and rib failures, accumulations of gases and concentrations of coal dust.
Coal mining came along in 1700; coal mining was an easy process in the early days as it was inexpensive and simple as coal was close to the surface. two forms of coal mines existed before the industrial revolution had begun, the drift and bell mines, both were small and produced a large quantity of solid coal, as the years went on coal mining got deeper and deeper because coal was no longer found close to the surface, as the coal mines got deeper the working conditions got more and more dangerous, however Coal shafts were created to help with getting deeper into the mines and could go hundreds of feet into the ground (These are all great points, but could be split into several sentences). Coal mining were located in different parts throughout Britain some include Northwich, Crewe, Nantwitch, Lymm, Manchester, Middlewich and Sandwich`. Robert North, who worked in a coal mine in Yorkshire, said: 'I went into the pit at seven years of age. When I drew by the girdle and chain, my skin was broken and the blood ran down … If we said anything, they would beat us.’ (Annabel Venning , 2010, para. 3). (This is a great direct quote. Perhaps follow it up with a sentence written by you that connects this to your point. For example: “This quote supports that children were not respected or treated safely in the mining industry”. Same thing goes for your next quote ). Another young girl named Sarah Gooder Said 'I have to trap without a light and I'm scared,' she told the inspector. 'I go at four and sometimes half-past three in...
Communities where coal mining exists tend to have great advantages, but there are always disadvantages with those benefits. Coal mining is a great energy source suppling about 30% of the entire energy needs over the world, producing 40% of electricity. Where there is coal, there are jobs, roughly 130,000 people are employed in the coal industry. As the demand for coal continues to rise, employment will also increase, raising employment rates. Coal mining is practiced because it is an inexpensive source of energy. The process of coal extraction is not difficult, whether it takes place on the surface or underground, miners are not required to go deep into the earth every time. Unlike oil, when transporting coal, it is easier and cheaper. The coal does not go through high pressure pipelines which includes expensive maintenance.
Coal mining can benefit humans as well as it supports the economy in many ways. Coal mining provides a lot of jobs for local communities. It provides over 7 million jobs worldwide.