Coal-fired power plants emit large quantities of mercury into the atmosphere, which pollutes the air and water supply of different ecosystems. A large debate is just how much mercury pollution is deposited near it’s emissions sites and how much is sucked into the atmosphere, where it becomes part of a global mercury pool composed of emissions from immeasurable mercury sources from around the earth. The hypothesis is that mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants are polluting the environment and are severely toxic to humans and the ecosystem. Scientists have been using different research methods to gather data that provides evidence of the mercury build up and the adverse health effects to humans and the environment. The Materials used in this study are peer-reviewed journal articles with information on humans, animals, and mercury levels in the environment emitted from Coal burning power plants. The data collected is from rainfall samples, Surveys, and U-M mercury fingerprinting. Based on the functionalist perspective, the use of coal-fired power plants is a way to contribute to society’s practical continuation. These power plants provide electricity, which is a resource that modern American holds so dear. Americans rely on electricity for all types of activities. Coal-fired power plants use can also be seen through the eyes of conflict perspective, where, the use of these power-plants help to economically and technologically “advance” a society, however they create toxins that produce health issues, that cannot be dismissed or overridden. Mercury is a naturally occurring element, but there is about 2,000 tons emitted each year from human-generated activities. These sources are, but not limited to, incinerators, coal-fired ... ... middle of paper ... ...contribute to heart disease in adults. In conclusion, coal fired power plants provide electricity for millions of people, however there are many disadvantages of the use of these plants. Mercury that is released by these power plants contributes to air pollution that also collects in the water supply. These power plants, although they enriched the United States socioeconomic environment, have very negative consequences. Based on the evidence shown throughout the articles and data collected, mercury poisoning generates toxic environments for marine life, humans, and the ecosystems of the earth. Many people in the U.S. and other regions of the world experience negative health effects and problems from mercury pollution, and although the illnesses or impairments that come from the exposure cannot be reversed, they can be monitored and decreased for future generations.
Removal of the mountaintops causes environmental impacts from blasting. The blasting has caused rocks to be deposited into valleys on the hillsides, burying almost 2,000 miles of streams which feed the Mississippi River. Slurry, the residue which is used to clean the coal can wash into groundwater and may contain arsenic, lead, manganese, iron, sodium, strontium, and sulfate. A recent research study is beginning to link these environmental impacts to the grave health concerns in the Appalachian communities. During most of the Mountaintop removal mining’s history coal industries have been able to obtain permits easily to operate, but once under the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) those permits now take more time to obtain. The permit process requires all applications to be reviewed before being given out to coal
"The Toll from Coal." Catf.us. Clean Air Task Force, Sept. 2010. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
* A small amount of mercury is found in the crust of the earth. This is not the problem. The anthropogenic mercury is the problem.
5). The high mortality rates are related to the environmental exposures of the coal mining along with other factors such as smoking, poverty, education, age, race and sex. “Higher lung cancer incidence and mortality in the Kentucky Appalachia is thought to result from higher smoking rates and correlates of poor socioeconomic conditions which limits the population access to health care” (Hendryx, O'Donnell, & Horn, 2008, p. 2). The population residing in coal mining areas, are exposed to contaminated water and air from the coal mining and there is a concern for respiratory illnesses related to the pollutants. The fumes or toxin released from the coal mine, this places the individual at a risk for respiratory issues such as emphysema, black lung, brown lung and
Concerns about contamination found in fish can pose a threat to its consumers and put their outcomes at risk. Fish are known to contain the chemicals mercury, dioxins, and PCBS that can be harmful to individuals. These chemicals may build up in a person’s body after years of eating highly contaminated fish that can result to one’s health concern. “In America one-in-six children born every year have been exposed to mercury levels so high that they are potentially at risk for learning disabilities and motor skill impairment and short-term memory loss” (“Mercury in”). This statistic shows that inf...
The major source of mercury is the natural degassing of the earth's crust, including land areas, rivers, and the ocean, and this source is estimated to produce on the order of 2700 to 6000 tons per year. The total man made release into the atmosphere is about 2000 to 3000 tons, and it is difficult to assess what quantities of mercury come from human activities and what quantities from natural resources. Run-off into natural bodies of water may contain mercury from both anthropogenic and natural sources, so it is difficult to assess how much released into the atmosphere is from man made or natural sources. Nevertheless, mining, smelting, and industrial discharge have been factors in the environmental contamination in the past. For instance, it is estimated that loss in water effluent from chloralkali plants, one of the largest users of mercury, has been reduced to 99% in recent years. Industrial activities not directly employing mercury or mercury products give rise to substantial quantities of this metal. Fossil fuel may contain as much as 1 ppm of mercury, and it is estimated that about 5000 tons of mercury per year may be emitted from burning coal, natural gas, and from the refining of petroleum products. Calculations based on the mercury content of the Greenland ice cap show an increase from the year 1900 to the present and suggest that the increment is related both to an increase in background levels of mercury in rainwater and to man made r...
Storm water runoff is the biggest polluter of streams, creeks, rivers and ocean water systems. “Nationwide, storm water is a leading source of water pollution. About thirteen percent of U.S. rivers, eighteen percent of lakes and thirty-two percent of estuaries are classified as impaired by storm water, which means they are rendered unsafe for swimming or fishing. It also contributes to the degradation of many other waterways” (Coefield, 2010, p.1). The improperly disposed coal waste from Duke Energy easily percolates through t...
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
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).
Environmental Health & Engineering, Inc. EMISSIONS OF HAZERDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FROM COAL- FIRED POWER PLANTS. Environmental Report. Needham, 2011. Print. 18 November 2014.
Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution. So you might wonder, what is the coal being used for? Well coal is a black sedimentary rock. It is formed from high pressure and temperatures, from organic matter that lived millions of years ago, through a process called coalification. The amount of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in the coal are the main factors during the combustion. The carbon amount determined how much CO2 emi...
Burning and mining coal for fuel is harmful to the environment, but because of how cheap and easy it is to find, many people are unwilling to give it up as a fuel source. One of the problems with coal is that they are limited and are non-renewable, so once it has been used we won’t be able to use it again. When coal gets burned, they start to release harmful, dangerous toxins such as mercury, lead and arsenic that will then escape into the air. It also releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. These emissions increase the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere and lead to global warming.
Today talking about environmental issues lately to be like a common topic discussion until people take it for granted. However, the world facing a complex environmental problems related to each trouble that connected to one another and come out with greater impacts to the environment and humans. This is because the effects of environmental only can be seen in long term period rather than immediately result show up. Environmental issues must become one of the controversial matters in the society in order to make people know the truth what the world currently facing. There were a lot of environmental disaster happened such as climate change, global warming, various of pollutions, earthquake and etc. the rise of environmental issues begin with this urban development occur through several countries following with the technologies equip along. For sure, development will cause a huge negative impact to the environment if it deals without a care. Besides, the environment is the place in the ecosystem to hold and use in finding resources to continuously survive in this world. Thus, the finding and digging for the resources which happening extensively without preservation will not restore the surrounding similar with before. But then, the change cannot be refuse and people need to take an action to save the threaten the world and the ecosystem from being extinct. If each country has own output in causing an environmental problem, then consider the world to hold all the damage occurred. Exposing the effects of environmental issues throughout the world, make people realize the important to take care the environment.
There are lots of environmental issues going on globally. The earth faces problems such as pollution, global warming, waste disposal, and loss of biodiversity. These are just a small amount of issues out of the so many. These environmental problems pose an abundant amount of risk to the health of humans and animals. There needs to be a solution to all these problems and that is by informing others, so that way everyone can make the environment a better place.
Fuels like coal, and oil that once were a fine innovation in creating energy are now rapidly deleting and one day will be gone forever; energy that won’t last is often referred to as non-renewable energy. Besides being set up to fail and become inefficient in the future, fossil fuel energy is not clean to use and poses several environmental complications. Coal, for instance is “the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. Coal combustion not only produces sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain and snow, it generates millions of tons of particulates that cause asthma and other respiratory diseases.” As with all usage of fossil fuels, it creates enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, which contributes to greenhouse gas. Not only are fossil fuels dirty, they also pose as a security risk and unforgiving on the American wallet. (Saini)