Question

What is the impact of developing and using rock, mineral, and energy resources on earth's living and non living systems

Answer 1

Answer:  The use of rock, mining and energy production contaminates the environment by affecting the abiotic land mass. And therefore, by contaminating the habitat, the living beings that live there are harmed.

Explanation:

Mineral and rock extraction, transport and processing comprise actions that produce environmental impacts because it produces a certain disturbance to the surface and underlying strata, as well as to aquifers. These impacts can be short-lived, lasting as long as the mine is operational, or they can persist after mine development has been completed.

Major impacts include:

• Contamination of soil, vegetation, drainages, rivers and groundwater aquifers contamination from leaking tailing piles and slurry ponds. If not properly treated, effluent from surface or subway mine water disposal can be highly acidic, and will contaminate surface waters and shallow groundwater with heavy metals, nitrates or oil from equipment, reducing local water supplies. During surface mining, movement and stockpiling of overburden, constructions or covering of soils alter rivers, drainages and coastal areas.

• Surface disturbance caused by access roads, pits, and site preparation.
• Noise and emissions from the operation of equipment.
• Air pollution, atmospheric dust from traffic, excavation, drilling and site clearing. Atmospheric particulates come from blasting, excavation and earth moving, transportation or any operations that occur on the surface of subway mines.
• Removal of rock strata can disrupt the continuity of the local aquifer, and cause interconnections and contamination between groundwater.

Both surface and subway mining include a drainage of the mine area and discharge of mine water, the removal and storage/disposal of large volumes of waste and the transfer and processing of minerals or construction materials. This requires the use of diesel or electric mining and haulage equipment. Transportation of ore within the mine area and to processing facilities may use trucks, conveyors, rail, polyduct or conveyor belt which are vehicles that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide.

Processing plants may be located in mountainous regions and so may have difficulty disposing of production wastes and other pollutants. They may then end up disposing of them in rivers or coastal waters.

The land at the surface of the mines will be unstable, there will be fracturing and subsidence, it will modificate soils, vegetation, rivers, wildlife habitat, wetlands, causing a temporary or permanent loss of land productivity, and contamination of soils due to mineral materials and toxic substances.

Also, the production and use of energy is the main cause, together with transportation, of greenhouse gas emissions, the gases responsible for climate change. Consequences of climate change are increased temperatures, rising sea levels and reduced rainfall.

The current model of generation, transport and consumption, absolutely dependent on fossil fuels, is unsustainable. The chemical products emitted, mainly from coal and oil-derived thermal power plants, are transported by the wind and deposited by rainfall thousands of kilometers away from their origin, causing "acid rain", which is the cause of the deterioration and destruction of forests, lakes and other ecosystems. Another example are the Nuclear power plants which produce high-level radioactive waste (long-lived, highly radioactive), which poses a constant threat to the environment due to the current inability to manage it.

Thus, the use of rock, mining and energy production contaminates the environment by affecting the abiotic land mass. And therefore, by contaminating the habitat, the living beings that live there are harmed.