ENVIRONMENT

Environment can be defined as a sum total of all the living and non-living elements
and their effects that influence human life. While all living or biotic elements
are animals, plants, forests, fisheries, and birds, non-living or abiotic elements
include water, land, sunlight, rocks, and air.
IMPACTS OF MINING TO THE ENVIRONMENT
Mining can have numerous, primarily negative, impacts on the surrounding
environment, ranging from the exacerbation of climate change to the reduction of
global and regional levels of biodiversity.

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF MINING ON THE ENVIROMENT

Many negative impacts can result from mining activities, such as: Climate change,
deforestation or habitat destruction, pollution soil erosion, human-wildlife
conflict, and the loss of biodiversity.

DEFORESTATION/HABITAT DESTRUCTION
The construction of mines often requires a large area of land, and these areas are
often the location of previously undisturbed natural habitats. This results in the
removal of large areas of habitat (usually forest) to build the mine, followed by
other negative impacts from the presence of many people moving to, living, and
working around the mine.

These other negative impacts include poaching of wildlife, overfishing of

rivers/wetlands, and increases in the level of human-wildlife conflict,
particularly in areas where large predatory species (e.g., big cats and
crocodilians) are found.

POLLUTION
Many of these mines discharge mining waste materials into adjacent river systems,
which can have widespread and far-reaching impacts downstream. Hazardous chemicals,
such as arsenic, lead, and mercury, are contained within these waste materials and
end up in many downstream rivers, lakes, and wetlands that communities use for
fishing and drinking water. Through a process called biomagnification, these
hazardous chemicals build up in the tissue of fish and affect other organisms
further up the food chain that use the fish as a food resource (including humans).

[22/04, 22:06] Milércia: HUMAN -WILDLIFE CONFLICT

The islands of Bangka and Belitung, off the southeastern coast of South Sumatra in
Indonesia, are the site of intense tin-mining activity.
[22/04, 22:06] Milércia: (continuação de HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT?)
These tin mines are often built in and around the island's major river systems and
wetlands, devastating the local environment and removing vital mangrove and
freshwater swamp habitats. This has resulted in diminished fish stocks and
biodiversity loss on the islands. It has also had an unexpected impact- increased
attacks and predation on workers and residents by saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus
porosus).

It is believed that the reduction in fish stocks (the crocodile's natural prey),
combined with the increased presence of humans in the former crocodile habitat, has
resulted in increased levels of conflict.

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
Sand mining is big business in India, with illegal sand mining operations becoming
a major environmental and security issue in parts of the country. The mining
activity has the potential to impact local biodiversity levels severely.

Illegal sand mining operations around the Son Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary in the
state of Madhya Pradesh are believed to have decimated the local population of
Indian gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) through the loss of basking and nesting
habitat, as well as the flooding of nests and generalised habitat degradation.

It was found that the number of adult gharials present within the
sanctuary decreased from 72 individuals in 2016 down to a mere 20 in 2021.

CLIMATE CHANGE
Coal mining provides humans with an inexpensive form of fossil fuel, which is
probably why around 40% of the world's population currently relies on coal power.
Coal mining and its use also have disastrous consequences for the environment,
biodiversity, and human health. However, coal's most widely known impact is on
the Earth's climate.

Coal burning currently accounts for around 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions
worldwide and contributes significantly to anthropogenic climate change

POSITIVE EMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIROMENT

While the bulk of impacts mining has on the environment are negative, a small
number of positive impacts have also been noted. The most commonly mentioned
positive impacts relate to how mines create jobs and improve infrastructure for
local communities, reducing the burden on the natural environment. In practice,
however, this is rarely the case, as mines often result in the unsustainable
exploitation of the local environment and attract violence. There are, however,
some genuinely positive impacts that can come from mines.