How Does Mining Affect the Environment?

There are several different types of mining like oil, mineral, gold and coal mining processes. Almost all the processes have one thing in common and that is mining for fossil fuels. Mining is mainly done to extract the minerals and metals from the core of the earth.

Mining is a very profitable business and it also creates employment opportunities. It benefits everyone including the government and that is why the mining industry is widely supported. There are several negative effects of mining for the environment.

To make mining possible, several forests are cleared and this leads to deforestation. Most of the mines in Africa were created after cutting down forests. The vegetation is cleared in order to build the mining facility and laying roads. Several organisms and animals live in these forests. With the deforestation, these organisms and animals lose their natural habitat. So, they start looking for a new habitat in order to survive. However, most organisms and animals do not respond very well this change and end up dying. The biodiversity is lost in this process. A number of smaller plants and creepers that grow with the support of the trees also die due to deforestation.

Every single forest in the world is a biosphere of its own. It is impossible to create a biosphere artificially as the various processes and inter-dependence of organisms is too complicated.

In addition, mining causes a lot of pollution as a lot of chemical waste incurred due to the various processed involved. This waste is released into water bodies, rivers and sea. The chemical composition of the soil also changes in the mining area. It becomes a desert-like environment where nothing grows.