Marine Environment Essay

The experiment procedure is first, get your materials, shells, water, vinegar, measuring spoon, a cup, and a beaker. Next,

I will say that as much as the expression “Canary in the coal mine” implies an early warning of danger in mines so does it in water too. In this case the fish directly helps us know the extent to which our ecological sphere is damaged, and helps humans to take the necessary precautions to save the environment.

Clean coal technology usually addresses atmospheric problems resulting from burning coal. Historically, the primary focus was on sulfur dioxide and particulates, since it is the most important gas in the causation of acid rain. More recent focus has been on carbon dioxide (due to its impact on global warming) as well as other pollutants. Concerns exist regarding the economic viability of these technologies and the timeframe of delivery, potentially high hidden economic costs in terms of social and environmental damage, and the costs and viability of disposing of removed carbon and other toxic matter. More, the byproducts of coal power production range from fly ash sludge ponds full of mercury, arsenic, and sulfur in unlined ponds that can leak into the water supply.

I would have to say that from the reading that it can be very harmful for the coal mining chemicals to seep into the ground into our drinking water.

What is coal ash, and how does it relate to North Carolina? Coal ash is a mixture of chemicals and metals that are a threat to the environment and the well- being of others. The dangers of coal ash increase as the ponds they are stored in are being located near power plants sitting beside our water sources. Sadly, we Americans use coal for a significant number of things. This may include electricity, steel, cement, etc. North Carolina has 30 additional sites of coal manufacturing located in 14 different locations. As a community, we continuously take resources that we need such as water for granted. We don’t realize how contamination of our water sources can affect our daily lives.

Marine pollution is not a new phenomenon, but our acknowledgement of its impacts and severity is relatively new, with the first laws and discussions to counter it only appearing in the 1950’s. For much of history, it was thought that the oceans were so large that any pollution created would be negligible and easily diluted (Marine Pollution). Since, countless research and laws have been implemented in order to preserve our marine ecosystems because of how crucial these ecosystems are to humanity.

Coal tar is extremely toxic and contains a highly carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), as well as other toxic chemicals, and at the bottom of Randle Reef there lies one million tons of coal tar. To put that in perspective, that is enough tar to fill the FirstOntario Centre over three

lives, but the reality is coal creates a highly pollutive byproduct. Humans have discovered that

Things like mining too far into a wall that connects to an older mine, thus increasing the danger of a collapse, is common. Other practices include shoddy dams that contain the slurry, a mixture of water and fine particles of coal, which do not always meet structural regulations that can and have broken and flood nearby communities (Light and Light, 2006). There are other environmental issues that are associated with coal mining. Acid mine drainage is the result of sulfide minerals being exposed to oxygen. This produces sulfuric acid and can dissolve heavy metals from the waste rock, making it bioavailable. Without proper treatment, this will poison the water systems near that mine and will seep into the streams, creeks, and even ground and well water. The water turns orange and is impossible for anything to live off of the water or in it (Kirsch, 2014). Another issue of coal mining is airborne coal dust, which can result in Black Lung disease. This is caused by inhaling too much coal dust and is common in miners, but with surface mining becoming more prevalent, more coal dust is being released into the air and drifting down to the communities. More children and elderly people are having respiratory problems that many believe are because of

The energy we get from coal today comes from the energy that plants absorbed from the sun millions of years ago. When an area is to be mined, topsoil and subsoil are removed from the rock and so is another material, call overburden, to expose the bed of coal. All living plants give solar energy through photosynthesis. When plants die the energy gets out as the plants decay. The whole decaying process gets interrupted which prevents the release of the stored solar energy, then the energy stays locked in the coal. The plant material gets subjected to high temperatures and pressures which causes physical and chemical changes in the vegetation, transforming it into peat and then into coal. The formation of peat is the first step in the geological formation of fossil fuels such as coal. Peat plants is not only the first step for formation but they also capture CO2 itself. There are many effect to the environment when it comes to coal; an example is AMD which stands for Acid mine drainage; it includes the outflow of acidic water from coal mines or metal mines. Mines exposed rocks containing pyrite which reacts to water and air to form acid and dissolved iron and can easily wash into rivers and streams. Coal is a huge impact when it comes to hurting our

Despite these many benefits, the coal mines also proposes many environmental issues, the first of which would be the effect that they would have on the neighbouring Great Barrier Reef. The increased production of carbon dioxide would increase the rate of ocean acidification in the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO site that is already suffering from many other pollution and destruction issues. However ocean acidification would only be a secondary effect of the coal mines, as the primary concern would be runoff of sediment from the mines that would leak into the reef, polluting it even further.

Under the Sea Dumping Act, the Commonwealth aims to minimise pollution threats by prohibiting ocean disposal of waste considered too harmful to be released in the marine environment and regulating permitted waste disposal to ensure environmental impacts are minimised. Permits are required for all sea dumping operations and are most commonly issued for dredging operations and the creation of artificial reefs applying to all vessels, aircraft and platforms in Australian waters. Under the Australian Government Department of Environment (2015), the Sea Dumping Act has a relationship with Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), as the act attends to all forms such as coal seam gas, mining and sea dumping. When an operation that requires the handling of goods that can potentially impact the environment, such as exporting fuel or plants and animals, the permit must be approved by the EPBC Act as well as the Sea Dumping Act. Many stakeholders believe that the changes need to be made to ensure minimal impact to the environment occurs. A recent example of pollution to Australian waters, is the investigation by the Gladstone Ports Corporation (GQC) of an alleged oil spill in Gladstone harbour which revealed the substance with the water to be coal fines. Coal fines are the small particles of coal material that are washed-off the coal during the preparation plant process. The GPC could not pin-point what caused coal fines to be in the water, but a spokeswoman for GPC said it was suspected the material had spilled out from one of the wharf's sample plants; Where the penalty for deliberately discharging oil or chemicals into Queensland waters is $550,000 for an individual and $11 million for a corporation (The Observer, 2013). The result of the spill has caused locally sourced fish to “have been found with sores, rashes, and infected eyes, some possibly blind” which has not only

Coal power is the cheapest fuel to power the ever growing population with Australian mining industry still putting in billions of dollars into a vast amount of coal projects never the less coal power is a fossil fuel, a fuel which takes hundreds of year to form so the future of coal is undetermined. Coal is a reliable power source but one of the many concern with coal is the mining process used to remove it from the ground. Ecological effects are developing worries for the industry, with the carbon emissions possibly contributing to global warming.

With that being said here are some environmental impacts of coal you may not know about. The air pollutants cause acid rain, smog ,respiratory illnesses, cancers and toxins in the environment. Coal miners can get respiratory illnesses from the coal dust while mining. If an abandoned coal mine catches fire it puts tons of mercury into the atmosphere, this happens every year and is responsible for three percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally. The second largest contributor to

However, many fisherman are unable to catch as many fish as they used to, so they are increasingly using cyanide and dynamite in fishing, which further degrades the coral reef ecosystem.[6] This perpetuation of bad habits simply leads to the further decline of coral reefs and therefore perpetuating the problem. One solution to stopping this cycle is to educate the local community about why conservation of marine spaces that include coral reefs is important.[7] Once the local communities understand the personal stakes at risk then they will actually fight to preserve the reefs. Conserving coral reefs has many economic, social, and ecological benefits, not only for the people who live on these islands, but for people throughout the world as well.