Are Coal Factories Worth the Cost?
Now when I say cost, I’m not referring to coals literal value, I’m referring to how it affects the environment. Throughout this article I will talk about how coal affects the environment and people, as well as what these coal factories are useful for.
Coals affect on Human Health.
Coal is a very cheap substance to use for fuel, but its affect on the human body is pretty scary. Coal can be the leading cause of several different diseases. Examples include Cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and even chronic arsenic poisoning. Cancer is one of the scariest diseases to get diagnosed with, so considering you can get cancer from coal makes me terrified for those who work in the coal industry. Chronic arsenic poisoning doesn’t even have to have direct contact with the coal. When coal is burned it gives off arsenic, and if the burning coal is in a location close to where crops are growing, then these crops have a chance of being covered in these arsenic particles. Then when you go to eat these crops the arsenic is digested along with the crops resulting in the poisoning. Coal factories that are located in populated cities are a big health risk to those living nearby. All of these diseases that you can get from coal could be the cause of someone’s death.
Coals affect on the Climate
Coal is one of the larger causes of Global warming as well as the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer. When coal is burned it creates carbon dioxide which is a gas that traps heat in. This heat trapped in the carbon dioxide causes the temperature to rise, thus worsening our planets climate.
Our climate had gotten so terrible that in 1985 we discovered there was a hole in our ozone layer. This Ozone layer is more or less Earths defensive mechanism against the sun. Thankfully, the Earth’s Ozone layer is currently improving and expected to heal completely, but coal factories will only set this back. This ozone layer is what protects us from the UV rays of the sun, so if the ozone layer starts to deteriorate again then there will be a rise in the number of individuals to contract skin cancer.
So Why Do We Use Coal?
Coal does bring some benefits to the economy despite how bad it is for the ecosystem. There are two main benefits for using coal which are:
-Electricity
-Jobs
In today’s age electricity is a very large aspect of daily lives, and coal is used in the most common process of making electricity. We use electricity for practically everything. We use it for lights, cooking, work, school, etc. Electricity is something that we as a population can no longer live without.
In the United states alone, there are over 8,000 power plants. Which in turn comes with thousands of jobs. These jobs are essential to a lot of people maintaining their income. If these factories were all to be shut down all the workers would lose their jobs. This is also only in the United States. If you look at a country that has more coal factories than the U.S. imagine how essential these factories are for human life.
Conclusion:
Coal is detrimental to the environment; however, it is not something that can just be thrown away. Too many people would be left jobless if all factories were to shut down, and a lot of people’s sources to electricity come from coal as well, so there will be a shortage of electricity. Both of the reasons are quite substantial enough to keep these factories running. However, there needs to be a transition from these coal factories to a new way for these workers to keep their job as well as continue to provide enough electricity to the population. This could include shifting the powerplants into factories to make solar panels or wind turbines. The cons of coal definitely outweigh the pros and working towards the complete removal of coal factories is the best course of action to keep our planet safe.
Sources:
Robert B. Finkelman “Health Impacts of Coal: Facts and Fallacies,” Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment 36(1), 103–106, (1 February 2007).
N.A. N.D. Power Plants. ToxTown. toxtown.nlm.nih.gov. retrieved from: https://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/sources-of-exposure/power-plants#targetText=Hazardous%20air%20pollutants%20released%20by,and%20nervous%20and%20respiratory%20systems.
N.A. 27 July 2017. “Is There A Connection Between The Ozone Hole And Global Warming?”. Union of Concerned Scientists. ucsusa.org Retrieved from: https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/science/ozone-hole-and-gw-faq.html
N.A. Updated 26 October 2018. “How Many Power Plants Are In The United States?. U.S. Energy Information Administration. eia.gov. retrieved from: https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=65&t=2
N.A. N.D. “All About Coal”. Union of Concerned Scientists. ucsusa.org. retrieved from: https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/coal-impacts#targetText=Climate%20change%20is%20coal's%20most,the%20earth%20above%20normal%20limits.
N.A. N.D. World Of Change: Antarctic Ozone Hole. Earth Observatory NASA. earthobservitory.nasa.gov. retrieved from: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/Ozone
