The primary impacts arise from mining, particularly underground mining, largely because South African coal mines are relatively shallow. Coal washing gives rises to large waste dumps, which may ignite spontaneously and cause air pollution. Water pollution arises from some abandoned mines and waste dumps.

Communities have been forcibly displaced and their lands destroyed. Communities that live near mines suffer from air and water pollution. They face reduced life expectancies and increased rates of lung cancer and heart, respiratory and kidney disease.

Coal is essential to the U.S. economy, providing affordable electricity to households, businesses, manufacturing facilities, transportation and communications systems, and services throughout our economy.

There are significant environmental impacts associated with coal mining and use. It could require the removal of massive amounts of top soil, leading to erosion, loss of habitat and pollution. Coal mining causes acid mine drainage, which causes heavy metals to dissolve and seep into ground and surface water.

For Australian cases, Sincovich et al. (2018) identified several negative impacts from coal mining on Australian local communities including income inequality, pressures on infrastructure, housing and services, and poor education outcome.

These impacts can be largely associated with water quality, physical and chemical land degradation, and air pollution through dust fall-out and emissions of particulate matter (PM) and toxic gases. In particular, AMD from coal mining results in significant pollution of land and water resources.

Coal is primarily used as fuel to generate electric power in the United States. In coal-fired power plants, bituminous coal, subbituminous coal, or lignite is burned. The heat produced by the combustion of the coal is used to convert water into high-pressure steam, which drives a turbine, which produces electricity.

Climate impacts of coal plants – Coal-fired power plants are responsible for one-third of America’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, making coal a huge contributor to global warming. Black carbon resulting from incomplete combustion is an additional contributor to climate change.

SOCIAL IMPACT EXAMPLES

• Employment vs unemployment.
• Livelihood vs wealth.
• Education and training vs Digital Divide.
• Skills, knowledge, and competences vs Low-skilled labors.
• Health and physical wellbeing vs Obesity and Chronic Disease.
• Wellbeing vs continuously depressed or mental health.

Positive social effects are often subtle and unnoticed (inclusivity in a group, social connectedness or increase in approval by peers), but encourage future use. Negative social consequences (peer disapproval of use, smell, lack of motivation), may be dismissed or associated with other causes.

Coal mining in NSW’s Hunter region co-exists with wine growing, racehorse breeding, dairy and other pastoral industries. Jo Schmaltz If you believe industry propaganda, coal mining is a panacea not only for economic ills but also for smoothing troubled social waters.

Health and Social Harms of Coal Mining in Local Communities: Spotlight on the Hunter Region cites excess deaths from lung cancer, chronic heart, respiratory and kidney disease related to living near coal mines.

It was a dangerous trade: The mines averaged a death every 6 hours and a serious injury every 12 minutes. Still, immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and the English Midlands flooded the valleys to dig in the narrow tunnels. The influx hastened the demise of the Welsh language and fueled the birth of the nation’s modern cities.

By 1870, coal production in the area had surpassed 13 million tons. Local farming communities grew smaller as families swapped unstable agricultural lives for the steady wages of mining.