Surface mining

“Slash and Burn”, a popular and illegal method of deforestation used by farmers to cut out forest, burn the trees, and farm in the nutrients of the resulting ash. The problem with slash and burn is that the crops drain the soil of its nutrients within 3-4 years, and it takes nearly a century for the forest to grow back. Humans have practiced this kind of environmental burnout for most of history, and as our population grows the world only seems to get smaller. This method is practiced because it…

Republic, is a land rich in cultural, religious, and historical significance. With a total of 75,040 square kilometers, Zacatecas is Mexico's eighth largest state and occupies 3% of the total surface of the country. With a population of 1,441,734 inhabitants, Zacatecas depends upon cattle raising, agriculture, mining, communications, food processing, tourism, and transportation for its livelihood. Although much of Zacatecas is desert, the primary economic driver of the state is agriculture.…

As reported in The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/04/25/watch-this-river-ignite-into-flames-as-methane-bubbles-to-the-surface/ Origin Energy, which operates coal seam gas wells in the area, argues that it's not to blame for the methane leak. A 2012 company report conveniently found "no evidence of safety risk or environmental harm," reports The Washington Post. At one point…

the raise in temperature of Earth’s surface, caused by the gases carbon dioxide, methane, dinitrogen and chlorofluorocarbons. For contrast, oxygen and nitrogen are gases that will not trap heat and are therefore not greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere. You see, the sun provides energy in the form of solar radiation; some of the radiation is reflected back into space, what is not is then absorbed by the clouds, the Earth’s surface and the atmospheric gases. As the…

expectancy because their groundwater is potable. According to Jon Hamilton’s article, “the country has dug deep wells that reach the aquifers because they are protected from the surface pollution” (Hamilton). This shows that El Salvador has taken into account the amount of Salvadorians that are killed due to the contaminated surface water. About 600,000 Salvadorians lacked access to potable water, but with the transition to ground water more people will have access to cleaner water, thus…

Pacific Ocean. It is also the flattest continent on Earth with an average elevation of 985 feet; this is one of the primary reasons that the annual rainfall is thinly dispersed and scattered – approximately 16.5 inches. On top of that, 40% of the surface gets less than 10 inches per year, with annual evaporation exceeding annual rainfall on more than three fourth of the land. Hence, Australia is generally warmer than the United States. (All figures from the paragraph above can be found in…

snow geese are found in the Berkeley Pit. The Berkeley Pit was an operating open pit copper mine in Butte, Montana from 1955 to 1982. The mine was opened and run by the Anaconda Mining Co. When the mine was closed in 1982 it was 1 mile long by ½ mile wide and 1,780 feet deep. Pumps were run to keep the water down while mining operations were running. When the mine was closed the pumps were shut off and the water level in the pit quickly started rising at a rate of .7 feet per month. By July of…

Oceanic Impact For as far back as humankind can remember, Oceans have been a major part of our livelihood. Oceans cover nearly 71% of the Earth’s surface along with marginal seas, and land comprises the other 29%. Humans have always been fascinated with Oceans for their beauty, size, and great uncertainty. To date, it is believed that only 9% of all oceanic life forms have been discovered, which leaves millions of unidentified plants and sea life still out there. Aside from the sheer…

One of the main mining areas back then was the Blinman Mine. This mine was used for mining copper. The Blinman mine however was not used after the year 1918 and has been closed down ever since. Like many other spacious areas around the world the ranges are also used for a rather large amount of farming…

environment or is it full of substances that are harming not only us but the trees and the animals around us. One of the main problems seen when it comes environmental problems is global warming, which by definition is an increase in the earth’s surface…