The negative consequences of mining

In the mining world there were many advancements that were made from the beginning of the mining era to its end. There needed to be technological advancements in mines to allow for safer, more effective mining. This is because underground mining is a very dangerous but also lucrative profession. In an effort to make mining more lucrative they developed new mining tools that allowed them to dig into harder rocks faster. This created more money because they were able to mine a lot more efficiently. It wasn’t all positives however, with these new drills it created a lot more dust for the miners to breathe in. This led to many miners to die from Silicosis, which is a lung disease caused by breathing in all of the harsh dusts from the rock. (Lecain 25). This is just one example of the many technologies to come out, they also designed water pumps that allowed them to mine where there was originally water underground. They also created oxygen masks and a better ventilation system to make it more comfortable for the workers. The main theme is that these had consequences, some being direct like the new drill leading to lung disease. Others were indirect but still had major consequences because all these new inventions made mining more effective which made a lot more pollution from the mines. These advances helped immediately but a lot had unintended negative consequences.

Mining is a complex issue because as a society we rely so heavily on it, but it is equally as bad for the environment. There is no easy solution to this issue because no matter which way we go, one side ends up losing. The best course of action here would be to mine in a lot more safer way. We need to be more conscious with our mining instead of letting our greed cloud or minds. I believe we could eventually gain the technology to make mining safe for both humans and the environment, but we are not there yet. In the meantime we, as a society, need to be more conscious with our mining.