Health and environmental impact of the coal industry

(Redirected from Dirty coal)

A mountaintop removal mining operation in the United States

Coal
Part of a series on

Economic use Ammonia Anthracite Bituminous coal Charcoal Coal combustion products Coal-fired power station Coal gas Coal in Australia Canada Europe India Poland Russia South Africa Turkey Ukraine Coal mining in Chile in the UK in the USA Coal-mining region Coal power in China in the USA Coal preparation plant Coal tar Coke (fuel) Coking Metallurgical coal
Externalities Ash pond Asian brown cloud Asthma Blackdamp Black lung disease Coal dust Coal mining disasters in the United States Coal refuse Coal slurry Environmental problems involving Appalachia coal ash coal mining in Appalachia Greenhouse gas emissions human health NOx smog smoke sulfur dioxide the petroleum industry toxic heavy metals Firedamp Hydrosulfuric acid Outbursts Problems in coal mining Whitedamp
Related articles Carbon bubble Carboniferous Coal oil Coal phase-out Coal pollution mitigation Coal-seam fire Energy lobby Fossil fuel Fossil fuel phase-out Fossil fuels lobby Great Smog of London History of coal mining Peak coal War on coal
v t e

The health and environmental impact of the coal industry includes issues such as land use, waste management, water and air pollution, caused by the coal mining, processing and the use of its products. In addition to atmospheric pollution, coal burning produces hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste products annually, including fly ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge, that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals. Coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.

There are severe health effects caused by burning coal. Worldwide 25 people die early for each terawatt hour of electricity generated by coal, around a thousand times more than nuclear or solar.

In addition, there have been many coal mining disasters, although work related coal deaths has declined substantially as safety measures have been enacted and underground mining has given up market share to surface mining. Underground mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse and gas explosions. Open cut hazards are principally mine wall failures and vehicle collisions. Hundreds of people died in coal mine accidents in 2022.

Land use management

Impact to land and surroundings

Strip mining severely alters the landscape, which reduces the value of the natural environment in the surrounding land. The land surface is dedicated to mining activities until it can be reshaped and reclaimed. If mining is allowed, resident human populations must be resettled off the mine site; economic activities, such as agriculture or hunting and gathering food and medicinal plants are interrupted. What becomes of the land surface after mining is determined by the manner in which the mining is conducted. Usually reclamation of disturbed lands to a land use condition is not equal to the original use. Existing land uses (such as livestock grazing, crop and timber production) are temporarily eliminated in mining areas. High-value, intensive-land-use areas like urban and transportation systems are not usually affected by mining operations. If mineral values are sufficient, these improvements may be removed to an adjacent area.

Strip mining eliminates existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined. Adverse impacts on geological features of human interest may occur in a coal strip mine. Geomorphic and geophysical features and outstanding scenic resources may be sacrificed by indiscriminate mining. Paleontological, cultural, and other historic values may be endangered due to the disruptive activities of blasting, ripping, and excavating coal. Stripping of overburden eliminates and destroys archeological and historic features, unless they are removed beforehand.

The removal of vegetative cover and activities associated with the construction of haul roads, stockpiling of topsoil, displacement of overburden and hauling of soil and coal increase the quantity of dust around mining operations. Dust degrades air quality in the immediate area, has an adverse impact on vegetative life, and constitutes health and safety hazards for mine workers and nearby residents.

Surface mining disrupts virtually all aesthetic elements of the landscape. Alteration of land forms often imposes unfamiliar and discontinuous configurations. New linear patterns appear as material is extracted and waste piles are developed. Different colors and textures are exposed as vegetative cover is removed and overburden dumped to the side. Dust, vibration, and diesel exhaust odors are created (affecting sight, sound, and smell). Residents of local communities often find such impacts disturbing or unpleasant. In case of mountaintop removal, tops are removed from mountains or hills to expose thick coal seams underneath. The soil and rock removed is deposited in nearby valleys, hollows and depressions, resulting in blocked (and contaminated) waterways.

Removal of soil and rock overburden covering the coal resource may cause burial and loss of topsoil, exposes parent material, and creates large infertile wastelands. Soil disturbance and associated compaction result in conditions conducive to erosion. Soil removal from the area to be surface-mined alters or destroys many natural soil characteristics, and reduces its biodiversity and productivity for agriculture. Soil structure may be disturbed by pulverization or aggregate breakdown.

In response to negative land effects of coal mining and the abundance of abandoned mines in the US the federal government enacted the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which requires reclamation plans for future coal mining sites. These plans must be approved by federal or state authorities before mining begins.

Mine collapses

Mine collapses (or mine subsidences) have the potential to produce major effects above ground, which are especially devastating in developed areas. German underground coal-mining (especially in North Rhine-Westphalia) has damaged thousands of houses, and the coal-mining industries have set aside large sums in funding for future subsidence damages as part of their insurance and state-subsidy schemes. In a particularly spectacular case in the German Saar region (another historical coal-mining area), a suspected mine collapse in 2008 created an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter magnitude scale, causing some damage to houses. Previously, smaller earthquakes had become increasingly common and coal mining was temporarily suspended in the area.

Water management

Surface mining may impair groundwater in numerous ways: by drainage of usable water from shallow aquifers; lowering of water levels in adjacent areas and changes in flow direction within aquifers; contamination of usable aquifers below mining operations due to infiltration (percolation) of poor-quality mine water; and increased infiltration of precipitation on spoil piles. Where coal or carbonaceous shale is present, increased infiltration may result in: increased runoff of poor-quality water and erosion from spoil piles, recharge of poor-quality water to shallow groundwater aquifers and poor-quality water flow to nearby streams.

The contamination of both groundwater and nearby streams may be for long periods of time. Deterioration of stream quality results from acid mine drainage, toxic trace elements, high content of dissolved solids in mine drainage water, and increased sediment loads discharged to streams. When coal surfaces are exposed, pyrite comes in contact with water and air and forms sulfuric acid. As water drains from the mine, the acid moves into the waterways; as long as rain falls on the mine tailings the sulfuric-acid production continues, whether the mine is still operating or not. Also waste piles and coal storage piles can yield sediment to streams. Surface waters may be rendered unfit for agriculture, human consumption, bathing, or other household uses.

There are five principal technologies used to control water flow at mine sites: diversion systems, ash ponds (surface impoundments), groundwater pumping systems, subsurface drainage systems, and subsurface barriers.

In the United States, due to few federal and state regulations concerning ash ponds, most power plants do not use geomembranes, leachate collection systems, or other flow controls often found in municipal solid waste landfills. EPA promulgated more stringent requirements for ash ponds and landfills in its first national regulation in 2015. Subsequently, there has been litigation and several amendments or proposed revisions to the regulations. Final regulations are pending as of December 2020.

Water pollution

Coal-fired boilers, using either coal or lignite rich in limestone, produces fly ash containing calcium oxide (CaO). CaO readily dissolves in water to form slaked lime (Ca(OH)₂) which is carried by rainwater to rivers/irrigation water from the ash dump areas. Lime softening process precipitates Ca and Mg ions / removes temporary hardness in the water and also converts sodium bicarbonates in river water into sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate (washing soda) further reacts with the remaining Ca and Mg in the water to remove / precipitate the total hardness. Also, water-soluble sodium salts present in the ash enhance the sodium content in water further. Thus river water is converted into soft water by eliminating Ca and Mg ions and enhancing Na ions by coal-fired boilers. Soft water application in irrigation (surface or ground water) converts the fertile soils into alkaline sodic soils. River water alkalinity and sodicity due to the accumulation of salts in the remaining water after meeting various transpiration and evaporation losses, become acute when many coal-fired boilers and power stations are installed in a river basin. River water sodicity affects downstream cultivated river basins located in China, India, Egypt, Pakistan, west Asia, Australia, western US, etc.

Pollutant discharges from ash ponds to surface waters typically include arsenic, lead, mercury, selenium, chromium, and cadmium. In the US, discharges to surface waters are regulated by permits in the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

Waste management

Wildlife

Surface mining of coal causes direct and indirect damage to wildlife. The impact on wildlife stems primarily from disturbing, removing and redistributing the land surface. Some impacts are short-term and confined to the mine site however others have far-reaching, long-term effects.

The most direct effect on wildlife is destruction or displacement of species in areas of excavation and spoil piling. Pit and spoil areas are not capable of providing food and cover for most species of wildlife. Mobile wildlife species like game animals, birds, and predators leave these areas. More sedentary animals like invertebrates, reptiles, burrowing rodents, and small mammals may be destroyed. The community of microorganisms and nutrient-cycling processes are upset by movement, storage, and redistribution of soil.

Degradation of aquatic habitats is a major impact by surface mining and may be apparent many miles from a mining site. Sediment contamination of surface water is common with surface mining. Sediment yields may increase a thousand times their former level as a result of strip mining.

The effects of sediment on aquatic wildlife vary with the species and the amount of contamination. High sediment levels can kill fish directly, bury spawning beds, reduce light transmission, alter temperature gradients, fill in pools, spread streamflows over wider, shallower areas, and reduce the production of aquatic organisms used as food by other species. These changes destroy the habitat of valued species and may enhance habitat for less-desirable species. Existing conditions are already marginal for some freshwater fish in the United States, and the sedimentation of their habitat may result in their extinction. The heaviest sediment pollution of drainage normally comes within 5 to 25 years after mining. In some areas, unvegetated spoil piles continue to erode even 50 to 65 years after mining.

The presence of acid-forming materials exposed as a result of surface mining can affect wildlife by eliminating habitat and by causing direct destruction of some species. Lesser concentrations can suppress productivity, growth rate and reproduction of many aquatic species. Acids, dilute concentrations of heavy metals, and high alkalinity can cause severe damage to wildlife in some areas. The duration of acidic-waste pollution can be long; estimates of the time required to leach exposed acidic materials in the Eastern United States range from 800 to 3,000 years.

Air pollution

Air emissions

Mercury emissions

In 2011 U.S. power plants emitted half of the nation's mercury air pollutants. In February 2012, EPA issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) regulation, which requires all coal-fired plants to substantially reduce mercury emissions.

In New York State winds deposit mercury from the coal-fired power plants of the Midwest, contaminating the waters of the Catskill Mountains. Mercury is concentrated up the food chain, as it is converted into methylmercury, a toxic compound which harms both wildlife and people who consume freshwater fish. The mercury is consumed by worms, which are eaten by fish, which are eaten by birds (including bald eagles). As of 2008, mercury levels in bald eagles in the Catskills had reached new heights. "People are exposed to methylmercury almost entirely by eating contaminated fish and wildlife that are at the top of aquatic food chains." Ocean fish account for the majority of human exposure to methylmercury; the full range of sources of methylmercury in ocean fish is not well understood.

Annual excess mortality and morbidity

In 2008 the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations calculated that coal particulates pollution cause approximately one million deaths annually across the world, which is approximately one third of all premature deaths related to all air pollution sources, for example in Istanbul by lung diseases and cancer.

Pollutants emitted by burning coal include fine particulates (PM2.5) and ground level ozone. Every year, the burning of coal without the use of available pollution control technology causes thousands of preventable deaths in the United States. A study commissioned by the Maryland nurses association in 2006 found that emissions from just six of Maryland's coal-burning plants caused 700 deaths per year nationwide, including 100 in Maryland. Since installation of pollution abatement equipment on one of these six, the Brandon Shores plant, now "produces 90 percent less nitrogen oxide, an ingredient of smog; 95 percent less sulfur, which causes acid rain; and vastly lower fractions of other pollutants." In the United States, an average of 26 coal miners per year died in the decade 2005–2014.

Economic costs

A 2001 EU-funded study known as ExternE, or Externalities of Energy, over the decade from 1995 to 2005 found that the cost of producing electricity from coal would double over its present value, if external costs were taken into account. These external costs include damage to the environment and to human health from airborne particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, chromium VI and arsenic emissions produced by coal. It was estimated that external, downstream, fossil fuel costs amount up to 1–2% of the EU's entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with coal being the main fossil fuel accountable, and this was before the external cost of global warming from these sources was even included. The study found that environmental and health costs of coal alone were €60/MWh, with the energy sources of the lowest external costs being nuclear power €1.9/MWh, and wind power at €0.90/MWh.

High rates of motherboard failures in China and India appear to be due to "sulfurous air pollution produced by coal that’s burned to generate electricity. It corrodes the copper circuitry," according to Intel researchers.

Greenhouse gas emissions

The combustion of coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Electric generation using coal burning produces approximately twice the greenhouse gasses per kilowatt compared to generation using natural gas.

Coal mining releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane is the naturally occurring product of the decay of organic matter as coal deposits are formed with increasing depths of burial, rising temperatures, and rising pressure over geological time. A portion of the methane produced is absorbed by the coal and later released from the coal seam (and surrounding disturbed strata) during the mining process. Methane accounts for 10.5 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions created through human activity. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane has a global warming potential 21 times greater than that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year timeline. The process of mining can release pockets of methane. These gases may pose a threat to coal miners, as well as a source of air pollution. This is due to the relaxation of pressure and fracturing of the strata during mining activity, which gives rise to safety concerns for the coal miners if not managed properly. The buildup of pressure in the strata can lead to explosions during (or after) the mining process if prevention methods, such as "methane draining", are not taken.

In 2008 James E. Hansen and Pushker Kharecha published a peer-reviewed scientific study analyzing the effect of a coal phase-out on atmospheric CO₂ levels. Their baseline mitigation scenario was a phaseout of global coal emissions by 2050. Under the Business as Usual scenario, atmospheric CO₂ peaks at 563 parts per million (ppm) in the year 2100. Under the four coal phase-out scenarios, atmospheric CO₂ peaks at 422–446 ppm between 2045 and 2060 and declines thereafter.

Radiation exposure

Coal also contains low levels of uranium, thorium, and other naturally occurring radioactive isotopes which, if released into the environment, may lead to radioactive contamination. Coal plants emit radiation in the form of radioactive fly ash, which is inhaled and ingested by neighbours, and incorporated into crops. A 1978 paper from Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimated that coal-fired power plants of that time may contribute a whole-body committed dose of 19 μSv/year to their immediate neighbours in a 500 m radius. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation's 1988 report estimated the committed dose 1 km away to be 20 μSv/year for older plants or 1 μSv/year for newer plants with improved fly ash capture, but was unable to confirm these numbers by test.

Excluding contained waste and unintentional releases from nuclear plants, coal-plants carry more radioactive wastes into the environment than nuclear plants per unit of produced energy. Plant-emitted radiation carried by coal-derived fly ash delivers 100 times more radiation to the surrounding environment than does the normal operation of a similarly productive nuclear plant. This comparison does not consider the rest of the fuel cycle, i.e., coal and uranium mining and refining and waste disposal. The operation of a 1000-MWe coal-fired power plant results in a nuclear radiation dose of 490 person-rem/year, compared to 136 person-rem/year, for an equivalent nuclear power plant including uranium mining, reactor operation and waste disposal.

Dangers to miners

Historically, coal mining has been a very dangerous activity, and the list of historical coal mining disasters is long. The principal hazards are mine wall failures and vehicle collisions; underground mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse and gas explosions. Chronic lung diseases, such as pneumoconiosis (black lung) were once common in miners, leading to reduced life expectancy. In some mining countries black lung is still common, with 4,000 new cases of black lung every year in the US (4 percent of workers annually) and 10,000 new cases every year in China (0.2 percent of workers). Rates may be higher than reported in some regions.

In the United States, an average of 23 coal miners per year died in the decade 2007–2016. Recent U.S. coal-mining disasters include the Sago Mine disaster of January 2006. In 2007, a mine accident in Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine killed nine miners, with six entombed. The Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in West Virginia killed 29 miners in April 2010.

However, in lesser developed countries and some developing countries, many miners continue to die annually, either through direct accidents in coal mines or through adverse health consequences from working under poor conditions. China, in particular, has the highest number of coal mining related deaths in the world, with official statistics claiming that 6,027 deaths in 2004. To compare, 28 deaths were reported in the US in the same year. Coal production in China is twice that in the US, while the number of coal miners is around 50 times that of the US, making deaths in coal mines in China 4 times as common per worker (108 times as common per unit output) as in the US.

The Farmington coal mine disaster kills 78. West Virginia, US, 1968.

Build-ups of a hazardous gas are known as damps:

Black damp: a mixture of carbon dioxide and nitrogen in a mine can cause suffocation. The anoxic condition results of depletion of oxygen in enclosed spaces, e.g. by corrosion.
After damp: similar to black damp, after damp consists of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen and forms after a mine explosion.
Fire damp: consists of mostly methane, a highly flammable gas that explodes between 5% and 15% – at 25% it causes asphyxiation.
Stink damp: so named for the rotten egg smell of the hydrogen sulphide gas, stink damp can explode and is also very toxic.
White damp: air containing carbon monoxide which is toxic, even at low concentrations

Firedamp explosions can trigger the much more dangerous coal dust explosions, which can engulf an entire pit. Most of these risks can be greatly reduced in modern mines, and multiple fatality incidents are now rare in some parts of the developed world. Modern mining in the US results in approximately 30 deaths per year due to mine accidents.

References

RadTown USA | US EPA
Toxic Air: The Case for Cleaning Up Coal-fired Power Plants (PDF) (Report). American Lung Association. March 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
"Environmental impacts of coal power: air pollution". Union of Concerned Scientists. Archived from the original on 11 November 2005. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
Henneman, Lucas; Choirat, Christine; Dedoussi, Irene; Dominici, Francesca; Roberts, Jessica; Zigler, Corwin (24 November 2023). "Mortality risk from United States coal electricity generation". Science. 382 (6673): 941–946. doi:10.1126/science.adf4915. ISSN 0036-8075. PMC 10870829.
Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max (28 December 2023). "What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy?". Our World in Data.
^ "Coal Fatalities for 1900 Through 2016". Arlington, VA: U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
"China shifts approach to fatal coal mining accidents to ensure supply security". MINING.COM. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
Hamilton, Michael S. (2005). Mining environmental policy: Comparing Indonesia and the USA. Ashgate studies in environmental policy and practice. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-4493-4.
^ U.S. Department of the Interior. 1979. Permanent Regulatory Program Implementing Section 01(b) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977: Environmental Impact Statement. Washington, D.C.
^ Squillace, Mark. The Strip Mining Handbook: A Coalfield Citizens' Guide To Using The Law To Fight Back Against The Ravages Of Strip Mining And Underground Mining Archived 4 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Washington, D.C.: Environmental Policy Institute, Friends of the Earth, 1990.
^ United States Department of the Interior. Coal: Construction and Mining Impacts Archived 1 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Washington, D.C.: Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, Tribal Energy and Environmental Information Clearinghouse (TEEIC). Retrieved 9 March 2012.
Barkin, Noah (24 February 2008). "Mining Sets Off Earthquake in West Germany". Reuters. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
"Impact of Mining Activity on Water Resource: An Overview study".
Reuter, Thomas Herausgeber. (2015). Averting a global environmental collapse : the role of anthropology and local knowledge. ISBN 978-1-4438-7597-4. OCLC 959228681.
"Environmental Impacts of Coal Mining". World Coal Institute. Archived from the original on 23 October 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
Tiwary, R. K. (1 November 2001). "Environmental Impact of Coal Mining on Water Regime and Its Management". Water, Air, & Soil Pollution. 132 (1–2): 185–199. Bibcode:2001WASP..132..185T. doi:10.1023/A:1012083519667. ISSN 1573-2932. S2CID 91408401. (subscription required).
Kessler, K. A. (1981). "Wet Disposal of Fossil Plant Waste Case History". Journal of the Energy Division. 107 (2). American Society of Civil Engineers: 199–208. doi:10.1061/JDAEDZ.0000063.
EPA. "Hazardous and Solid Waste Management System; Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals From Electric Utilities." 80 FR 21301, 2015-04-17.
"Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals from Electric Utilities Rulemakings". Washington, D.C.: United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 14 December 2020. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
"Precipitation softening, GE Power & Water". Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
Managing irrigation water quality, Oregon State University, US Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on 4 October 2012.
J. Keller; A. Keller; G. Davids. "River basin development phases and implications of closure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
"Steam Electric Power Generating Effluent Guidelines—2015 Final Rule". EPA. 6 November 2019. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
"National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System". EPA. 14 December 2020.
Milman, Oliver (4 March 2019). "Most US coal plants are contaminating groundwater with toxins, analysis finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
"Associated Press – June 2009".
Permanent Regulatory Program Implementing Section 501(b) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.
Tim Flannery, Atmosphere of Hope. Solutions to the Climate Crisis, Penguin Books, 2015, pages 28 (ISBN 9780141981048). This sentence of the book has a note citing the reference: Yuyu Chen et al., "Evidence on the impact of sustained exposure to air pollution on life expectancy from China's Huai River policy", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, volume 110, number 32, 6 August 2013, pages 12936-12941.
^ Deaths per TWH by Energy Source Archived 24 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Next Big Future, March 2011. Quote: "The World Health Organization and other sources attribute about 1 million deaths/year to coal air pollution."
"Deadly Power Plants? Study Fuels Debate". NBC News. 9 June 2004. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
Caiazzo, F., Ashok, A., Waitz, I.A., Yim, S.H. and Barrett, S.R., 2013. Air pollution and early deaths in the United States. Part I: Quantifying the impact of major sectors in 2005. Atmospheric Environment, 79, pp.198–208.
Chen, Lu; Miller, Shelie A.; Ellis, Brian R. (2017). "Comparative Human Toxicity Impact of Electricity Produced from Shale Gas and Coal". Environmental Science & Technology. 51 (21): 13018–13027. Bibcode:2017EnST...5113018C. doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b03546. PMID 29016130.
"The US could prevent a lot of deaths by switching from coal to solar". USA TODAY. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
Prehoda, Emily W.; Pearce, Joshua M. (2017), "Potential lives saved by replacing coal with solar photovoltaic electricity production in the U.S" (PDF), Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 80: 710–715, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2017.05.119, S2CID 113715270, archived (PDF) from the original on 15 October 2019, retrieved 15 October 2019
"These Two Industries Kill More People Than They Employ". IFLScience. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
^ Gabbard, Alex (5 February 2008). "Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource or Danger". Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
"We have the dirtiest air in the world". November 2018. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
"Much objection against mining next to Marloth Park". 31 May 2019. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
DeKok, David, Unseen Danger: A Tragedy of People, Government and the Centralia Mine Fire. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-8122-8022-7.
Human Impacts on Atmospheric Chemistry, by PJ Crutzen and J Lelieveld, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Vol. 29: 17 -45 (Volume publication date May 2001)
"EPA Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants/ Historic 'mercury and air toxics standards' meet 20-year old requirement to cut dangerous smokestack emissions". EPA. 21 December 2011. Press Release. Archived from the original on 24 December 2011.
EPA. (2012-02-16). "National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units." Final rule. Federal Register, 77 FR 9303
"Basic Information about Mercury and Air Toxics Standards". EPA. 8 June 2017. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
"Atmospheric Mercury". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
"Atmospheric Mercury Modeling". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
Brigham ME, Krabbenhoft DP, Hamilton PA (2003). "Mercury in stream ecosystems—new studies initiated by the U.S. Geological Survey". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
Anthony De Palma,"Bald Eagles in Catskills Show Increasing Mercury Archived 15 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine New York Times, 24 November 2008.
Fact Sheet 146-00 : Mercury in the Environment Archived 18 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Geological Survey, October 2000.
Jaffe E (27 September 2007). "Mystery at sea". Smithsonian.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
Shrader-Frechette, Kristin. What Will Work: Fighting Climate Change with Renewable Energy, Not Nuclear Power Archived 29 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Oxford University Press, 2011, pg.9, ISBN 0-19-979463-4.
"AIR POLLUTION AND ISTANBUL; Alarm bells". Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Gizlilik Impressum. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
^ A Coal-Fired Plant That Is Eager for U.S. Rules Archived 24 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine by Matthew L. Wald, published 5 January 2012.
"New research reveals the real costs of electricity in Europe (press release), EC, Research Directorate-General, 25 July 2001" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
ExternE-Pol, External costs of current and advanced electricity systems, associated with emissions from the operation of power plants and with the rest of the energy chain, final technical report. Archived 15 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine 2006, See figure 9, 9b and figure 11
"Scientists studying pollution damage to computers". Missoulian. 27 October 2013. Archived from the original on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
James Hansen (2007). "Testimony of James E. Hansen at Iowa Utilities Board" (PDF). Iowa Utilities Board, Columbia University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
"Environmental impacts of coal power: air pollution". Union of Concerned Scientists. Archived from the original on 11 November 2005. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
^ "Methane Associated with Coal Seams". The Coal Authority. October 2007. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
"Where Greenhouse Gases Come From — Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy". Energy Information Administration, US Department of Energy. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
Kharecha P.A.; Hansen J.E. (2008). "Implications of "peak oil" for atmospheric CO₂ and climate". Global Biogeochem. Cycles. 22 (3): GB3012. arXiv:0704.2782. Bibcode:2008GBioC..22.3012K. doi:10.1029/2007GB003142. S2CID 53557160. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008.
"Radioactive Elements in Coal and Fly Ash, USGS Factsheet 163-97". Archived from the original on 9 December 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2005.
McBride, J. P.; Moore, R. E.; Witherspoon, J. P.; Blanco, R. E. (8 December 1978). "Radiological impact of airborne effluents of coal and nuclear plants" (PDF). Science. 202 (4372): 1045–50. Bibcode:1978Sci...202.1045M. doi:10.1126/science.202.4372.1045. PMID 17777943. S2CID 41057679. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012. The estimated 50-year dose commitments to the whole body in millirems per year of plant operation were: coal plant - 1.9 Page 35
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (1988). "Annex A". Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionizing Radiation. New York: United Nations. p. 83. ISBN 978-92-1-142143-9. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
Hvistendahl, Mara. "Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste: Scientific American" Archived 12 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Scientific American, Nature America, Inc., 13 December 2007. Web. 18 March 2011.
https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/ORNL%20Review%20v26n3-4%201993.pdf Archived 31 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine pg28
Abelard.org Archived 13 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, "Fossil fuel disasters".
"Panel to Explore Deadly Mine Accident". New York Times. Associated Press. 4 September 2007. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
Urbina, Ian (9 April 2010). "No Survivors Found After West Virginia Mine Disaster". New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
Deconstructing deadly details from China's coal mine safety statistics | CLB
"Coal Mining Fatalities by State by Calendar Year" (PDF). MSHA. 24 October 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
"World Coal Institute – Coal Production". Archived from the original on 30 April 2008.
possibly from the German word "Dampf" which means steam or vapor
OccupationalHazards.com. "Respiratory Protection in Coal Mines." Archived 23 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine

External links

online tool for identifying deaths from particular coal plants.
EPA fact sheet: Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR)
Environmental impacts of coal power: air pollution Union of Concerned Scientists
Air pollution from coal-fired power plants Global Energy Monitor
Environmental impacts of coal Global Energy Monitor
Map of Death and Disease from U.S. Power Plants Clean Air Task Force
Emissions Of Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal-Fired Power Plants American Lung Association

v t e Coal
Coal types by grade (lowest to highest)	Xylit Peat Lignite Sub-bituminous coal Bituminous coal Anthracite Graphite
Coal combustion	Ash pond Asian brown cloud Asthma Black coal equivalent Char Charcoal Coal combustion products fired power station gas phase-out pollution mitigation power in China power in the United States preparation plant seam fire tar Coke Coking Energy value Flue gas Fly ash Fossil fuel Fossil fuel phase-out Great Smog of London Greenhouse gas emissions Metallurgical coal NOx Smog Sulfur dioxide Toxic heavy metals
Coal mining	Blackdamp Black lung disease Coal dust Coalfields Coal gas homogenization liquefaction mining disasters in the United States mining region refuse slurry town Environmental issues in Appalachia Environmental justice and coal mining in Appalachia Firedamp Health and environmental impact of the coal industry Health effects of coal ash History of coal mining Hydrogen sulfide Mining regions Outbursts Peak coal Problems in coal mining Refined coal Whitedamp
Note: Peat is considered a precursor to coal. Graphite is only technically considered a coal type.

Climate change

Overview
Causes of climate change Effects of climate change Climate change mitigation Climate change adaptation By country and region

Causes

Overview	Climate system Greenhouse effect (Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere) Scientific consensus on climate change
Sources	Deforestation Fossil fuel Greenhouse gases Greenhouse gas emissions Carbon accounting Carbon footprint Carbon leakage from agriculture from wetlands World energy supply and consumption

History
History of climate change policy and politics History of climate change science Svante Arrhenius James Hansen Charles David Keeling United Nations Climate Change conferences Years in climate change 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Effects and issues

Physical	Abrupt climate change Anoxic event Arctic methane emissions Arctic sea ice decline Atlantic meridional overturning circulation Drought Extreme weather Flood Coastal flooding Heat wave Marine Urban heat island Oceans acidification deoxygenation heat content sea surface temperature stratification temperature Ozone depletion Permafrost thaw Retreat of glaciers since 1850 Sea level rise Season creep Tipping points in the climate system Tropical cyclones Water cycle Wildfires
Flora and fauna	Biomes Mass mortality event Birds Extinction risk Forest dieback Invasive species Marine life Plant biodiversity
Social and economic	Agriculture Livestock United States Children Cities Civilizational collapse Crime Depopulation of settlements Destruction of cultural heritage Disability Economic impacts U.S. insurance industry Fisheries Gender Health Mental health Human rights Indigenous peoples Infectious diseases Migration Poverty Psychological impacts Security and conflict Urban flooding Water scarcity Water security
By country and region	Africa Americas Antarctica Arctic Asia Australia Caribbean Europe Middle East and North Africa Small island countries by individual country

Mitigation

Economics and finance	Carbon budget Carbon emission trading Carbon offsets and credits Gold Standard (carbon offset standard) Carbon price Carbon tax Climate debt Climate finance Climate risk insurance Co-benefits of climate change mitigation Economics of climate change mitigation Fossil fuel divestment Green Climate Fund Low-carbon economy Net zero emissions
Energy	Carbon capture and storage Energy transition Fossil fuel phase-out Nuclear power Renewable energy Sustainable energy
Preserving and enhancing carbon sinks	Blue carbon Carbon dioxide removal Carbon sequestration Direct air capture Carbon farming Climate-smart agriculture Forest management afforestation forestry for carbon sequestration REDD and REDD+ reforestation Land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF and AFOLU) Nature-based solutions
Personal	Individual action on climate change Plant-based diet

Society and adaptation

Society	Business action Climate action Climate emergency declaration Climate movement School Strike for Climate Denial Ecological grief Governance Justice Litigation Politics Public opinion Women
Adaptation	Adaptation strategies on the German coast Adaptive capacity Disaster risk reduction Ecosystem-based adaptation Flood control Loss and damage Managed retreat Nature-based solutions Resilience Risk Vulnerability The Adaptation Fund National Adaptation Programme of Action
Communication	Climate Change Performance Index Climate crisis (term) Climate spiral Education Media coverage Popular culture depictions art fiction video games Warming stripes
International agreements	Glasgow Climate Pact Kyoto Protocol Paris Agreement Cooperative Mechanisms under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement Nationally determined contributions Sustainable Development Goal 13 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Background and theory

Measurements	Global surface temperature Instrumental temperature record Proxy Satellite temperature measurement
Theory	Albedo Carbon cycle atmospheric biologic oceanic permafrost Carbon sink Climate sensitivity Climate variability and change Cloud feedback Cloud forcing Fixed anvil temperature hypothesis Cryosphere Earth's energy budget Extreme event attribution Feedbacks Global warming potential Illustrative model of greenhouse effect on climate change Orbital forcing Radiative forcing
Research and modelling	Climate change scenario Climate model Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Paleoclimatology Representative Concentration Pathway Shared Socioeconomic Pathways