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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.
Coal mining has been a very dangerous activity and the list of historical coal mining disasters is long. In the U.S., 104,895 coal miners were killed in mine accidents since 1900, [31] 90 percent of the fatalities occurring in the first half of the 20th century. 3,242 died in 1907, the worst year ever; in 2020 there were five. [32]
Although the effects of coal mining take a long time to impact the environment the burning of coals and fires which can burn up to decades can release flying ash and increase the greenhouse gasses. Specifically strip mining that can destroy landscapes, forests, and wildlife habitats that are near the sites. [ 85 ]
In the decade 2005–2014, US coal mining fatalities averaged 28 per year. [45] The most fatalities during the 2005–2014 decade were 48 in 2010, the year of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in West Virginia, which killed 29 miners. [81] 2016 was the first year in U.S. coal mining history that had no fatalities due to coal mine roof falls. [82]
Coal mining accidents resulted in 5,938 immediate deaths in 2005, and 4746 immediate deaths in 2006 in China alone according to the World Wildlife Fund. [10] Coal mining is the most dangerous occupation in China, the death rate for every 100 tons of coal mined is 100 times that of the death rate in the US and 30 times that achieved in South Africa.
For use in thermal power plants, coal is ground into dust using a device called a powdered coal mill. [1] The resulting product, called powdered coal or pulverized coal, is then generally used in a fossil fuel power plant for electricity generation. Pulverized coal is a significant dust explosion hazard, as large quantities are suspended in air ...
Deaths caused as a result of fossil fuel use, especially coal (areas of rectangles in chart) greatly exceed those resulting from production of renewable energy (rectangles barely visible in chart). [122] The use of coal as fuel causes health problems and deaths. [123] The mining and processing of coal causes air and water pollution. [124]
Machinery trying to mine the coal may not be able to reach the displaced seam, if the displacement is too large. Coal mines use a combination of boreholes and high-resolution seismic reflection data to identify the larger faults and avoid the most faulted areas at the mine planning stage. [1]