Today's field trip to see the movie "Manufactured Landscapes" by Edward Burtynsky gave me new insight into how much we are altering our environment through the use of our natural resources. Two of the most stunning scenes were the destruction of land from the mining of coal and the damming of the Yangtze River. The movie mentioned that the creation of the reservoir actually caused the earth to wobble on its access. For this blog choose of the scenes from the movie or one of his photographs from china found on his web site and briefly describe it, then answer the following questions:
1. What type of human activity (e.g. mining, logging, etc.) caused the change in landscape?
2. What products are made from the use of this resource?
3. Research one example for the pollution caused by 1) extraction of the resource; 2) production; 3) distribution of the resource.
References:
1. Art of Edward Burtynsky
http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/
2. Manufactured Landscapes Official Site
http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?directoryname=manufacturedlandscapes
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1) The activity of coal mining for the production of steel and energy greatly altered the landscape of Tanggu Port. Coal mining is an extremely destructive process at all stages of production. As the coal is mined the earth is torn apart causing destruction of habitat and erosion problems. Also when the coal is stored as in Mr. Burtynsky’s photograph many alterations to the landscape are made. Depending on the location of storage the area has to be cleared of tall vegetation, and where the coal is deposited no plants can survive because of lack of light. As the coal sits it will contaminate the water supply making the land uninhabitable.
2) Some of the products made from coal are: insecticides, tar, synthetic rubber, and electricity.
3) The pollution caused by the extraction of coal is the deterioration of the land leading to erosion problems. The pollution caused by the production of coal based products is everywhere. The most prevalent pollutant comes from the burning of coal in power plants. This process releases massive amounts of toxic gases into the atmosphere. During the distribution of coal it is placed into holding sites to await further transportation. By placing the mined ore into holding sites the coal erodes into the water contaminating the supply.
The coal production and distribution contributed to the change in landscape. Bao Steel, a factory of steel in China, alone will produce more than 16 million tons of steel every year using 18 million tons of coal to reach that goal. This is not only bad for the environment on the outside, but it is also bad for the consumption of steel worldwide. China alone, as shown in the Bao Steel picture on Mr. Burtynsky's website, used a "full third of the steel used worldwide". Altogether, they consumed 258 million tons just last year. A great majority of this steel was used to build coal mining factories. Also, the flora and fauna population definitely goes down because of the affect on their environment. Coal mining also erodes the ground and rocks when it’s being extracted.
One product that comes from coal is electricity. Coal is over 50% of the U.S.'s electricity supply. Other products are insecticides, wood preservative, and batteries.
One example for the pollution caused by the production of coal is the fires that come from the coal mines. Not only does it pollute the air and the surroundings, but it also kills some miners down under. The pollution caused by the distribution of coal is how it brings the surrounding water and land bad chemicals. The chemicals from the coal leak out and when they do, they contaminate the water or land. One example of pollution caused by the extraction of coal is the chemicals it sends up to through the air as well as into the surrounding atmosphere. Also, erosion occurs when miners extract coal leaving a big problem.
The production of steel has caused a drastic change of landscape in China as well as around the world. The demand for steel is steadily increasing and the product cannot be made fast enough. Just last year, China alone consumed 258 million tons of steel. With the constant need for steel, massive production factories are sprouting out all over the world. To build these factories, a large amount of land is being destroyed. Trees must be cut down and animals must be displaced from their homes. A landscape can be altered from a peaceful grassy field to an industrialized and busy city in less than a year. Also, the huge steel factories need masses of staff. The Biosteel Company in China employs more than 15,600 people. All of these people must find a place to live near the factory, creating a city boom completely different from the original landscape. After the factories are built, they begin to alter the landscape even more by dumping pollutants and waste into the habitats and poisoning everything around them.
There are many products made from steal, including domestic appliances, electrical motors, ships, construction tubes, and even bed springs. Also, most car manufacturers, such as Audi and Ford, use steel for their vehicles.
The process of making steel causes pollution from the extraction of the coal, the production into steel, and the distribution of the steel to suppliers. Steel is produced by the raw material coal. When the coal is mined, it can make the water acidic, called acidic mine drainage. Therefore, the first step in making steel destroys wildlife and makes the water basically unusable. Once the coal is mined, steel is produced by coal turning into coke. Coke production is extremely harmful because it emits pollutants such as coke oven gas, naphthalene, ammonium, and crude light oil. Once the process is complete and steel is successfully made out of the coal, the shipping of the resource also pollutes the environment because the trucks and planes used to transport the steel pollute the air by burning fuel.
1. In China there was a huge boost in population and then there was urbanization of all those people. Because there were so many people they needed to use more and more of their natural resources and in doing so they changed the landscape of China forever. Some of these natural resources were coal and steel. China needs both for much of their production of goods which is a major part of their economy. But the risk factor with both is the effect that their retrieval from the earth has on the environment. The mining of coal is very detrimental to the earth's air. Not to mention that mining both steel and coal changed the physical land quite a bit. Both create large unusuable areas and these areas can become very large.
2. Coal is mainly used for fuel and accounts for about 50% of China's source of fuel. Steel is used in many of China's products ranging from ships to car parts, and simple household items.
3. Coal is an example of pollution through production. After the coal is harvested and being used in places such as factories, that is when the most harm is done. The burning of coal creates the most problems and because of this destroys the air quality, especially in cities with many factories. The burning of the coal is not the only problem, when the coal sits in confinement before being burned in factories it can release toxins that then make it into the water of near by streams and rivers. Both types of coal pollution are very detrimental to the earth's well being, but in China coal is a neccesity and until they either run out of coal or finder a cleaner burning fuel with the same qualities they will continue to mine and produce coal for fuel.
In China the mining for coal and steel is one of the biggest reasons why the landscape has changed so drastically. Now coal and steel mines are massive projects that require large amounts of space and land in order to obtain a good amount of coal and steel. Because we are becoming more and more dependent on these mines we are using up more and more land in order to get the desired amount.
Coal is used for making heat to heat up water or houses, it is used to generate electricity, and it is used to make all sorts of other everyday products. Steel on the other hand is used to make many tall sky scrapers and other buildings that we have in our cities.
Strip mining is a popular technique used when mining for coal, but cause much damage to the vegetation, soil and water resources. In order to produce this resource they need to burn it so it can be used by many different people, but when they burn it it sends many harmful pollutants into the air cause bad air pollution. And in the transportaion of the coal by boat across seas or by automobile both use large amounts of gas that contaminate the air we breathe in every day.
One human activity that caused a change in the environment was the damming of at Three Gorges. It was a massive project in which they flooded a whole area of land to make the reservoir. First though, they had to evacuate all the residents that lived in the reservoir area, and to help they paid them to knock down their houses and the buildings.
The dam will produce electricity for parts of China and create a roadway that people and cars can cross over.
In order to get the steel and materials to the build site, trucks and other methods of transportation have to be used, all of which pollute the air. Throughout the whole dam, there are chemicals used on different parts of the dam for different tasks, such as cleaning, bonding, etc. When water firsts runs through the dam, the chemicals will pollute the water. And since the building of the dam is such a large task, there is going to be a lot of waste, both taken away from the build site and left there. The waste left there will pollute the water that first goes through there will pollute the water even further.
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