Is Mining Beneficial or Harmful?

Mining can be both beneficial and harmful. In order to see what's best let’s look at the pros and cons of mining.

Mining can benefit us a lot by giving us important resources. It provides us with fossil fuels and metals. Without mining we would not have some of the resources we need for fuel in cars. Or we wouldn’t have some of the metals that we need to build things.

According to the authors at the site Environmental-Conscience, “Mining is also important to ensure a high level of technological progress. Our industries rely on natural resources from mining and without sufficient amounts of resources, our technological progress would be slowed down sufficiently.”

Another benefit to mining can also give jobs to some of the poorer people on the planet. Mining can provide people with needed jobs in places where there are not a lot. Especially in many poor countries on our planet. In those poor countries mining is an important job in order to have enough money to survive.

Mining also has some cons.

Mining can cause serious levels of deforestation. Sadly, the best spot to mine happens to be in forests. However, trees are natural storage spaces for large amounts of greenhouse gases. If you get rid of the trees you will release the gas and global warming will get even worse.

According to the authors at the site Environmental-Conscience, ”Through habitat destruction related to mining, many species may also become endangered or even extinct. Many animals and plants are quite used to their natural environment since they evolved in them for thousands or even millions of years.” Mining can cause animals to become endangered and that is a con.

Mining is also really dangerous. In fact, many people who work in mining lose their lives each year. Especially in poor countries, working conditions in those mines are often bad and safety is not good.