24 Facts About Coal mining

Coal mining has had many developments in recent years, from the early days of men tunneling, digging, and manually extracting the coal on carts to large open-cut and longwall mines.

Coal mining industry has a long history of significant negative environmental impacts on local ecosystems, health impacts on local communities and workers, and contributes heavily to the global environmental crises, such as poor air quality and climate change.

Coal mining continues as an important economic activity today, but has begun to decline due to the strong contribution coal plays in global warming and environmental issues, which result in decreasing demand and in some geographies, peak coal.

Large-scale coal mining developed during the Industrial Revolution, and coal provided the main source of primary energy for industry and transportation in industrial areas from the 18th century to the 1950s.

Coal mining is mined today on a large scale by open pit methods wherever the coal strata strike the surface or are relatively shallow.

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Coal mining extraction methods vary depending on whether the mine is an underground mine or a surface mine.

The most economical form of underground mining is the long wall, which involves using two spinning drums with carbide bits that runs along sections of the coal seam.

Strip mining exposes coal by removing earth above each coal seam.

Coal mining production has grown fastest in Asia, while Europe has declined.

Globally coal mining is highly concentrated in certain jurisdictions, concentrating much of the social and economic impacts of the industry.

Coal mining refuse is distinct from the byproducts of burning coal, such as fly ash.

Historically, coal mining has been a very dangerous activity and the list of historical coal mining disasters is long.

Open cut hazards are principally mine wall failures and vehicle collisions; underground Coal mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse, rock burst, outbursts, and gas explosions.

China, in particular, has the highest number of coal mining related deaths in the world, with official statistics claiming that 6,027 deaths occurred in 2004.

One study, though, has suggested that hazards of modern Coal mining are now more accretive with workers facing long-term health impacts, such as sleep deprivation, that build up over time.

Coal mining is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.

Coal mining has been mined in every state of Australia, but mainly in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Coal mining greatly increased during the industrial revolution and the following decades.

The main Coal mining areas were around Aachen and the Ruhr area, along with many smaller areas in other parts of Germany, and until 1945 in Upper Silesia, while the Saarland was repeatedly under French control.

Coal mining reached its peak in the first half of the 20th century.

The main Coal mining areas are located in Western Macedonia and the Peloponnese.

In September 2020, the government and mining union agreed a plan to phase out coal by 2049, but this has been criticised by environmentalists as too late to be compatible with the Paris Agreement to limit climate change.

The Middle Coal mining Measures was the most important with its wide distribution, great number of coal beds and extensive potential reserves.

Coal mining has come under continued price pressure from natural gas and renewable energy sources, which has resulted in a rapid decline of coal in the US and several notable bankruptcies including Peabody Energy.