It’s not viable
The amount of resources mined from Earth is up from 39.3 billion tons in 2002. A 55 percent increase in less than 20 years. This puts Earth’s natural resources under heavy pressure. We are already extracting 75 percent more than Earth can sustain in the long run.
Number of Earths humanity currently uses
To provide for our consumption
It’s mined for your sake
Most of our stuff requires natural resources to produce. Do you know how many different minerals that go into your phone, television, or computer?
On average, everyone uses 16 kilos of resources extracted from earth every day - metal, fossil energy, and minerals. If you live in the western world this number is much higher - up to 57 kilos of newly-mined minerals per day.
It goes into your products
Telephones, for example, are made from as many as 42 different minerals, including aluminum, beryllium, coal, copper, gold, iron, limestone, silica, silver, talc and wollastonite. A television requires 35 different minerals, and a computer more than 30.
Lifetime supply
A newborn infant will need: 360 kilos of lead, 340 kilos of zinc, 680 kilos of copper, 1,630 kilos of aluminum, 14,800 kilos of iron, and 560,000 kilos of stone, sand, gravel and cement. Check out the video to know more about how extraction of resources fits into our consumption of stuff.
Numbers are going up
The highest growth is seen in the mining of metals. Production of mined metal commodities is expected to increase by 250 percent by 2030 compared to 2000. Most of this will originate from small and medium-sized mining operators, particularly in developing countries…
With increased negative impacts
Small and medium-sized mining operators often lack the know-how and resources to apply sufficient health and environmental safeguards. The environmental impacts of mining is therefore likely to increase.
Environmental impacts from mining
The environmental impacts from mining include:
- Destruction of natural habitat
- Oil, fuel and chemicals spills contaminating surrounding soil, rivers and groundwater resources.
- Air pollution from mining processing operations
- Drainage and runoff from mining sites, including acid mine drainage
Acid mine drainage can go on for thousands of years. Yes, really
Time left till end of pollution
From 'Iron Mountain' mine
