Undermining the watercycle
A critical appraisal of the mining industry's contributions to the global water crisis.
Campanales, Sara; Rhoades, Hannibal
http://theecologist.org/2019/mar/22/undermining-watercycle
Date Written: 2019-03-22
Publisher: The Ecologist
Year Published: 2019
Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX23571
The mining industry is often overlooked as a cause of the global water crisis. This article examines recent history of mining disasters and how the industry PR greenwashes its image.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
Our changing climate and the growth of global population by approximately 85 million people a-year are often cited as the main causes of the world's water crisis. But neither climate change nor population growth alone can adequately account for our present situation.
The consumption of global water supplies is doubling every 20 years, at more than twice the rate of human population growth. Experts believe we ought to see climate change as a product and intensifier of our existing water crisis, as well as a contributing cause....
Though the industry may not consume as much water in absolute amounts as, say, industrial agriculture, mining is capable of polluting water bodies over vast distances. Even when a mine has closed its impacts on water may continue to worsen and spread for centuries, leaving a toxic legacy for future generations.
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