Take
a moment to look around your current surrounding and you may not think twice
about what it took to make the items that make up your home or work. The
majority of items such as chairs, tables, plates, stoves, mirrors, televisions,
and so forth were made in factories which needed electricity, coal, metals,
wood or other materials that are derived from nature. Mining is the term used
to obtain such materials from the Earth. Mining has many detrimental
consequences on our environment and more importantly, the frogs.
Mining
has many hazards to the environment including: air and water pollution, dust,
sulfur dioxide, sediment runoff, sulfuric acid, and promotes a decline in
wildlife habitation. There are four different techniques for mining and the
most common are open-pit mining, strip mining, underground mining and
mountaintop removal (Cunningham & Cunningham,
2012). Each of them are equal in damage they cause to the land that is
disrupted.
For
the frogs, mining means a loss of habitat. They will no longer have a place to
mate, lay their eggs, find food or survive in general. The world they have
adapted to will forever change and if they cannot adapt yet again, they will
die off in large numbers or become extinct. The frogs already have many odds
against them and mining is another hurdle that is hard to overcome as it a
problem created by humans.
In
America, mining has been highly praised since 1872 for "boosting the
economy and utilizing natural resources" (Cunningham
& Cunningham, 2012). Recently is the Santa Rita Mountains south of
Tucson, Arizona there is a proposed open-pit cooper mining project that would
deplete three quarters of a national forest. The Forest Service and other
organizations have strongly opposed the project being requested by a Canadian
company, Rosemont Coppera. If this mining project would be granted, it would
hurt many of the protected endangered species that call the Santa Rita
Mountains home including the Chiricahua leopard frog. According to Tierra
Curry, a biologist from the Center for Biological Diversity "the mine
would be a disaster for hundreds of wildlife species and for quality of life
for people around Tucson due to air, noise and water pollution and to loss of
tourism and recreation dollars" (The Center for Biological Diversity, 2012).
On
the other side of the world in New Zealand, there is also threat towards to
ancient frogs that have been around since the era of dinosaurs. The Archey's
frogs and Hochstetter's are two of the four remaining native frogs of New
Zealand (Gibson, 2010). In 2010, plans to mine in Coromandel for gold, coal,
iron ore and other materials has been a hot topic over the years because the
mining would deteriorate "national parks and other high-value conservation
land, would endanger forests, waterways, and wildlife including brown teal,
kereru, kaka and kiwi" (Gibson, 2010).
The
proposal was granted for 7,000 hectors and three mines to open in New Zealand.
This is heartbreaking news for many as the once protected lands for the frogs
will now be another piece of land lost to big business which goes against laws
that were put in place for a reason. The once protected land was one "of
the best long-term frog monitoring sites anywhere in the world" according
to Dr. Phil Bishop, of Otago University (Gibson, 2010). A lot of data had been
collected about frogs and now it has been lost to mining for coal.
Good
news for the frogs and many organizations who have protested against the New
Zealand mines. Early 2012, the mines were closed due to failure to comply with
mining regulations and the frogs have not become extinct. The bad news is now
that the mines have been dug out and the land has been altered, hopefully the
native vegetation and species will repopulate and reclaim their home again.
A
disturbing increase in drug use and drug labs around the abandoned New Zealand
underground mines has led to two deaths October 15, 2012 from carbon monoxide
inhalation (Twentyman, 2012). Not only is mining bad for the environment but
once abandoned is a breeding ground for even more unwanted activity. The
companies who proposed the mining projects and those who have allowed
permission should be held accountable for leaving the mines unsafe for future
activity, regardless if forced to shut down or close by choice. They should
recreate what they destroyed by planting the native plants that have been
removed and fund for breeding operations of populations of species that have
declined during the mining process.
Sources:
Cunningham, W., & Cunningham, M. A. (2012). Environmental science a global concern. (12 ed., pp. 295-316). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gibson, E. (2010, May 25). Zoo: Mining threat to 'living fossil' frog. Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10647234
Twentyman, M. (2012, October 15). P-lab dead named. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/7815140/P-lab-dead-named
The Center for Biological Diversity. (2012, July 23). Rare arizona snail one step closer to endangered species act protection. Retrieved from http://www.scenicsantaritas.org/news
