There are several damaging environmental impacts of coal mining, transport, preparation, combustion, and waste storage, among which can be mentioned:
- Water pollution from coal, because of the outflow of acid water (acid mine drainage) from the coal mines, and the exposure of rocks containing sulphur;
- Radioacitivity, because coal contains minor amounts of uranium and thorium, that when the coal is burned, will fly in the ash in a amount 10 times bigger than their original concentration;
- The air pollutants generates by these fossil product combustion and mining, leading to global warming and Greenhouse gas emissions;
- Climate impacts from the geological point of view as the ecological by changes in the natural structures;
- Deforestation by mountaintop removal mining, as well as floods because of the same removal;
- Degradation and loss of groundwater, since the coal seams related to underground aquifers.
