Environmental cumulative effects of coal underground mining

Abstract

More than 70% of primary energy production and consumption in China is occupied by coal. The exploitation quantity has been about 35 billion tons since 1949, over 95% of which is by underground mining. In 2008, the coal production has reached 2.72 billion tons. Long-time and intensive mining has caused spatiotemporal cumulative effects on soil, water, air environment, and ecosystem, which include ground subsidence, hydrodynamics change, land use change, soil pollution, air pollution, and ecosystem evolution etc. In this study, the cumulative sources, paths, and main performances of the environmental cumulative effects on underground coal mining region are analyzed. Moreover, the existence of synergistic effects among all environmental factors is pointed out, with some suggestions proposed for future research.