A recent study discovered that mining for bitcoins causes hazardous air pollutants, with fine particles coming from facilities that cross state lines and affecting regions far from the mines themselves.
According to researchers who conducted the breakthrough study that was published in , about 1.9 million Americans were exposed to significant amounts of these great debris between August 2022 and July 2023.
New York City, the Houston/Austin urban region, Northeast Texas, and locations along the Illinois/Kentucky borders are among the areas affected.
” Cross-state pollution”
The T. H. Chan School of Public Health study team at Harvard, led by Dr. Francesca Dominici, discovered that Cryptocurrency mines generally increase the production of electricity from fossil fuel power plants.
According to the experts, based on data from the 34 largest Bitcoin mine in operation in the United States, a energy plant in one state may burn more fuel or gas, causing total pollutants to flow from one state to another.
For those affected, this creates a irritating condition.
For instance, a coal-fired grow in Kentucky was forced to run by a plant in North Carolina, which resulted in inhabitants having no other options for the power plant or the plant in the near future.
However, this circumstance creates a regulatory difference because the affected regions are not from the same condition where the pollutants come from.
A number of “possible policy systems” could help with” cross-state waste,” Dr. Scott Delaney, one of the scholars, told in an email meeting. However, these laws call for Federal regulation.
Dr. Delaney specifically suggests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency might impose a” Good Neighbor” rule for PM2.5 ( fine particles ) air pollution.
Upwind states would need to be more aggressive in regulating power plant emissions, according to a law like this. According to Delaney, programs that encourage responsible sitting of miners services and information centers could also be launched to lessen the effects of poor health.
Beyond bitcoin and beyond
The findings of the study extend well beyond simply crypto.
reported a drop in earnings next month among the publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies.
Some of those workers have switched from crypto to AI as a result of this pattern.
Big data centers are required for Bitcoin mines and AI facilities, and a lot of the products used to mine the tokens may be reused for various purposes, Delaney said.
The review comes as Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has created momentum in favor of the crypto industry.
Trump met with Bitcoin workers and stated that he wants all Bitcoin to be produced in America during the battle path for his second term.
Trump earlier this month passed an executive order to increase fuel output in the nation.
The study’s authors warned that the continued growth of Bitcoin miners, along with AI equipment, may include severe negative effects on the environment.
The waste they produce will become even more toxic, according to the scientists who spoke to .
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