The environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining is a new problem that only recently has been gaining more attention. The story is pretty simple, computers are used to solve math problems in order to mine cryptocurrency, and this requires a tremendous amount of processing power and electricity.
Many miners have started using more efficient hardware such as ASICs, but this causes other issues such as centralizing the mining process which poses a security risk.
This environmental issue poses an interesting challenge for governments and the energy industry as miners need to find a way to pay for the power they use while reducing their carbon footprint.
Mining uses an enormous amount of electricity, about 33 million megawatt hours each day. That's enough to power about three million homes in the US for one day.
Mining also increases the rate of wear and tear on computer parts, which can shorten the life span or even make them unusable.
The electrical usage is so high partly because mining computers are always running and engaging in repetitive tasks that strain their hardware components and increase heat output.
In addition, cryptocurrency mining consumes a lot of heavy metals that may be toxic to humans and animals when exposed for long periods of time, such as mercury or lead.
