THE letter from Stephen Feaster on the subject of global warming (July 17) reminded me of an article I saw in the June 2004 issue of Readers Digest concerning underground coal fires burning out of control.
Burning Mountain in Australia has been burning for 6,000 years while, in China, underground fires, consuming an estimated 200 million tons of coal per year, and covering an area the size of Scotland, are producing quantities of carbon dioxide (the "greenhouse gas") equivalent to four times the amount of road vehicle emissions in the UK.
The article also reports that the problem of underground coal fires extends across much of the Far East.
In the light of this information perhaps Friends of the Earth and similar organisations could more productively direct their energies towards helping the scientists and engineers who are trying to extinguish these massive fires and improve mining practices to prevent the occurrence of further ignition.
A Dobinson,
Askham Lane,
Acomb, York.
Updated: 11:23 Thursday, July 22, 2004
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