Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, page-59

" Carbon is an element in the period table "​

So is thorium and uranium .​

Please let me know when you have something worthwhile to say.​

And yes, I am pro Nuclear.​

1. Introduction​

Coal, currently the largest source of energy on earth, is used extensively in electricity generation in different countries (Nataly Echevarria Huaman & Xiu, Jun. 2014). Coal was formed over many years by dead plants through the process of coalification. Carbon, sulfur, oxygen, hydrogen, small amounts of nitrogen and some traces of heavy metals are the main components of coal. The burning of coal leads to the emission of poisonous gases with underlying health impacts and environmental problems (Clancy et al.; Katsouyanni et al., 2001, Gent et al., 2003). In coal combustion, the carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen react with oxygen and produce their respective oxides: carbon dioxide (CO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and sulfur trioxide (SO₃), and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and nitric oxide (NO), respectively. The emission of these gases has been correlated with many health problems directly and indirectly, including skin, cardiovascular, brain, blood and lung diseases, and different cancers (Badman and Jaffé, 1996, Cornell, 2016, Bascom et al., 1996, Kelsall et al., 1997, Health effects of outdoor air pollution. Committee of the Environmental and Occupational Health Assembly of the American Thoracic Society, 1996, Pope et al., 1995). For example, CO enters into the blood stream and reacts with hemoglobin and reduces the formation of oxy-hemoglobin complex by decreasing its ability for O₂ transformation (Badman & Jaffé, 1996). Hence, the CO can alter biological functions at the cellular level and cause many abnormalities including slow reflexes, and coagulation confusion or disorders. Both CO and CO₂ cumulatively have harmful impacts on the environment in the form of global warming and greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. The CO₂ emission from coal combustion, during power generation, also leads to the interaction of CO₂ with particulate matter (PM 2.5), which thereby changes the air quality and leads to increased asthma attacks and other respiratory and cardiovascular diseases with underlying poor life expectancy rates. Inhaling particulate matters may cause some dangerous diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (Cornell, 2016).
The sulfur, in coal, oxidizes upon combustion and pollutes the air, water, and land by releasing SOx (SO₂, SO₃, SO₃²⁻ and H₂SO₄). The formation of the poisonous SO₂ gas, a major pollutant in air, may accelerate the rate of diseases and decrease life expectancy around power plants (Bascom et al., 1996, Kelsall et al., 1997, Health effects of outdoor air pollution. Committee of the Environmental and Occupational Health Assembly of the American Thoracic Society, 1996, Pope et al., 1995). In addition to SO₂, other SOx like sulfate (SO₃²⁻) and sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), damages the environment in the form of acid rain. High exposure to SO₂ causes suffocation, wheezing, coughing, and reductions in lung function by affecting mucous and cellular mucins (Kelsall et al., 1997, Health effects of outdoor air pollution. Committee of the Environmental and Occupational Health Assembly of the American Thoracic Society, 1996, Pope et al., 1995, Bascom et al., 1996). SO₂ gas also damages nearby flora and crops, leading to leaf injury, affecting plant growth and reducing the diversity of plant species (Rajput et al., 1977, Winner et al., 1985). SO₂ was also considered to be a strong phytotoxic gas causing acute foliar symptom injury in plants (Winner et al., 1985, Barretti and Benedict, 1970). However, the damage caused by SO₂ in plants has not been clearly studied (Padhi et al., 2013, Swain and Padhi, 2015, Barretti and Benedict, 1970). Moreover, acid rain (H₂SO₄), a hydrated product of SO₃, potentially damages skin cells, destroys building material, and pervasively affects vegetation and food chain by contaminating the flora and fauna through the leaching of heavy metals (Kitamura and Ikuta, 2001, Singh and Agrawal, 2007, Thornton and Plant, 1980). Similar to SO₂, nitric oxide (NO₂), another major pollutant with highly corrosive properties and a strong oxidizing ability, is formed as a result of coal combustion in power plants and contaminates the air (Levy, Moxim, Klonecki, & Kasibhatla, 1999). NO₂ forms the most important part of acid rain, as nitrous acid HNO₂ and nitric acid HNO₃, which causes a large number of skin diseases (Singh & Agrawal, 2007). The entrance of SO_x and NO_x air pollutants into the blood stream and cells destabilizes normal heart beats (rhythms) and culminates in heart attacks and other heart related problems (Peters, PerzDöring, Stieber, Koenig, & Wichmann, 1999). In addition, high levels of NO₂ (>1500 mg/m³) in the air causes a reduction in the pulmonary function in humans (Li et al., 2001, Health effects of outdoor air pollution. Committee of the Environmental and Occupational Health Assembly of the American Thoracic Society, 1996), asthma attacks and genetic mutations (Arroyo et al., 1992, Isomura et al., 1984, Wink et al., 1991). The ozone gas formed as a result of NO₂ reaction with the volatile organic compounds in the air causes ozone-related asthma exacerbations in infants (Gent et al., 2003).
PM level, individually and in combination with NO₂ in air, increases the concentration of free radical based reactive oxygen species (ROS) and contributes to DNA mutation, and damage of protein and lipids which may constitutively activate membrane proteins which leads to the development of some serious diseases, including lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases and reproductive disorders (Hussain et al., 2016a, Valko et al., 2007, Miller et al., 2007; Clancy et al.; Katsouyanni et al., 2001). The interaction of PM with DNA leads to the formation of DNA adducts impairing neurodevelopment, intelligence quotient (IQ) levels and intelligence in children (Edwards et al., 2010, Jedrychowski et al., 2003, Perera et al., 2008, Perera et al., 2012, Tang et al., 2008).
In this review, the roles of some major pollutants, produced during coal combustion, including CO_x, SO_x and NO_x, and heavy metal emissions in human diseases and environmental pollution are discussed. These pollutants are causing threats by interacting with the environment and having an impact on human health, both, directly and indirectly, by modulating the physiological changes at cellular level in all areas of life (from eukarya to bacteria) in the ecosystem.
2. Air pollution

2.1. Coal combustion and CO_x (CO₂ & CO) impacts on environment and health

Coal is an important source of energy around the world—approximately 41% of the world's electricity is generated from outdoor coal combustion (Nataly Echevarria Huaman and Xiu, Jun. 2014). However, indoor coal combustion is only used for domestic energy purposes. Both indoor and outdoor coal combustion contributes to environmental and health issues, even in the developed world. According to some recent studies, coal-based chemical processing releases CO₂ two to four times more than that of oil-based chemical processing (Ren & Patel, 2009). In outdoor power generation, the amount of possible heating of coal mainly depends on C, O₂ and H₂ contents and partially on SO₂. However, in different coal ranks, the ratio of these components varies. Different coal ranks have different amounts of coal: lignite coal has more than 60% carbon content and it increases to 80% for anthracite (Slatick August 1994).
During coal combustion both CO₂ and CO gases were mainly emitted as a result of oxidation and they lead to harmful impacts on the environment in the form of global warming and GHG. In addition, these gases are concomitantly correlated with many health issues directly and indirectly including malaria, cardiovascular diseases and asthma. CO₂ emissions are considered to be the main cause of about three-quarters of global GHG emission. Fossil fuels account for approximately 90% of the total global CO₂ emissions in 2011 (Olivier, Peters, and Janssens-Maenhout 2012). Due to continuous CO₂ emission and underlying climate change, global warming is correlated with increased overall incidences of flooding and hurricane activity (Gething et al., 2010, Henderson-Sellers et al., 1998; Pielke and Pielke, 1997, Simpson and Riehl, 1981), having a severe impact on agriculture and the food-web. Furthermore, an extremely hot climate leads to dehydration, cerebrovascular, respiratory, and cardiovascular disease in the developed world, including the US and China (Karl, 2009, Lan et al., 2002). Thus, the emission of CO₂ from coal causes air pollution and plays a key role in global warming and GHG, which directly and indirectly affects human health and the environment. At a cellular level, the CO combines with blood hemoglobin and reduces its efficiency and lower its capacity to transform O₂ (Badman & Jaffé, 1996) (Fig. 1A).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2300396017300551

I don't care if you get the drift or not.

Raider
​