Environmentalists are warning against the adoption of cryptocurrency by US leaders, urging lawmakers to address the adverse environmental and climate impacts of mining operations.
Mining cryptocurrency is notorious for being bad for the environment, environmentalists say, and globally, the annualized carbon footprint of bitcoin mining is comparable to Chile.
According to Digiconomist, a platform that aims to uncover the unintended consequences of certain digital trends, a single bitcoin transaction uses the same amount of energy needed to power an average American household for more than two months.
While the annualized global carbon footprint of ethereum cryptocurrency it is less than half that of Bitcoin, it is still comparable to Hong Kong's footprint. A single Ethereum transaction has a carbon footprint equivalent to that of nearly 200,000 Visa transactions.
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Those numbers become even more concerning when you consider the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies in the US, with the mayors of major cities like New York and Miami advocating for transforming them into crypto access points.
New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams said earlier this month that he plans to take your first three bitcoin paychecks, in response to a tweet from Miami Mayor Francis Suรกrez saying that he would receive his next "100% bitcoin" paycheck.
the cryptocurrency conference "Bitcoin 2021", touted as the largest bitcoin event in history, took place in Miami over the summer and he plans to return there this spring for "Bitcoin 2022."
People around the world should be concerned about the environmental and climate impacts of mining cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, which require miners to compete to validate transactions on their blockchains using power-hungry servers, Benjamin Jones, economist at the University of New Mexico, told the guardian. That power is generated primarily from fossil fuels, he said, increasing carbon emissions and air pollution.
Jones last year co-authored an article found in 2018, every $ 1 of bitcoin value created was associated with a $ 0.49 increase in damage to health and climate in the US, meaning that negative impacts on health and the weather derived from bitcoin mining were half the value per coin.
A group of 70 racial, economic and climate justice groups wrote to Congress last month calling on leaders to address the adverse environmental and climate impacts of cryptocurrencies. The effects of which have already reached American communities like Dresden, New York, where residents say Seneca Lake, 80 miles from the Canadian border, it feels like a jacuzzi.
Carbon emissions from Greenidge Generation, a former coal plant in Dresden that was converted to natural gas and started a bitcoin operation, were almost ten times more in 2020 compared to 2019.
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