Infographic: Coal and Water – A Resource Mismatch

Give Water a Voice

Your support helps inform the world’s most important decisions about water and all that it touches.

One-time Monthly Annually

One-time

$20

$45

$245

Other Donation amount

$

Monthly

$9

$15

$30

Other Donation amount per month

$

Annually

$100

$500

$1,000

Other Donation amount per year

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate Now

The contest between coal-fired energy production and water demand is a mismatch. Mining and burning coal accounts for half of all water withdrawals in the United States, which is the same amount of water that pours over Niagara Falls in five months. Burning coal in power plants also is the source of more climate-changing carbon emissions than any other industrial sector. Here’s a look at the economically essential and ecologically damaging accord between coal and water.

Graphic © Kalin Wood/Circle of Blue

Mining and burning coal accounts for half of all water withdrawals in the United States, which is the same amount of water that pours over Niagara Falls in five months. CLICK to ENLARGE

Graphic by Kalin Wood, a Circle of Blue graphic designer. With contribution from Aubrey Ann Parker, a Circle of Blue reporter and data analyst. Reach them at circleofblue.org/contact.