Compare the development of mining ranching and farming in the west. how did their environmental consequences differ

Farming: The practice of agriculture might be the least impactful compared to ranching and mining. The consistent use of land for vegetation consumes all the nutrients a plot of soil can offer; crop rotation is a viable solution to this problem. The environmental footprint of farming becomes airborne (and still affects the soil) once insecticides are used to protect crops from potential plagues.

Mining: Mining can cause pollution in every medium possible, depending on the location it is practiced on. It affects air when unrefined materials are released to the surface; causes the destruction of soil and vegetation once these are removed to reach the minerals undergound; contaminate water when draining acid from mines and increasing sedimentation on water streams; reduces biodiversity by destroying natural habitats.

Ranching: The great amounts of livestock release high levels of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, degradating everything the gas emissions reach. This results in water degradation, biodiversity loss, air pollution, deforestation, and acid rain. Cattle is one of the highest factors that contribute to climate change.

It can be concluded that Mining and Ranching are similar in the areas of affection, but differ in the mediums to do it. Farming does not create as much pollution as these two, and its effects are somewhat reversible.