TIL that La Rinconada in the Peruvian Andes is the highest human settlement in the world at 5,100 m / 16,700 ft. The gold mines nearby have attracted a population of about 30,000 workers who live in absolute dire conditions with no proper sanitation in this harsh and remote region.

It is known as the lawless city of Peru because of the very high crime rate, drug use, prostitution, etc. driven by abject poverty and despair. It is also an environmental disaster with piles of trash everywhere and mercury contamination of the soil and lakes, and a ticking time bomb as the melting glaciers risk wiping out inhabited areas.

I’m not a fan of how wasteful Bitcoin PoW mining is, but the human and social cost of gold is appalling on another level

TIL that La Rinconada in the Peruvian Andes is the highest human settlement in the world at 5,100 m / 16,700 ft. The gold mines nearby have attracted a population of about 30,000 workers who live in absolute dire conditions with no proper sanitation in this harsh and remote region.

It is known as the lawless city of Peru because of the very high crime rate, drug use, prostitution, etc. driven by abject poverty and despair. It is also an environmental disaster with piles of trash everywhere and mercury contamination of the soil and lakes, and a ticking time bomb as the melting glaciers risk wiping out inhabited areas.

I’m not a fan of how wasteful Bitcoin PoW mining is, but the human and social cost of gold is appalling on another level

https://youtu.be/mJuTM7TJ9J0

Aviator, diver, Etherean, nexialist, PhD in aviation and climate science, host of /diving /ethfinance /forteantimes /geopolitics /science /singapore /thomas

Ethereum

knowing it's a dangerous zone, he sure brought a lot of attention with those bright colored outfit lol