Brown coal mining limits in North Bohemia of mining operations whole villages, towns and even cities (Most) were demolished to extract the coal that lay beneath; their inhabitants were rehoused in large-scale new prefabricated panelled apartment buildings. The low quality technology used for large-scale burning of brown coal led to a sharp increase in the content of harmful sulfur dioxide and aerosols in the atmosphere. The result was wholesale damage to the environment (such as the die-back of the forests in the Ore Mountains from acid rain) and human health. In view of the unsustainable situation, the first post-communist Czechoslovak government decided to resolve the situation by
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions the Month". The book was a Goodreads Choice Awards "Best Nonfiction" nominee in 2014 as well. What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions is a non-fiction book by Randall Munroe in which the author answers hypothetical science questions sent to him by readers of his webcomic, "xkcd". The book contains a selection of questions and answers originally published on his blog "What If?", along with several new ones. The book is divided into several dozen chapters, most of which are devoted to answering a unique question. "What If?" was