A Coal Mine's Appetite for Mountains: Big Pics
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March 25, 2010 -- In West Virginia, America's relentless need for fossil fuels exacts a heavy toll on the land. Satellite pictures taken 25 years apart -- above in 1984 and below, in 2009 -- show how mountaintop removal coal mining has grown ravenously west of the Coal River.
By last year, the mine had expanded across over 10,000 acres, and some 40 percent of the streams in the Mud River watershed had been filled or approved for filling in by mine debris. Light brown colors show where mountains have been freshly blasted and the earth hauled away to access coal underneath. Light green areas show where the rubble is being replanted with vegetation in an effort to restore lost forest habitat.
Images: NASA Earth Observatory
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