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Eating Appalachia: NASA satellite images reveal mountain cannibalism for coal

Eating a mountain for coal


New images released by NASA reveal the conversion of mountains and forests in southern West Virginia to a giant surface mine.



The time-lapse shots from 1984 to 2009 show the process of mountaintop removal in Boone County, West Virginia. The images show forests being stripped, valleys filled, and giant craters excavated in the process of mining thin seams of coal at Hobet mine.



“These natural-color (photo-like) images document the growth of the Hobet mine as it moves from ridge to ridge between 1984 to 2009,” states NASA’s Earth Observatory.



The mine area would grow to more than 10,000 acres over the life of the photo series, which is based on data from NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite.



NASA’s Earth Observatory describes the images:



1984



1988


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2009



Due to its destructive nature, as well as pollution (including acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions) associated with coal burning, mountaintop removal is increasingly a target of environmental groups. Several high-profile protests during the past year have resulted in arrests and widespread media coverage and commentary.



In January a group of prominent scientists called upon the Obama Administration to ban mountaintop removal.



“The scientific evidence of the severe environmental and human impacts from mountaintop mining is strong and irrefutable,” lead author Dr. Margaret Palmer of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science said in a statement. “Its impacts are pervasive and long lasting and there is no evidence that any mitigation practices successfully reverse the damage it causes.”








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