Land Cancer: Growth of Mountaintop Coal Mine, West Virginia, 1984-2009 (via @NASA_EO @kenwardjr)

Hobet Mine in Boone County , West Virginia, September, 17, 1984.

Hobet Mine in Boone County , West Virginia, June 2, 2009.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=43000

Electricity comes from places like these: Remember this the next time you leave the lights on.

These two satellite pictures from NASA Earth Observatory show the 25-year growth of a mountaintop removal coal line, Hobet 21, in West Virginia, from 1984 to 2009. The mine now occupies about 10,000 acres. 

Impact: A panel of scientists in January 2010 released a report in the journal SCIENCE that discussed the significant ecosystem and human health damage that results from this type of coal mining:

High Cost of Cheap Coal: "Mountaintop Mining Consequences, a Science Magazine Policy Forum" (via @sciencemagazine)

http://ddimick.posterous.com/high-cost-of-cheap-coal-mountaintop-mining-co

Time lapse slide show of progression of mine from 1984-2009

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/hobet.php

also see: National Geographic, March 2006, When Mountains Move (via @ngmag)

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2006/03/mountain-mining/mitchell-text

also see: Coal Tattoo: Ken Ward Jr.: Mountaintop Removal Then and Now (via @kenwardjr)

http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2010/03/02/mountaintop-removal-then-and-now/

also see: Leveling Appalachia: Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining (via @yalee360 and @mediastorm)

http://ddimick.posterous.com/like-pbs-frontline-leveling-appalachia-legacy

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