Changes to the water, air and land in coal country have caused trouble for vast amounts of biodiversity in the region. The biodiversity of the Appalachian headwater streams is second only to the tropics. The southern Appalachian mountains are home to the greatest diversity of salamanders on the globe, accounting for 18% of the known [...]
Tag: mining
Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia
The Appalachian region of the United States, extending from southern New York to northern Mississippi, is home to more than 25 million people in 420 counties across 13 states. The majority of the Appalachian population is poor whites dispersed over large rural areas. The Appalachian economy is extremely reliant on mountaintop removal (MTR) mining, despite [...]
