Problem:
Reply to the following class mate in 100 words and include
Discuss how your peer's chosen term relates to your everyday life. (clayton Nc)
My term for this week's discussion is Mountaintop Removal Mining
My own definition of Mountaintop Removal Mining is a damaging way in which miners use dynamite to blow the top off a mountain to get to the coal seams buried underneath. To gain access to the mountains, they cut down trees and remove soil from the mountain's summit, damaging healthy forests in the process. When the miners blast away the mountain's peak, they push the excess rocks and soil into valleys and hollows. This permanently buries and destroys the headwater streams and forests in those valleys. The soil is highly impacted and lacks the nutrients and structure of the original forest soil, hindering natural ecological succession and reclamation efforts. They flatten the land and replant, but there is far more damage done to the forest than just to the replanted. It leaves severe and lasting environmental impacts on the landscape, forests, streams, and local communities.
The entire process, from forest clearing to waste disposal, directly impacts nearly every major area of environmental study. Mountaintop removal mining permanently flattens and transforms biodiverse mountain terrain into flat plateaus, resulting in loss of habitat and massive alteration of the region's land shape. The resulting loss of stream miles and profound disruption of the watershed. Heavy metals like selenium, arsenic, and mercury are released. They bioaccumulate in the food chain, poisoning aquatic fish, insects, and amphibians, ultimately impacting human health. The use of explosives affects local air quality and human respiratory health. Epidemiologic studies show increased rates of cancer, respiratory disease, and overall mortality in Appalachian surface mining areas compared to Appalachian non-mining areas (Kurth et al, 2015). Need Assignment Help?
References
Kurth, Laura; Kolker, Allan; Engle, Mark; Geboy, Nicholas; Hendryx, Michael; Orem, William; McCawley, Michael; Crosby, Lynn; Tatu, Calin; Varonka, Matthew; DeVera, Christina (2015). Atmospheric particulate matter in proximity to mountaintop coal mines: sources and potential environmental and human health impacts. Environmental Geochemistry & Health, Volume 37, Issue 3, p529-544,16p.
Hendryx, Michael; Luo, Juhua (2015). An examination of the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining on respiratory symptoms and COPD using propensity scores. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, Volume 25, Issue 3, p.265-276, 12p.