애팔래치아 탄전 개발로 인한 삼림훼손

애팔래치아의 탄전은 대부분 역청탄이고
아래 음영기복도와 함께 비교하면서 관찰하면
의외로 습곡지역에는 탄전이 없고, West Virginia지역쪽으로 발달했군요

Though the practice of mountaintop removal mining (MTR) is perhaps best-known in West Virginia, it is one of the main drivers of forest change in the entire region of central Appalachia - along the Cumberland and Alleghany Plateaus in eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee. This map, produced with data from Appalachian Voices, shows the area affected by mountaintop mining within the Southern United States.

Mountaintop removal mining often leads to long-term loss of forests since woody vegetation is slow to establish on mined areas. Ecosystem services provided by forests, such as water purification and carbon sequestration, may be seriously impaired. Reclaimed areas rarely support biodiversity at pre-mining levels. Mining activity is concentrated within some of the most productive and biodiversity-rich regions of the South, causing great concern over the permitting and operation of these mines.

<From : World Resources Institute>


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미국 오대호 인근 러스트벨트의 쇠락에 관한 글이 있습니다.

출처 : Wikipedia (Power River Basin)