Mining

SkyTruth’s mountaintop mining work exposes threats to endangered species

December 1, 2021/in Coal, Mining, Mountaintop Mining /by Amy Mathews

As geospatial engineer Christian Thomas continues to track mountaintop mining in Central Appalachia, his data adds to scientific understanding of the many impacts of this destructive practice.

SkyTruth has been monitoring the spread of mountaintop mining in Central Appalachia for years, sharing this information with researchers, conservation groups, and others to analyze and expose its true impacts. Now, working in conjunction with our partners at Defenders of Wildlife, we have been able to document just how severely mountaintop mining harms imperiled and endangered species. Read about our PLOS ONE paper on imperiled species here and look for 2020 data on the extent of mountaintop mining December 7.

Mine tailings could threaten Phoenix’s water supply

October 7, 2021/in Freshwater, Internship, Mining /by Hyasmine Briones

SkyTruth intern Hyasmine Briones discovered a real threat from a mining impoundment in Arizona, supporting concerns raised by the environmental group Earthworks.

My first project as an intern at SkyTruth involved a potential mining threat flagged by a partner organization, Earthworks, whose mission is to protect communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development.

Will the forest ever return?

May 26, 2021/in Climate, Coal, Mining, Mountaintop Mining /by Christian Thomas

Working with our partners, including Appalachian Voices, SkyTruth has developed a tool to help activists, scientists, officials and others estimate whether mined sites have fully recovered.

Today, with our partners at Appalachian Voices, Downstream Strategies, 4E Analytics, and Green Forest Works, we are publishing the results of our Central Appalachian Mine Reforestation Assessment. Together we have developed an approach and dataset that assesses reforestation progress on formerly mined lands in the region.

The Latest Data on Mountaintop Mining in Central Appalachia

December 8, 2020/in Biodiversity, Climate, Coal, Mining, Mountaintop Mining /by Christian Thomas

SkyTruth data shows that area of actively mined land in the region continues to decline. But is it recovering?

As 2020 comes to a close, SkyTruth is releasing our annual update to our Central Appalachian Surface Mining dataset, providing detailed information about the extent of mining operations from 1985 through 2019. The new data shows that trends we identified last year continue: namely, new areas have been cleared for mining, yet the total amount of land in the region being mined is declining.

Supporting SkyTruth

November 19, 2020/in Bilge Dumping, Biodiversity, Climate, Coal, General, Mining, Mountaintop Mining, Protected Area Monitoring /by John Amos

SkyTruth developed new techniques to monitor and protect the planet throughout 2020. Help us accomplish even more in 2021.

At SkyTruth we say that seeing is believing, and — even more importantly — if you can see it, you can change it. To help us continue illuminating the reality of environmental impacts on the ground in 2021, please consider making a year-end donation to SkyTruth.

Archive for category: Mining

As geospatial engineer Christian Thomas continues to track mountaintop mining in Central Appalachia, his data adds to scientific understanding of the many impacts of this destructive practice.

SkyTruth intern Hyasmine Briones discovered a real threat from a mining impoundment in Arizona, supporting concerns raised by the environmental group Earthworks.

Working with our partners, including Appalachian Voices, SkyTruth has developed a tool to help activists, scientists, officials and others estimate whether mined sites have fully recovered.

SkyTruth data shows that area of actively mined land in the region continues to decline. But is it recovering?

SkyTruth developed new techniques to monitor and protect the planet throughout 2020. Help us accomplish even more in 2021.