How does mountaintop removal mining change a landscape?

Mountaintop removal is a form of surface mining that significantly alters the landscape by removing the upper portions of mountains to access coal seams. Unlike area strip mining, which is typically used on flat terrain, mountaintop removal involves clearing vegetation and using explosives to remove the overburden—the rock and soil covering the coal. This process results in the permanent loss of mountain peaks and ridges, often filling adjacent valleys with the displaced rock and debris. Such large-scale earthmoving fundamentally reshapes the topography, disrupts local ecosystems, and permanently changes the drainage patterns of the affected region.1