How does coal mining destroy mountains?

1 Answer
Feb 20, 2016

Do a Socratic search for a similar question....called Is strip mining necessary?

Explanation:

In addition to the answer in the above question, coal mining does not "destroy" mountains exactly. It often, though, does remove the tops of the mountains and overburden is dumped over the sides of the mountains - radically changes the form of the mountain.. Some states require mining companies to reclaim the land afterwards (fill in pits. or make them into lakes and then plant vegetation), but not all do and some have just been abandoned to let nature reclaim the mountain - but this can take hundreds or even thousands of years.