across Australia’s Hunter Valley, the phone in Glenn Albrecht’s
office began to ring. It was the early 2000s, and Albrecht,
an environmental studies professor, was interested in the
emotional impacts of mining on local communities. For gen-
erations, the region had been known for its bucolic alfalfa
fields, horse farms, and vineyards. Coal mining had long
been a part of the economy, but it had suddenly grown as
increasing global demand and new extraction technologies
prompted a wave of new mining operations across the valley.
Word of Albrecht’s interest spread, and distressed res-
idents were eager to share their stories. They described
earth-shaking explosions, the constant rumble of machin-
ery, the eerie glow of industrial work lights that illuminated
the night, and invasive black dust that coated their houses
inside and out. They worried about the air they breathed and
the water they drank. Their homes were slipping away, and
they felt powerless to stop the destruction.
Some in the valley mounted a legal battle to try to keep the
mines at bay, but many needed the jobs the mines provided.
Ultimately, the deep-pocketed mining interests prevailed.
The landscape, and much of the social fabric built upon it,
became collateral damage.
As the mines spread, Albrecht began to notice a common
theme in the emotional responses of some valley inhabitants.
They knew the mines were the source of their distress, but
they had a difficult time finding the precise words to express
their feelings. “It was as though they were experiencing
Hunter
Valley,
N. S .W.AUSTRALIA HunterValley,INDIAN
OCEANN. S .W.Glenn Albrecht and his
wife, Jill, sit for a photo
in their Hunter Valley
home. Glenn coined
the term “solastalgia”
in the early 2000s to
describe residents’
emotional turmoil as
coal mining exploded
in the region. The word
spread via the internet
as a way to describe
losing something
beloved because of
environmental change.AS COAL MINES SPREAD LIKE CRACKS38 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC