'Cost of Coal' explores life cycle of the rock and its effects on human health in W.Va., Mich. and Nev.

The Sierra Club has partnered with award-winning photojournalist Ami Vitale to produce a photographic essay for its magazine about the life cycle of coal and its effects on the lives of residents living close to mine sites, power plants and coal-waste disposal areas, most of which are in rural areas.

"Cost of Coal" includes an 18-page photo spread in the November/December issue of Sierra, and an interactive website with more than 100 photos and videos of individuals living near four sites impacted by coal: Blair, W.Va., Lindytown, W.Va., River Rouge, Mich., and near the Moapa Band of Paiutes Reservation in Moapa, Nev. Slide shows and videos are organized by location and story on the website, where readers can donate to the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, Living Green Magazine reports.

Here's a video overview of the project:

Student photo essay has 'poignant illustrations' of resource extraction, development in West

SAGE Magazine, a student-run environmental magazine at Yale Forestry School, recently ran a collection of photographs that amount to photo essay of the West, and High Country News has featured some of those photographs on its website. The photos were submitted by students and people living in the region, and "include beautiful wildlife photography and poignant illustrations of humans' relationship to the natural world," HCN says.

The photographs highlight issues surrounding natural gas extraction, climate change, wildfires, urban development and Superfund sites, and their impact on the vast rural landscapes of the American West. The above picture shows a helicopter battling a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, which scientists think are increasing in frequency thanks to climate change. (Photo by Benjamin Goldfarb)