Salt Mine at Wieliczka

Salzsteinbergwerk Wieliczka, Photograph: Marek Czerwiński, Farbphotographie, 2007; Bildquelle: Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kopalnia_Soli_Wieliczka-Komora_Weimar.jpg.

The mining of mineral resources had drastic effects on nature in 20th-century Europe. Mines from earlier periods, such as the salt mine at Wieliczka in Poland featured in the photograph which has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, appear almost idyllic by comparison.

Salt Mine at Wieliczka, photographer: Marek Czerwiński, colour photograph, 2007; source: Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kopalnia_Soli_Wieliczka-Komora_Weimar.jpg, Creative Commons Some Rights Reserved Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.de.