Cotopaxi National Park

  A national park primarily known for its volcano, located in the Province of Cotopaxi, Ecuador.

• The highest active volcano in the world, located in the Andes in central Ecuador. Its name is Quechuan and means “shining peak.”

• One of the popular tourist activities in Cotopaxi National Park is climbing to the summit of Cotopaxi Volcano

• Cotopaxi volcano is part of the chain of volcanoes around the Pacific plate that is commonly known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. Its last eruption was in 2015 which caused the neighboring towns major damage leaving the park closed for almost 3 years.

• There are estimated to be about 200 different plant species found in Cotopaxi National Park. 

• There are several vegetation zones to the park because of the varying elevations.

• National Park include foxes, bears, pumas, wolves, wild horses, condors, and rabbits

• Fun fact, you can actually see Ecuador's national bird in this park

Camp Fire (California's deadliest wildfire)

The Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California's history. The fire began Thursday, November 8, 2018 at the Camp Creek Road and was finally contained on November 25, 2018. The cause of the fire was a 100-year-old electrical transmission line owned by Pacific Gas and Electric. High temperatures, gusty winds and parched vegetation contributed to its rapid spread.

 The fire burned 153,336 acres of land.The fire destroyed 18,804 structures, with most of the destruction happening in the first 4 hours of the fire. The towns of Paradise and Concow were almost completely destroyed, each losing about 95% of their structures. The fire killed 85 people and 12 civilians and 5 firefighters were injured. The Camp Fire cost a total of $16.65 billion, $16.5 billion in damage and $150 million in fire suppression cost. 

 Pacific Gas and Electric the company responsible for the fire plead guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter and one count of illegally setting a fire. The company estimated its wildfire liability at $30 billion, much of it for the Camp Fire. PG&E has pledged to improve its practices and reduce the risk of fires by, trimming and cutting trees along its power lines.The company will pay $13.5 billion to those who lost their homes and businesses. 

 Cities like Paradise have slowly but surely start to recover because of the fire. The task now is to remove the hundreds of dead and dying trees, and then follow the guidelines of the town’s priorities laid out by its long-term recovery plan. The town of Paradise is on a steady path to rebuilding the city but plans have been postponed because of COVID-19. But this has not stopped them from rebuilding their city, residents live in RV’s and work everyday so that they may be able to live again in a place they once called home.

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park

• Located in the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, in southern Colorado.  This park features North America's tallest dunes, rising over 750 feet high against the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

• The dunes cover an area of about 30 sq mi (78 km2) and are estimated to contain over 1.2 cubic miles (5 billion cubic metres) of sand.

• After the lake in the valley disappeared, only sand was left, and the southwestern wind forced it to head to the mountains , eventually forming a huge field of sand over tens of thousands of years.

The four primary components of the Great Sand Dunes system are the mountain watershed, the dunefield, the sand sheet, and the sabkha.

Sand Systems

Watershed- The valley flows from alpine tundra and lakes through the Appalpin and Montana woodlands, and sand from the bottom of the valley is captured and transported back to the valley. The recycling of water and wind contributes to the height of the sand.

• Dune field- where the tallest sand hill reside. It is stabilized by opposing wind directions creeks that recycle sand back into it.

• Sand sheet- the largest component of the Great Sand Dunes geological system, made up of sandy grasslands that extend around three sides of the main dune field. The sand sheet is the primary source of sand for the Great Sand Dunes.

• Sabkha- forms where sand is seasonally saturated by rising ground water. When the water evaporates away in late summer, minerals similar to baking soda cement sand grains together into a hard, white crust.

History

• Evidence of human habitation in the San Luis Valley dates back about 11,000 years

• This was toward the end of the last Ice Age, when large amounts of sand and sediment were washing into the valley, and began blowing in the wind as the waters retreated.

John Muir "World's Greatest Conservationlist"

John Muir

      John Muir is an influential Scottish naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, and glaciologist. He was born on April 21,1838 in Dunbar, Scotland, and later immigrated to America when he was 11. As a child, he always had a knack for learning and would begin inventing tools for his family farm at a young age. These inventions were things like a table saw, horse feeders, and wooden thermostats. One day during a fair, John Muir was recruited by the University of Wisconsin after seeing one of his inventions. But in 1863 he eventually left the University of Wisconsin and pursued his dream to study botany and explore the world on foot.     John went on to travel places like all over the world by foot and during every exploration, he would make detailed sketches of the terrain he traveled and write ecology-oriented articles. But as he went from place to place he took on different jobs to support himself. There’s even a story about when he was working at a factory in 1867. He was involved in an accident in which caused him to be blinded for some time. But once he regained his sight, he focused back on his devotion to nature and walked from Indiana to Florida.     In the 1870s he went to the California Yosemite Valley, while there Muir began having his articles published in newspapers. His first printed essay appeared in the New York Tribune and In the paper he offered groundbreaking theories about Yosemite’s geological structures being formed by glacial activity, countering previous scientific ideas. Along with that he also published many other essays pushing for nature conservation. Muir went on to do this for other places like Sequoia, California, Mt. Rainer, Washington, and Grand Canyon, Arizona wherein his articles he pushed for the government to conserve these places so the wildlife and attractions there can be protected. Which then lead to those places all becoming national parks under the US Government, and John Muir was given the nickname ‘father of national parks’.     In 1892 Muir co-founded the Sierra Club and was president of the environmental-advocacy organization for more than 20 years. With the Sierra Club, he made history in 1903 and hosted a three-night camping trip with Theodore Roosevelt. This helped the president make conservationist policies and protect wildlife in the country. Even after Muir’s death on December 24, 1914, in Los Angeles, California, the Sierra Club has played an important role in many environmental projects and government policies. Today the Sierra Club still advocates for nature and has made it their job to educate people about nature and how to take care of it. Also, John Muir is remembered with the metal John Muir Statue which is located in Dunbar, Scotland, and a wooden statue in Sequoia National Park where he is labeled one of the world’s greatest conservationists. Thank you John Muir for your service to nature!

    

 Great Smog of London

Background:

• Great Smog of London, lethal smog that covered the city of London for five days (December 5–9) in 1952, caused by a combination of industrial pollution and high-pressure weather conditions. 

• There was a combination of smoke and fog brought the city to a near standstill and resulted in thousands of deaths. Its consequences prompted the passing of the Clean Air Act four years later, which marked a turning point in the history of environmentalism.

Big Smoke Settles In

• The smog was so dense that residents in some sections of the city were unable to see their feet as they walked. For five days, the Great Smog paralyzed London and crippled all transportation, except for the London Underground train system.

• Every was canceled due to all  of the smoke in the air. Conductors holding flashlights walked in front of London’s iconic double-decker buses to guide drivers down city streets.

• Authorities advised parents to keep their children home from school, partly from fear they would get lost in the blinding smog. Looting, burglaries and purse snatchings increased as emboldened criminals easily vanished into the darkness.

Health Effects of the Great Smog

• Heavy smokers were especially vulnerable because of their already-impaired lungs, and smoking was common at the time, especially among men.

• The smoke was lethal particularly for the elderly, young children and those with respiratory problems.

• Initial reports estimated death rate was about 4,000 died prematurely in the immediate aftermath of the smog.

• After five days of living in a sulfurous hell, the Great Smog finally lifted on December 9, when a brisk wind from the west swept the toxic cloud away from London and out to the North Sea.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

 The great pacific garbage path is a garbage patch located in the central north pacific ocean.

It covers a lot of area with trashes. It almost a twise the size of texas.

This garbage patch is divided into two area. The eastern Garbage patch between hawaii and california. And  the western garbage patch japan to hawaii islands

This garbage patch is consist of big and small trashes. But there are some tiny microplastic and this microplastic is hard to removed from the ocean because there is no Technology or equipment for this large amount of tiny trashes.

And also it is difficult to deal with this beacuse this area is too big so it coast a lot and need lots of work.

Because plastic takes a lot of time to get rid of. The level of pollution is  rises highly every year.

In addition, this garbage patch  damage a marine life and a human life.

For example the turtle see the platic bag as a jelly fish and the turtle consume plastic bag. 

A fish eats nicroplastic and other trashes and that fish is coming to our meal. And we are eating the plastic

Experts say that new technology is needed to dispose of this large amount of garbage.

Chernobyl Disaster

  The Chernobyl disaster was a steam explosion that happened in a nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April 26, 1986. On that day operators were performing safety tests on the RBMK reactor (An RBMK reactor is a giant tank that holds radioactive elements) which included putting the reactor in dangerously low power state. During this low-power state, xenon began to build up causing the nuclear fission process to be blocked which also caused the core temperature to rise, making the water to boil and produce steam. The steam makes the nuclear fission more efficient, speeding it up. This produces more heat which boils the water faster, creating more steam. With all this steam built up and no possible way to escape the steam caused an explosion. This steam explosion caused another explosion where graphite was shot into the air creating a chemical reaction that terminated the nuclear reactions in the core and it was so powerful it made a big hole in the reactor building. The disaster resulted in the death of 28 operators and firemen. In the months to come, several others would die because of the amount of radiation that was exposed to them.

The accident caused the largest uncontrolled radioactive release in the environment. Radioactive substances were released into the air for about 10 days and traveled over Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and to some extent over Scandinavia and Europe. A forest close to Chernobyl has been named the “Red Forest” because so many trees turned reddish-brown and died after absorbing high levels of radiation. No animals died as a direct result of the explosion but Soviet officers were ordered to shoot any stray animals within the 1000-square-mile this was the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Since there are 11 operational RBMK reactors in Russia changes were made for safety reasons. The Vienna Convention was reformed, to be an international agreement regulating treaties between states. It establishes comprehensive rules, procedures, and guidelines for how treaties are generally operated. (this convention will be exclusively relevant to a nuclear incidents).

     

Yellowstone park blog- Nasir Thompson

     Yellowstone is a wonderful park that can be found in the top northwest of Wyoming. The park was established by the U.S. Congress on March 1, 1872, as the country’s first national park. This park is great if people want to go hiking or sightseeing because this park is filled with animals, plant life, and other sightseeing wonders like geysers and waterfalls. Some animals that you can see in the park are Bison, Bobcat, Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, Mountain Lion, Bears, Wolves and etc. Plantlife that you can see at the park are trees like lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, Douglas-fir, and limber pine. When it comes to sightseeing people could see hot springs and basins such as the Mammoth and old faithful hot springs.

 

 Grand prismatic spring

C.E.R.C.L.A - Superfund

Comprehensive

Environmental

Response

Compensation &

Liability

Act

• The Superfund was enacted by congress on December 11, 1980.  

• Created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided Federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment.

• Also seeks help from those who released the hazardous substances.

• Over five years, $1.6 billion was collected and the tax went to a trust fund for cleaning up abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. 

• It was amended in 1986 to ensure complete coverage over the country.

TWO ACTION/CLEANUP TYPES:

1. Removal Actions: 

These are short-term actions authorized by CERCLA. These may be taken to address releases or threatened releases that require a prompt response.

2. Remedial Actions:

These are long-term actions authorized by CERCLA; these permanently and significantly reduce the risk of release of hazardous substances. These actions may only be taken at places on the National Priorities List. To be included on the NPL, a proposed site is first subject to a Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection and then to a Remedial investigation/Feasibility Study.

Cleanup site 

Cleanup site

CERCLA not only ensures that these invaluable removal actions are taken, but also enforces against potentially responsible parties. It promotes strong accountability, community involvement and long-term protectiveness.  One thing that cannot be ensured is perfection, that is up to us and how willing we are to clean up our messes. 

Deepwater Horizon

 On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations. Fireboat response crews battling the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, April 21, 2010.

The evening of April 20, 2010, a well control event allowed hydrocarbons to escape from the Macondo well onto Transocean's Deepwater Horizon, resulting in explosions and fire on the rig. Eleven people lost their lives, and 17 others were injured. It was all because of the poor management of the company BP. BP paid the trustees up to $8.8 billion, the largest recovery of damages ever for injuries to natural resources, to restore the Gulf.

BP has been ordered to pay $5.5 billion to settle civil damages claims made by the U.S. as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The amount will be paid over the course of 16 years. The well's reserves could keep it leaking for the next 100 years if it isn't capped, meaning it will one day eclipse the Deepwater Horizon spill in terms of volume. Oil continued to wash ashore in many areas, and much of it could not be removed, either because of logistical reasons.BP and Transocean employees aboard the rig had—while engaged in testing procedures—ignored early indications of a problem and thus missed opportunities to prevent a full-scale blowout. Thousands of birds, mammals, and sea turtles were plastered with leaked oil.

Dr. Robert Bullard "The Father of Environmental Justice"

      Dr. Robert Bullard was December 21, 1946, He was born in Elba Alabama. After attending and graduating from high school he attended Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, here he got his Bachelors in History and Government and a minor in sociology. He then furthered his education at Clark Atlanta University here he obtained his Masters in sociology. To wrap up his education he got his Ph.D. at Iowa State where his main focus was Urban Planning. 

   
    In 1979 Linda Mckeever who would later become his wife asked him to collect data on the Bean v. Southwestern Waste Corporation lawsuit. This lawsuit shot off Dr. Bullard's career due to it he decided to go deeper in the environmental science field. 

Eventually Bullard went on to teach at various university's, his alma mater Clark Atlanta university included, the position he had at Clark helped him further pursue his career in environmental justice.

Some major accomplishments that he has are; key to helping President Clinton in the signing of Executive order 12898, another accomplishment is due to all the time he spent in the field of environmental justice he picked up the name "The Father of Environmental Justice" 

Petrified Forest National Park

  At first a National Monument, Petrified Forest is not your usual national park. Located at Navajo, Arizona, and measuring at  85,542 sq miles, Petrified Forest National Park was discovered in 1853 when the southwest became part of the US. During his expedition to find a route for the railroad along the 35th Parallel, Lieutenant Amiel Whipple ran into the huge Petrified Forest. Whipple and his team documented and illustrated their findings being the first Americans to discover the park. Eventually, when the southwest was developed and people began to move in, the Petrified Forest gained a lot of popularity. The Arizona Territorial Legislature asked the U.S. Congress to make it a national park and they were declined, but finally, in 1906, it was made a national park. Then when the Great Depression came around and the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) was formed; they constructed many roads, trails, and structures in the monument. This helped support Arizona’s case and in 1952, Petrified Forest was made in a national park. 

The Petrified Forest National Park is one of many petrified forests in the world. Petrification is a natural process that occurs when all organic material in a tree dies and is replaced by a combination of minerals like quartz, copper, and iron. Once a tree is petrified, the petrified wood is no longer considered wood, and it becomes classified as a stone. The petrification of a forest can take millions of years uninterrupted to complete. This is why there are few petrified forests out in the world, and all of them are national monuments and are carefully protected.

Like any usual desert grassland, Petrified National Forest is filled with a large variety of mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, and plants. And being filled with petrified trees, the petrified forest is home to at least 447 different species of plants including 100 different grass plant species. Some tourists' favorites include the evening primrose, mariposa lily, and the blue fax. Animals in the forest include coyotes, lizards, prairie dogs, scorpions, and many more. The majority of animals are nocturnal and only active in night time, due to the hot daytime temperatures.

 If you're planning to take a trip to Petrified Forest I highly recommend you bring a lot of water because it is really hot, also make sure to buy a piece of petrified wood to take home with you.

Dry Tortugas National Park

 Dry Tortugas National Park 

It is located in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, surrounded by the ocean. The park preserve Fort Jefferson and seven island. The name of the each island are Rogerhead, Garden, Bush, Long, Hospital, Middle and East.

This park has a abundant marine life including turtles, fishes and reefs. And it is also famous for a legend of shipwrecks and sunken treasure.

People can only accessible by water plan or a boat. Visitors can enjoy many leisure activities such as fishing, snorkeling and camping.

History of Dry Tortugas National Park

Spanish explorer Ponce dee Leon first discovered the island in 1513.He surprised by the amount of turtles so he named it “Las Tortugas” which means turtle in Spanish word. Despite the beauty and abundance of nature, there was not enough fresh water to drink. He decided to add “Dry” to warn sailors or any visitors that they should bring fresh water.

The Fort Jefferson is historically important. Fort Jefferson was built in the mid 19th to protect the Americans profitable ocean routes. 1825, a lighthouse was set up in Garden Key to warn incoming ships of dangerous of reefs. Few years later, some states viewed this island as a strategic point to control over the Florida and Mexico gulfs. Therefore the Tortugas park was fortified.

 

 

Sir David Attenborough

 Sir David Attenborough is a British film producer. He was born on May 8, 1926 in London, England.  

Attenborough developed a love for natural science and studied at Cambridge. 

After studying at Cambridge, he was deployed in the British navy for 2 years.

In 1949, Attenborough returned to London and became an editor for an educational publisher.

The next year, Attenborough began a training program with the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), where he eventually became a producer. 

Sir David Attenborough began his production career by broadcasting two shows, a game show called “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?” and he co-hosted a show called “The Pattern of Animals”Attenborough quickly moved on from those shows because it took animals out of their natural habitat. He launched a show called “Zoo Quest” in 1954, this show filmed animals in the wild as well as in captivity. The show was so successful that it led BBC to launch its own Natural History Unit in 1957. He left the BBC to study Anthropology at the London School of Economics. But returned when he was offered the head position at BBC two in 1965. He went on to produce more and more shows, such as: Monty Python’s Flying Circus. In 1970 he was awarded the Desmond Davis award for his contributions to television. In 1972 he resigned and decides he wanted to produce shows on a freelance basis.

With the many shows he produced on his own, Attenborough has produced and featured in more than 100 TV shows and documentaries. His legacy in British television is so grand that he was knighted in 1985 and was awarded a second knighthood in 2020 at the age of 94.

Sir David Attenborough (aged 94)

• Sir David Attenborough oversaw the first ever colored broadcast in Europe, beating Germany to gain all the bragging rights. 
• He has 2 children and was married from 1950-1997
• Whilst he was filming for one of his shows on a tribe in the Solomon Islands, he fully immersed himself in their culture, where he wore nothing but a loincloth.
• Attenborough was the first to catch the Komodo Dragon on film. 
• Attenborough has named several plants and animals. 
• The flightless beetle, a species of hawk weed that can only be found in the Brecon Beacons, and the Attenborosaurus, a long-necked dinosaur.
• Sir David Attenborough holds the record for the deepest dive on the Great Barrier Reef, where he went 1000 feet below sea level. 
• Sir David does not love all animals. He has a bitter hatred for rats.
• For his Life of Birds documentary, he traveled 256,000 km, that is equivalent to going around the world 10 times.
• He doesn’t own a car because he never passed his drivers test, and he doesn’t like e-mails, he prefers letters. 
• Attenborough has stated that beneath all his production of the wilderness and environmental issues, he wished to inspire people to take care of our beautiful planet. He has inspired millions of people to tackle climate change and the call for protection of the environment.

  

Glacier National Park

"The crown of the continent"

Glacier National Park is a wilderness area in Montana's Rocky Mountains, with glacier-carved peaks and valleys running to the Canadian border.

On May 11, 1910, President William Taft signed a bill into law establishing Glacier National Park.

Glacier straddles the Continental Divide, allowing for extreme weather. That’s because the opposing Pacific and Arctic airs meet at the Divide, creating a dramatic clash of weather.     

Evidence of human use in the area dates back over 12,000 years. Archeological evidence shows human occupation of this landscape dating back to the retreat of the Ice Age glaciers 12,000 years ago.

Home to 71 species of mammals, trails, and a hidden lake.

Cuyahoga River Fire

 Cuyahoga River Fire    

    On June 22, 1969 moments after a train passing over the river the Cuyahoga river was sent ablaze. This not being the first time this has happened. The Cuyahoga river has been on fire many times in its long polluted history.

The fire that occurred in 1969 caused $50,000 worth of damage this is nothing compared to the expenses of the 1952 Cuyahoga river fire incident. After the the fire in 1969, it was brought to the governments attention that this is a problem. In 1970 the Environmental Protection Agency was founded, they later founded the clean water act. 51 years later, the Cuyahoga river is clean and home to many different types of fish.

Wangari Maathai

 

Wangari Maathai a Kenyan politician and environmental activist was born on April 1st, 1940, Nyeri, Kenya and died  September 25, 2011, Nairobi, Kenya.

Mrs. Maathai received a college education in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica College (now Benedictine College) and received her Ph.D. at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In 2004 Mrs. she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions sustainable development, democracy and peace, making her the first African woman to be awarded it.

To win the award Wangari Maathai came up with the brilliant idea to start the Green Belt Movement, which is a women run organization that helps improve the environment and reduce deforestation. The movement started when streams began drying up and women were struggling to find food, deforestation and realization that the environment needed protection. Mrs. Maathai commenced the Green Belt Movement by encouraging women to plant trees in their environments and by the 21st century over 51 millions trees were planted. By planting the trees Wangari Maathai has provided a fuel source and has reduced the deforestation and desertification in Kenya.

The Green Belt Movement is still active today, on a mission to manage the environment and empower the community, all thanks to Wangari Maathai, who´s vision helped people love their environment, 

Although dead, her legacy still lives on through the millions of people who she has guided and are still willing to keep her vision alive by protecting the environment. 

   The Dust Bowl Disaster

    When strong winds, drought, and clouds of dust consumed nearly 75 percent of the United States between 1931 and 1939. The era became known as the legendary Dust Bowl disaster. The Dust Bowl brought ecological, economic, and human misery to America during a time when it was already suffering under the Great Depression. This picture is showing the height of the dust bowl and how thick it is. People were dying because of this dangerous natural disaster mainly because the dust would go into their lungs causing breathing problems. With this disaster, people lost their jobs, families, and working lives especially farmers. Farmers' crops were destroyed and they became too poor to buy anything from markets. With the way climate change and global warming are changing the Great Dustbowl disaster can occur again and the Great Depression can once again be a major problem in the U.S.

Shenandoah National Park

 As America’s 17th national park, Shenandoah never fails to impress. Located at Luray, Virginia and measuring at 311.09 square miles, Shenandoah National Park was built in the 1930s during the Great Depression. In efforts to provide jobs for struggling Americans, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was made and thousands of workers were sent to Luray, VA to construct the Park we now know as Shenandoah.

After its establishment and formal opening by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, Shenandoah has become home to both hundreds of animals species and plant species, including the Shenandoah Salamander which is an endangered species and cannot be found anywhere else but in Shenandoah and also the beautiful Mountain Laurel shrubs all over the park which were planted by the CCC during their construction. Shenandoah also has Virginia's largest black bear refuge, and is also home to the densest population of black bears in the United States. Also Shenandoah consists of 500 miles of trail including 101 miles from the Appliachian trail and 105 miles of it’s very own 105 Skyline Drive. Which is a road/trail that expands throughout the park with amazing scenery spots and overlooks attracting about a million hikers or enthusiasts yearly.  

But not only that but Shenandoah carries a lot of history behind it’s gigantic land. For it used to be the home to Native Americans who lived on the Blue Ridge Mountains many years ago and to European settlers from the 1700s who used to farm the lands. So Shenandoah is filled with exhibits that teach visitors the culture and the way of life of these people who used to live on the land.  But overall Shenandoah is a beautiful park full of many things to do and home to many animals and plants.