1. The national park system “Comprises 401 areas covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands and as reported by the NPS in 2011, 278,939,216 visited parks” (National Park Services, 2011). “More than nine million visitors enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park making it one of the most visited parks in the nation. More than three million of those visits are registered during the summer months” (National Park Services, 2011). With many visiting parks, many concerns have grown. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is “One of 59 parks that have been impacted by air pollution” (Our National Parks, 2013). Research conducted “For more than 30 years shows park resources such as streams, vegetation, and visibility have degraded” (Our National Parks, 2013). The park experiences “Some of the highest measured amounts of air pollution of any national park in the United States making it extremely dangerous for visitors” (Our National Parks, 2013). When visiting a park, most visitors travel in family vehicles. This impact of air pollution and vast park defilement has happened in large measure, because of the use of single-motor vehicles. The presence of national parks such as Great Smoky Mountains has become threatened because people concentrate only on the individual gains of sight-seeing, hiking, and touring rather than focus on the large scale environmental effects they are creating. Today’s road vehicles “Produce more than one-third of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in our atmosphere and more than 20 percent of the global warming pollution” (Our National Parks, 2013). Hardin mentions how, “At present, they (parks) are open to all, ...
... middle of paper ...
...ng to be implemented has not been successful. Its success would have risen from the permit being put into all states in the country. As Hardin mentions, “administering large queues” as of a theme park, could be an effective strategy in eliminating pollution (Hardin, 1968, p. 1245). NPS officials should begin implementing a guest cap strategy where a certain amount of people are allowed to visit per day. With a plan like this, parks will be less congested, less motor pollution will occur, as well as the rundown of trails. Finding solutions to decrease ozone pollution through eco friendly and alternative forms of transportation can be implemented as well. Resolutions need to be planned out and put in full swing, if not future generations will not be able to enjoy such a natural and breathe taking resource. The public needs to be aware of these deteriorating effects.
“The irony of thousands of ash trees being cut down this Arbor Day marks a tragic chapter in the history of Metroparks,” Jack Gallon, President of the Board of Park Commissions wrote in a letter to TCP, “One way we can channel our disappointment in a positive way is to urge our federal lawmakers to close the door to exotic species that arrive on American shores at the rate of one every eight months. The cost of prevention is small compared to the cost to our native plants and animals. Pearson Metropark is proof of what we stand to lose.”
Committee on Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. 3 June 2003: ESBCO. Mission Viejo Library., Mission Viejo, CA. 31 July 2005. http://web31.epnet.com/citation.
Petrified Forest National Park is located in the Painted Desert in northeastern Arizona taking up 93,532.57 acres of its land. Before the national park was established, it was founded as a National Monument on December 8, 1906 when President Theodore Roosevelt signed the proclamation. Years later, the Congress passed a bill and established it as a national park on December 9, 1962. Centuries before Petrified Forest National Park was preserved as a national park, the land was preoccupied by the Paleo people. At the onset of the end of the last Ice Age, hunter-gatherers, people who lived by hunting game and only gathering edible plants, roamed the Southwest from 13,500 to 8000 B.C. Although these people enjoy meals consisting of meat and vegetables, they don’t raise livestock and grow crops. During these years of hunting and gathering, the region was cooler with a grassland environment, and people gathered wild plants for food and hunted bison and other large herd of animals. The types of bison these people hunted are now extinct. Nomads used a device called an atlatl to throw their weapons, such as spears and darts, to hunt. By 4000 B.C., during the archaic culture, the climate had changed and became similar to the one of the present. This period of hunting, gathering, and farming had lasted from 8000 to 500 B.C. In contrast to the time of the Paleo people, the climate was warmer, people extended their access to different types of food, and people began to farm and grow their crops. Due to the extinction of animals of the past, people had to expand their source of food, and they had to include many different species of plants and animals into their meals. Two hundred twenty-five million years ago, trees fell and were washe...
The first think that I see when I walk outside everyday is the layer of haze that looms across the Wasatch Front. It doesn’t surprise me that The American Lung Association gave Salt Lake City an F, on our “State of the Air” report card. (American Lung Association,2013).What companies are the biggest contributor to our pollution? Should our children suffer the consequences of pollution? There are many causes and effects of pollution along the Wasatch Front, which includes large industrial companies, commercial companies and household pollution.
For most Americans, traveling to and from home is relatively simple. Travel in most of the United States is on paved roadways, and most roadways draw very little attention from conservationist groups. This, however, is not the case for residents in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Bryson believes that the government does not care about the environment as much as it should. He shows this by saying the National Park Service is responsible for the extinction of multiple wildlife species. He also says that the NPS does not do anything but build roads to cover up the nature it's supposed to be protecting. Bryson's journey causes him to gain a greater respect for nature and a disgust for those destroying it. The government is also going through an internal strife and had been through a shutdown in the months leading up to the start of the hike. Congress finds that saving nature conflicts with their plans for solving the country's economic problem. The political climate also shows the affect of religious practices on laws. The legislature trying to pass the law is located in the South and it is a foreign climate for Bryson. The government is influenced by the culture of the people in charge of running it. At this period of time society can take legal action against teaching science to
I was raised in an ultra-conservative Pentecostal Holiness church in the Appalachian Mountains. There were snake handlers in our church. It was thought that it tested one's faith to pick up a poisonous snake -- God wouldn't allow it to bite you if you had faith. However, I was always afraid that to pick up a snake would greatly increase God's propensity to smite me via death by snakebite. I did not have enough faith. I've never encountered a miracle -- I've never had a dream come true. I therefore can't help but lack faith.
The Everglades, commonly referred to as the "River of Grass," is the largest remaining sub-tropical wilderness in the lower 48 states. It contains both fresh and saltwater areas, open Everglades prairies, pine rocklands, tropical hardwood forests, offshore coral reefs, and mangrove forests. The broad spectrum of wildlife living in the Everglades includes aquatic birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, of which fifty-six species are endangered or threatened. Twenty-two of these species reside in two National Parks, four National Wildlife Refuges, and one National Marine Sanctuary which draw 1.6 million visitors every year.... Previously, it was thought, islands of land could be preserved forever by simply drawing national park boundaries. Today, it is clear that this is untrue. National parks are not islands. They are greatly impacted by what happens outside their boundaries. The Everglades is "a Park in Danger." Water management, water quality, non-native species, loss of species, and explosive regional population growth all present challenges for the Everglades; however, there are attempts being made to save the Everglades against these apparent dangers.
After fifteen miles of pedaling by bicycle through the Everglades, watching the birds, and counting the numerous alligators, it is difficult to believe that anyone cannot appreciate the environment of Florida . Reading novels about the settings that need to be conserved adds to the actual experience of that environment. But when a visit to the environment is not possible, authors like Carl Hiaasen offer readers important information about the Everglades without the fifteen mile bike trip. Only a dummy would pass up on the message.
Since the birth of automobiles in 1866, the majority of mankind has relied heavily on this mode of transportation, especially in the United States. According to the California DMV there are 24,290,288 licensed drivers in California (DMV, 2013), which is approximately 63.3% of the population. Ever since the invention of automobiles, gas emission into the atmosphere has become one of the biggest issues for mankind. In Garret Hardin’s essay, The Tragedy of the Commons, Hardin defines a common as a resource that is accessible for everyone in society. Clean air became a modern commons in this sense. The quality of air is especially bad in California where there are 31,388,901 registered vehicles for a population of 37,826,160. In 2012, the quality of air hit a record low in California’s Central Valley. If we continue to dismiss the issue of air pollution, we will gravely endanger our health as current air pollution related health effects already include lung diseases and cancer. The solutions to the smog pollution problem are to develop cleaner emission engines, as part of a technical solution, as well as raise awareness among the residents of the Central Valley.
For this research paper, I chose to discuss the Louisiana air quality and its effects on the community. I was raised here in Baker, Louisiana which is north of Baton Rouge. Growing up I noticed something very striking and odd. We are overly exposed to chemical plants and their outputs. Driving around Baton Rouge at night and seeing a distant flame I often wonder what it really was. I wonder how this was affecting the community. How was this affecting our health? Upon doing research, I discovered it is called upset emissions. Upset emissions are unplanned events which release VOCs into the air. The Bucket Brigade which is an anti-energy group refers to emissions as accidents. Every year they release an annual report which gives information on the State of Louisiana air quality. A group called Energize LA made a rebuttal against the report. They argued that the Bucket Brigade facts were inaccurate. The views of both will be explained in detail. For this research paper, there will be a discussion on the upset emission effects on communities and health. As well how it correlates to the previous class discussions on the Clean Air Act.
... 15 to 25 percent in the number of miles people drive, hours of vehicle travel and projected pollution from a sprawl development forecast over the next 20 years. We can only hope that more equitable regulations will be set forth to lower pollution and help save the public health from its tragic downfall.
Pollution is a major problem for all of us. People need to recognize this situation so we can start making a difference to this problem. In order to start making a difference, the federal government should increase gasoline tax by one dollar a gallon. Fifty percent of this dollar will go towards public transportation, since passenger cars and trucks are a major contribution towards air pollution, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, E.P.A (10/4, http://www.epa.gov/autoemissions/emsns.html). Due to the expected increase after this is put forth, the remaining fifty percent of the dollar will go towards safety on these transits. When public transportation increases, air pollution will decrease, which will lessen the harmful health risks towards the environment.
The world is filled with many beautiful things; however, the view has been clouded by air pollution. Everyone deserves to breathe freely without smog and other toxic pollutants flying around. Clean air is vital to the quality and longevity of life, not just for human beings but for animals, too. The Clean Air Act is a necessary law made to limit the amount of bad air from cars and other types of motor vehicles. The Clean Air Act of 1970 gave the Environmental Protection Agency the right to create regulations that would keep in check the hazardous air pollutants. The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are those guidelines. These standards were put in place to make sure the manufacturers knew the accepted level of air emissions
"What YOU Can Do to Prevent NPS Pollution." Home. EPA, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.