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Farm implement near McBaine, Missouri. Photography by Notley Hawkins. Taken with a Canon EOS R5 camera with a Canon RF15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM lens at ƒ/4.0 with a 239-second exposure at ISO 50, processed with Adobe Lightroom CC.
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©Notley Hawkins. All rights reserved.
A large, natural waterfall on Fossil Creek is the destination of an easy, one mile hike on Dixon Lewis (formerly Waterfall) Trail. A large, deep pool at the base of the fall is a popular swimming hole.
Fossil Creek produces 20,000 gallons of water a minute from a series of springs at the bottom of a 1,600 foot deep canyon. This permanent water source has created a stunningly beautiful, green riparian zone rich with flora and fauna at the bottom of this arid canyon in Arizona's high desert. Travertine deposits encase whatever happens to fall into the streambed, forming the fossils for which the area is named. These deposits create deep pools along the length of the creek, providing opportunities to find more secluded swimming holes than the popular pool at the waterfall. Fossil Creek is one of two "Wild and Scenic" rivers in Arizona. This designation was achieved when the Irving power plant was decommissioned, and removal of flume and dam on the creek allowed the creek to flow free.
Increasing popularity has led to the Coconino and Tonto National Forests to implement a parking permit reservation system in 2016. Reserved parking permits allow visitors to have a parking spot available in their chosen parking lot. Many visitors drive two or three hours to get to the creek. The final descent to the creek at the bottom of a canyon is on an extremely rough, rocky jeep road. In prior years, the area would often be closed to entry when it reached capacity, and potential visitors would be turned away after the long, difficult drive.
Photo by Deborah Lee Soltesz, May 4, 2016. For trail and recreation information, see Fossil Creek, Fossil Springs Wilderness, and the Coconino National Forest.
Fossil Creek seems to appear out of nowhere, gushing 20,000 gallons a minute out of a series of springs at the bottom of a 1,600 foot deep canyon. Over the years these calcium laden waters have laid down huge deposits of a type of limestone called travertine. That rock-like substance encases whatever happens to fall into the streambed, forming the fossils for which the area is named. Fossil Creek is one of two "Wild and Scenic" rivers in Arizona. This special designation was achieved when the Irving power plant was decommissioned, and removal of flume and dam on the creek allowed this magnificent creek to once again flow freely through Arizona's arid landscape.
Most people come to Fossil Creek to sunbathe, wade, hike and birdwatch. It's also a great place to take photographs. The lushness of the riparian area strikes a sharp contrast to the brittle desert that surrounds it. Increasing popularity has led to the Coconino and Tonto National Forests to implement a parking permit reservation system in 2016. Reserved parking permits give visitors the peace of mind knowing they'll have a spot waiting for them in this remote location. Many visitors drive two or three hours to get to the creek. The final descent to the creek at the bottom of a canyon is on an extremely rough, rocky jeep road.
Photo by Deborah Lee Soltesz. Credit: USFS Coconino National Forest. Learn more about visiting Fossil Creek, Fossil Springs Wilderness, and the Coconino National Forest.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian states in the world. The Entoto Maryam Church is probably the oldest building in use in the vicinity of Addis Ababa; it was full of active worshippers taking part in a wedding celebration when I visited.
For the story, please visit: www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/travel/addis-ababa-in-the-cr...
The main environmental issues associated with the implementation of the 5G network come with the manufacturing of the many component parts of the 5G infrastructure. In addition, the proliferation of new devices that will use the 5G network that is tied to the acceleration of demand from consumers for new 5G-dependent devices will have serious environmental consequences. The 5G network will inevitably cause a large increase in energy usage among consumers, which is already one of the main contributors to climate change. Additionally, the manufacturing and maintenance of the new technologies associated with 5G creates waste and uses important resources that have detrimental consequences for the environment. 5G networks use technology that has harmful effects on birds, which in turn has cascading effects through entire ecosystems. And, while 5G developers are seeking to create a network that has fewer environmental impacts than past networks, there is still room for improvement and the consequences of 5G should be considered before it is widely rolled out. 5G stands for the fifth generation of wireless technology. It is the wave of wireless technology surpassing the 4G network that is used now. Previous generations brought the first cell phones (1G), text messaging (2G), online capabilities (3G), and faster speed (4G). The fifth generation aims to increase the speed of data movement, be more responsive, and allow for greater connectivity of devices simultaneously.[2] This means that 5G will allow for nearly instantaneous downloading of data that, with the current network, would take hours. For example, downloading a movie using 5G would take mere seconds. These new improvements will allow for self-driving cars, massive expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) device use, and acceleration of new technological advancements used in everyday activities by a much wider range of people. While 5G is not fully developed, it is expected to consist of at least five new technologies that allow it to perform much more complicated tasks at faster speeds. The new technologies 5G will use are hardware that works with much higher frequencies (millimeter wavelengths), small cells, massive MIMO (multiple input multiple output), beamforming, and full duplex.[3] Working together, these new technologies will expand the potential of many of the devices used today and devices being developed for the future. Millimeter waves are a higher frequency wavelength than the radio wavelength generally used in wireless transmission today.[4] The use of this portion of the spectrum corresponds to higher frequency and shorter wavelengths, in this case in the millimeter range (vs the lower radio frequencies where the wavelengths can be in the meters to hundreds of kilometers). Higher frequency waves allow for more devices to be connected to the same network at the same time, because there is more space available compared to the radio waves that are used today. The use of this portion of the spectrum has much longer wavelengths than of that anticipated for a portion of the 5G implementation. The waves in use now can measure up to tens of centimeters, while the new 5G waves would be no greater than ten millimeters.[5] The millimeter waves will create more transmission space for the ever-expanding number of people and devices crowding the current networks. The millimeter waves will create more space for devices to be used by consumers, which will increase energy usage, subsequently leading to increased global warming. Millimeter waves are very weak in their ability to connect two devices, which is why 5G needs something called “small cells” to give full, uninterrupted coverage. Small cells are essentially miniature cell towers that would be placed 250 meters apart throughout cities and other areas needing coverage.[6] The small cells are necessary as emissions [or signals] at this higher frequency/shorter wavelength have more difficulty passing through solid objects and are even easily intercepted by rain.[7] The small cells could be placed on anything from trees to street lights to the sides of businesses and homes to maximize connection and limit “dead zones” (areas where connections are lost). The next new piece of technology necessary for 5G is massive MIMO, which stands for multiple input multiple output. The MIMO describes the capacity of 5G’s base stations, because those base stations would be able to handle a much higher amount of data at any one moment of time. Currently, 4G base stations have around eight transmitters and four receivers which direct the flow of data between devices.[9] 5G will exceed this capacity with the use of massive MIMO that can handle 22 times more ports. Figure 1 shows how a massive MIMO tower would be able to direct a higher number of connections at once. However, massive MIMO causes signals to be crossed more easily. Crossed signals cause an interruption in the transmission of data from one device to the next due to a clashing of the wavelengths as they travel to their respective destinations. To overcome the cross signals problem, beamforming is needed. To maximize the efficiency of sending data another new technology called beamforming will be used in 5G. For data to be sent to the correct user, a way of directing the wavelengths without interference is necessary. This is done through a technique called beamforming. Beamforming directs where exactly data are being sent by using a variety of antennas to organize signals based on certain characteristics, such as the magnitude of the signal. By directly sending signals to where they need to go, beamforming decreases the chances that a signal is dropped due to the interference of a physical object.
One way that 5G will follow through on its promise of faster data transmission is through sending and receiving data simultaneously. The method that allows for simultaneous input and output of data is called full duplexing. While full duplex capabilities allow for faster transmission of data, there is an issue of signal interference, because of echoes. Full duplexing will cut transmission times in half, because it allows for a response to occur as soon as an input is delivered, eliminating the turnaround time that is seen in transmission today. Because these technologies are new and untested, it is hard to say how they will impact our environment. This raises another issue: there are impacts that can be anticipated and predicted, but there are also unanticipated impacts because much of the new technologies are untested. Nevertheless, it is possible to anticipate some of detrimental environmental consequences of the new technologies and the 5G network, because we know these technologies will increase exposure to harmful radiation, increase mining of rare minerals, increase waste, and increase energy usage. The main 5G environmental concerns have to do with two of the five new components: the millimeter waves and the small cells. The whole aim of the new 5G network is to allow for more devices to be used by the consumer at faster rates than ever before, because of this goal there will certainly be an increase in energy usage globally. Energy usage is one of the main contributors to climate change today and an increase in energy usage would cause climate change to increase drastically as well. 5G will operate on a higher frequency portion of the spectrum to open new space for more devices. The smaller size of the millimeter waves compared to radio frequency waves allows for more data to be shared more quickly and creates a wide bandwidth that can support much larger tasks.[15] While the idea of more space for devices to be used is great for consumers, this will lead to a spike in energy usage for two reasons – the technology itself is energy demanding and will increase demand for more electronic devices. The ability for more devices to be used on the same network creates more incentive for consumers to buy electronics and use them more often. This will have a harmful impact on the environment through increased energy use. Climate change has several underlying contributors; however, energy usage is gaining attention in its severity with regards to perpetuating climate change. Before 5G has even been released, about 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the ICT industry.[16] While 2% may not seem like a very large portion, it translates to around 860 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.[17] Greenhouse gas emissions are the main contributors to natural disasters, such as flooding and drought, which are increasing severity and occurrence every year. Currently, roughly 85% of the energy used in the United States can be attributed to fossil fuel consumption.[18] The dwindling availability of fossil fuels and the environmental burden of releasing these fossil fuels into our atmosphere signal an immediate need to shift to other energy sources. Without a shift to other forms of energy production and the addition of technology allowed by the implementation of 5G, the strain on our environment will rise and the damage may never be repaired. With an increase in energy usage through technology and the implementation of 5G, it can be expected that the climate change issues faced today will only increase. The overall contribution of carbon dioxide emissions from the ICT industry has a huge impact on climate change and will continue to have even larger impacts without proper actions. In a European Union report, researchers estimated that in order to keep the increase in global temperature below 2° Celsius a decrease in carbon emissions of around 15-30% is necessary by 2020. Engineers claim that the small cells used to provide the 5G connection will be energy efficient and powered in a sustainable way; however the maintenance and production of these cells is more of an issue. Supporters of the 5G network advocate that the small cells will use solar or wind energy to stay sustainable and green.[20] These devices, labeled “fuel-cell energy servers” will work as clean energy-based generators for the small cells.[21] While implementing base stations that use sustainable energy to function would be a step in the right direction in environmental conservation, it is not the solution to the main issue caused by 5G, which is the impact that the massive amount of new devices in the hands of consumers will have on the amount of energy required to power these devices. The wasteful nature of manufacturing and maintenance of both individual devices and the devices used to deliver 5G connection could become a major contributor of climate change. The promise of 5G technology is to expand the number of devices functioning might be the most troubling aspect of the new technology. Cell phones, computers, and other everyday devices are manufactured in a way that puts stress on the environment. A report by the EPA estimated that in 2010, 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from electricity and heat production making it the largest single source of emissions.[22] The main gas emitted by this sector is carbon dioxide, due to the burning of natural gas, such as coal, to fuel electricity sources.[23] Carbon dioxide is one of the most common greenhouse gases seen in our atmosphere, it traps heat in earth’s atmosphere trying to escape into space, which causes the atmosphere to warm generating climate change. Increased consumption of devices is taking a toll on the environment. As consumers gain access to more technologies the cycle of consumption only expands. As new devices are developed, the older devices are thrown out even if they are still functional. Often, big companies will purposefully change their products in ways that make certain partner devices (such as chargers or earphones) unusable–creating demand for new products. Economic incentives mean that companies will continue these practices in spite of the environmental impacts. One of the main issues with the 5G network and the resulting increase in consumption of technological devices is that the production required for these devices is not sustainable. In the case of making new devices, whether they be new smart-phones or the small cells needed for 5G, the use of nonrenewable metals is required. It is extremely difficult to use metals for manufacturing sustainably, because metals are not a renewable resource. Metals used in the manufacturing of the smart devices frequently used today often cannot be recycled in the same way many household items can be recycled. Because these technologies cannot be recycled, they create tons of waste when they are created and tons of waste when they are thrown away. There are around six billion mobile devices in use today, with this number expected to increase drastically as the global population increases and new devices enter the market. One estimate of the life-time carbon emissions of a single device–not including related accessories and network connection–is that a device produces a total of 45kg of carbon dioxide at a medium level of usage over three years. This amount of emission is comparable to that of driving the average European car for 300km. But, the most environmentally taxing stage of a mobile device life cycle is during the production stage, where around 68% of total carbon emissions is produced, equating to 30kg of carbon dioxide. To put this into perspective, an iPhone X weighs approximately 0.174kg, so in order to produce the actual device, 172 iPhone X’s worth of carbon dioxide is also created. These emissions vary from person to person and between different devices, but it’s possible to estimate the impact one device has on the environment. 5G grants the capacity for more devices to be used, significantly increase the existing carbon footprint of smart devices today. Energy usage for the ever-growing number of devices on the market and in homes is another environmental threat that would be greatly increased by the new capabilities brought by the 5G network. Often, energy forecasts overlook the amount of energy that will be consumed by new technologies, which leads to a skewed understanding of the actual amount of energy expected to be used.[30] One example of this is with IoT devices.[31] IoT is one of the main aspects of 5G people in the technology field are most excited about. 5G will allow for a larger expansion of IoT into the everyday household.[32] While some IoT devices promise lower energy usage abilities, the 50 billion new IoT devices expected to be produced and used by consumers will surpass the energy used by today’s electronics.
The small cells required for the 5G network to properly function causes another issue of waste with the new network. Because of the weak nature of the millimeter waves used in the 5G technology, small cells will need to be placed around 250 meters apart to insure continuous connection. The main issue with these small cells is that the manufacturing and maintenance of these cells will create a lot of waste. The manufacturing of technology takes a large toll on the environment, due to the consumption of non-renewable resources to produce devices, and technology ending up in landfills. Implementing these small cells into large cities where they must be placed at such a high density will have a drastic impact on technology waste. Technology is constantly changing and improving, which is one of the huge reasons it has such high economic value. But, when a technological advancement in small cells happens, the current small cells would have to be replaced. The short lifespan of devices created today makes waste predictable and inevitable. In New York City, where there would have to be at least 3,135,200 small cells, the waste created in just one city when a new advancement in small cells is implemented would have overwhelming consequences on the environment. 5G is just one of many examples of how important it is to look at the consequences of new advancements before their implementation. While it is exciting to see new technology that promises to improve everyday life, the consequences of additional waste and energy usage must be considered to preserve a sustainable environment in the future. There is some evidence that the new devices and technologies associated with 5G will be harmful to delicate ecosystems. The main component of the 5G network that will affect the earth’s ecosystems is the millimeter waves. The millimeter waves that are being used in developing the 5G network have never been used at such scale before. This makes it especially difficult to know how they will impact the environment and certain ecosystems. However, studies have found that there are some harms caused by these new technologies. The millimeter waves, specifically, have been linked to many disturbances in the ecosystems of birds. In a study by the Centre for Environment and Vocational Studies of Punjab University, researchers observed that after exposure to radiation from a cell tower for just 5-30 minutes, the eggs of sparrows were disfigured.[34] The disfiguration of birds exposed for such a short amount of time to these frequencies is significant considering that the new 5G network will have a much higher density of base stations (small cells) throughout areas needing connection. The potential dangers of having so many small cells all over areas where birds live could cause whole populations of birds to have mutations that threaten their population’s survival. Additionally, a study done in Spain showed breeding, nesting, and roosting was negatively affected by microwave radiation emitted by a cell tower. Again, the issue of the increase in the amount of connection conductors in the form of small cells to provide connection with the 5G network is seen to be harmful to species that live around humans. Additionally, Warnke found that cellular devices had a detrimental impact on bees.[36] In this study, beehives exposed for just ten minutes to 900MHz waves fell victim to colony collapse disorder.Colony collapse disorder is when many of the bees living in the hive abandon the hive leaving the queen, the eggs, and a few worker bees. The worker bees exposed to this radiation also had worsened navigational skills, causing them to stop returning to their original hive after about ten days. Bees are an incredibly important part of the earth’s ecosystem. Around one-third of the food produced today is dependent on bees for pollination, making bees are a vital part of the agricultural system. Bees not only provide pollination for the plant-based food we eat, but they are also important to maintaining the food livestock eats. Without bees, a vast majority of the food eaten today would be lost or at the very least highly limited. Climate change has already caused a large decline in the world’s bee population. The impact that the cell towers have on birds and bees is important to understand, because all ecosystems of the earth are interconnected. If one component of an ecosystem is disrupted the whole system will be affected. The disturbances of birds with the cell towers of today would only increase, because with 5G a larger number of small cell radio-tower-like devices would be necessary to ensure high quality connection for users. Having a larger number of high concentrations of these millimeter waves in the form of small cells would cause a wider exposure to bees and birds, and possibly other species that are equally important to our environment.As innovation continues, it is important that big mobile companies around the world consider the impact 5G will have on the environment before pushing to have it widely implemented. The companies pushing for the expansion of 5G may stand to make short term economic gains. While the new network will undoubtedly benefit consumers greatly, looking at 5G’s long-term environmental impacts is also very important so that the risks are clearly understood and articulated. The technology needed to power the new 5G network will inevitably change how mobile devices are used as well as their capabilities. This technological advancement will also change the way technology and the environment interact. The change from using radio waves to using millimeter waves and the new use of small cells in 5G will allow more devices to be used and manufactured, more energy to be used, and have detrimental consequences for important ecosystems. While it is unrealistic to call for 5G to not become the new network norm, companies, governments, and consumers should be proactive and understand the impact that this new technology will have on the environment. 5G developers should carry out Environmental Impact Assessments that fully estimate the impact that the new technology will have on the environment before rushing to widely implement it. Environmental Impact Assessments are intended to assess the impact new technologies have on the environment, while also maximizing potential benefits to the environment. This process mitigates, prevents, and identifies environmental harm, which is imperative to ensuring that the environment is sustainable and sound in the future. Additionally, the method of Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) of devices would also be extremely beneficial for understanding the impact that 5G will inevitably have on the environment. An LCA can be used to assess the impact that devices have on carbon emissions throughout their life span, from the manufacturing of the device to the energy required to power the device and ultimately the waste created when the device is discarded into a landfill or other disposal system. By having full awareness of the impact new technology will have on the environment ways to combat the negative impacts can be developed and implemented effectively.
jsis.washington.edu/news/what-will-5g-mean-for-the-enviro...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswan_Dam
The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is the world's largest embankment dam, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan Low Dam initially completed in 1902 downstream. Based on the success of the Low Dam, then at its maximum utilization, construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952; with its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity, the dam was seen as pivotal to Egypt's planned industrialization. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.
Before the High Dam was built, even with the old dam in place, the annual flooding of the Nile during late summer had continued to pass largely unimpeded down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water with natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along its floodplain and delta; this predictability had made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times. However, this natural flooding varied, since high-water years could destroy the whole crop, while low-water years could create widespread drought and consequently famine. Both these events had continued to occur periodically. As Egypt's population grew and technology increased, both a desire and the ability developed to completely control the flooding, and thus both protect and support farmland and its economically important cotton crop. With the greatly increased reservoir storage provided by the High Aswan Dam, the floods could be controlled and the water could be stored for later release over multiple years.
The Aswan Dam was designed by the Moscow-based Hydroproject Institute.
The earliest recorded attempt to build a dam near Aswan was in the 11th century, when the Arab polymath and engineer Ibn al-Haytham (known as Alhazen in the West) was summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile, a task requiring an early attempt at an Aswan Dam. His field work convinced him of the impracticality of this scheme.
The British began construction of the first dam across the Nile in 1898. Construction lasted until 1902 and the dam was opened on 10 December 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcocks and involved several eminent engineers, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird, whose firm, John Aird & Co., was the main contractor.
In 1952, the Greek-Egyptian engineer Adrian Daninos began to develop the plan of the new Aswan Dam. Although the Low Dam was almost overtopped in 1946, the government of King Farouk showed no interest in Daninos's plans. Instead the Nile Valley Plan by the British hydrologist Harold Edwin Hurst was favored, which proposed to store water in Sudan and Ethiopia, where evaporation is much lower. The Egyptian position changed completely after the overthrow of the monarchy, led by the Free Officers Movement including Gamal Abdel Nasser. The Free Officers were convinced that the Nile Waters had to be stored in Egypt for political reasons, and within two months, the plan of Daninos was accepted. Initially, both the United States and the USSR were interested in helping development of the dam. Complications ensued due to their rivalry during the Cold War, as well as growing intra-Arab tensions.
In 1955, Nasser was claiming to be the leader of Arab nationalism, in opposition to the traditional monarchies, especially the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq following its signing of the 1955 Baghdad Pact. At that time the U.S. feared that communism would spread to the Middle East, and it saw Nasser as a natural leader of an anticommunist procapitalist Arab League. America and the United Kingdom offered to help finance construction of the High Dam, with a loan of $270 million, in return for Nasser's leadership in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. While opposed to communism, capitalism, and imperialism, Nasser identified as a tactical neutralist, and sought to work with both the U.S. and the USSR for Egyptian and Arab benefit.[8] After the UN criticized a raid by Israel against Egyptian forces in Gaza in 1955, Nasser realized that he could not portray himself as the leader of pan-Arab nationalism if he could not defend his country militarily against Israel. In addition to his development plans, he looked to quickly modernize his military, and he turned first to the U.S. for aid.
American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and President Dwight Eisenhower told Nasser that the U.S. would supply him with weapons only if they were used for defensive purposes and if he accepted American military personnel for supervision and training. Nasser did not accept these conditions, and consulted the USSR for support.
Although Dulles believed that Nasser was only bluffing and that the USSR would not aid Nasser, he was wrong: the USSR promised Nasser a quantity of arms in exchange for a deferred payment of Egyptian grain and cotton. On 27 September 1955, Nasser announced an arms deal, with Czechoslovakia acting as a middleman for the Soviet support. Instead of attacking Nasser for turning to the Soviets, Dulles sought to improve relations with him. In December 1955, the US and the UK pledged $56 and $14 million, respectively, toward construction of the High Aswan Dam.
Though the Czech arms deal created an incentive for the US to invest at Aswan, the UK cited the deal as a reason for repealing its promise of dam funds. Dulles was angered more by Nasser's diplomatic recognition of China, which was in direct conflict with Dulles's policy of containment of communism.
Several other factors contributed to the US deciding to withdraw its offer of funding for the dam. Dulles believed that the USSR would not fulfil its commitment of military aid. He was also irritated by Nasser's neutrality and attempts to play both sides of the Cold War. At the time, other Western allies in the Middle East, including Turkey and Iraq, were resentful that Egypt, a persistently neutral country, was being offered so much aid.
In June 1956, the Soviets offered Nasser $1.12 billion at 2% interest for the construction of the dam. On 19 July the U.S. State Department announced that American financial assistance for the High Dam was "not feasible in present circumstances."
On 26 July 1956, with wide Egyptian acclaim, Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal that included fair compensation for the former owners. Nasser planned on the revenues generated by the canal to help fund construction of the High Dam. When the Suez War broke out, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel seized the canal and the Sinai. But pressure from the U.S. and the USSR at the United Nations and elsewhere forced them to withdraw.
In 1958, the USSR proceeded to provide support for the High Dam project.
In the 1950s, archaeologists began raising concerns that several major historical sites, including the famous temple of Abu Simbel were about to be submerged by waters collected behind the dam. A rescue operation began in 1960 under UNESCO
Despite its size, the Aswan project has not materially hurt the Egyptian balance of payments. The three Soviet credits covered virtually all of the project's foreign exchange requirements, including the cost of technical services, imported power generating and transmission equipment and some imported equipment for land reclamation. Egypt was not seriously burdened by payments on the credits, most of which were extended for 12 years with interest at the very low rate of 2-1/2%. Repayments to the USSR constituted only a small net drain during the first half of the 1960s, and increased export earnings derived from crops grown on newly reclaimed land have largely offset the modest debt service payments in recent years. During 1965–70, these export earnings amounted to an estimated $126 million, compared with debt service payments of $113 million.
A central pylon of the monument to Arab-Soviet Friendship. The memorial commemorates the completion of the Aswan High Dam. The coat of arms of the Soviet Union is on the left and the coat of arms of Egypt is on the right.
The Soviets also provided technicians and heavy machinery. The enormous rock and clay dam was designed by the Soviet Hydroproject Institute along with some Egyptian engineers. 25,000 Egyptian engineers and workers contributed to the construction of the dams.
Originally designed by West German and French engineers in the early 1950s and slated for financing with Western credits, the Aswan High Dam became the USSR's largest and most famous foreign aid project after the United States, the United Kingdom, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) withdrew their support in 1956. The first Soviet loan of $100 million to cover construction of coffer dams for diversion of the Nile was extended in 1958. An additional $225 million was extended in 1960 to complete the dam and construct power-generating facilities, and subsequently about $100 million was made available for land reclamation. These credits of some $425 million covered only the foreign exchange costs of the project, including salaries of Soviet engineers who supervised the project and were responsible for the installation and testing of Soviet equipment. Actual construction, which began in 1960, was done by Egyptian companies on contract to the High Dam Authority, and all domestic costs were borne by the Egyptians. Egyptian participation in the venture has raised the construction industry's capacity and reputation significantly.
On the Egyptian side, the project was led by Osman Ahmed Osman's Arab Contractors. The relatively young Osman underbid his only competitor by one-half.
1960: Start of construction on 9 January
1964: First dam construction stage completed, reservoir started filling
1970: The High Dam, as-Sad al-'Aali, completed on 21 July[18]
1976: Reservoir reached capacity.
Specifications
The Aswan High Dam is 3,830 metres (12,570 ft) long, 980 m (3,220 ft) wide at the base, 40 m (130 ft) wide at the crest and 111 m (364 ft)[ tall. It contains 43,000,000 cubic metres (56,000,000 cu yd) of material. At maximum, 11,000 cubic metres per second (390,000 cu ft/s) of water can pass through the dam. There are further emergency spillways for an extra 5,000 cubic metres per second (180,000 cu ft/s), and the Toshka Canal links the reservoir to the Toshka Depression. The reservoir, named Lake Nasser, is 500 km (310 mi) long[20] and 35 km (22 mi) at its widest, with a surface area of 5,250 square kilometres (2,030 sq mi). It holds 132 cubic kilometres (1.73×1011 cu yd) of water.
Due to the absence of appreciable rainfall, Egypt's agriculture depends entirely on irrigation. With irrigation, two crops per year can be produced, except for sugar cane which has a growing period of almost one year.
The high dam at Aswan releases, on average, 55 cubic kilometres (45,000,000 acre⋅ft) water per year, of which some 46 cubic kilometres (37,000,000 acre⋅ft) are diverted into the irrigation canals.
In the Nile valley and delta, almost 336,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) benefit from these waters producing on average 1.8 crops per year. The annual crop consumptive use of water is about 38 cubic kilometres (31,000,000 acre⋅ft). Hence, the overall irrigation efficiency is 38/46 = 0.826 or 83%. This is a relatively high irrigation efficiency. The field irrigation efficiencies are much less, but the losses are reused downstream. This continuous reuse accounts for the high overall efficiency.
The following table shows the distribution of irrigation water over the branch canals taking off from the one main irrigation canal, the Mansuriya Canal near Giza.
Branch canalWater delivery in m3/feddan *
Kafret Nasser4,700
Beni Magdul3,500
El Mansuria3,300
El Hammami upstream2,800
El Hammami downstream1,800
El Shimi1,200
* Period 1 March to 31 July. 1 feddan is 0.42 ha or about 1 acre.
* Data from the Egyptian Water Use Management Project (EWUP)
The salt concentration of the water in the Aswan reservoir is about 0.25 kilograms per cubic metre (0.42 lb/cu yd), a very low salinity level. At an annual inflow of 55 cubic kilometres (45,000,000 acre⋅ft), the annual salt influx reaches 14 million tons. The average salt concentration of the drainage water evacuated into the sea and the coastal lakes is 2.7 kilograms per cubic metre (4.6 lb/cu yd). At an annual discharge of 10 cubic kilometres (2.4 cu mi) (not counting the 2 kilograms per cubic metre [3.4 lb/cu yd] of salt intrusion from the sea and the lakes, see figure "Water balances"), the annual salt export reaches 27 million ton. In 1995, the output of salt was higher than the influx, and Egypt's agricultural lands were desalinizing. Part of this could be due to the large number of subsurface drainage projects executed in the last decades to control the water table and soil salinity.
Drainage through subsurface drains and drainage channels is essential to prevent a deterioration of crop yields from waterlogging and soil salinization caused by irrigation. By 2003, more than 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) have been equipped with a subsurface drainage system and approximately 7.2 square kilometres (2.8 sq mi) of water is drained annually from areas with these systems. The total investment cost in agricultural drainage over 27 years from 1973 to 2002 was about $3.1 billion covering the cost of design, construction, maintenance, research and training. During this period 11 large-scale projects were implemented with financial support from World Bank and other donors.
Effects
The High Dam has resulted in protection from floods and droughts, an increase in agricultural production and employment, electricity production, and improved navigation that also benefits tourism. Conversely, the dam flooded a large area, causing the relocation of over 100,000 people. Many archaeological sites were submerged while others were relocated. The dam is blamed for coastline erosion, soil salinity, and health problems.
The assessment of the costs and benefits of the dam remains controversial decades after its completion. According to one estimate, the annual economic benefit of the High Dam immediately after its completion was LE 255 million, $587 million using the exchange rate in 1970 of $2.30 per LE 1): LE 140 million from agricultural production, LE 100 million from hydroelectric generation, LE 10 million from flood protection, and LE 5 million from improved navigation. At the time of its construction, total cost, including unspecified "subsidiary projects" and the extension of electric power lines, amounted to LE 450 million. Not taking into account the negative environmental and social effects of the dam, its costs are thus estimated to have been recovered within only two years. One observer notes: "The impacts of the Aswan High Dam have been overwhelmingly positive. Although the Dam has contributed to some environmental problems, these have proved to be significantly less severe than was generally expected, or currently believed by many people." Another observer disagreed and he recommended that the dam should be torn down. Tearing it down would cost only a fraction of the funds required for "continually combating the dam's consequential damage" and 500,000 hectares (1,900 sq mi) of fertile land could be reclaimed from the layers of mud on the bed of the drained reservoir. Samuel C. Florman wrote about the dam: "As a structure it is a success. But in its effect on the ecology of the Nile Basin – most of which could have been predicted – it is a failure".
Periodic floods and droughts have affected Egypt since ancient times. The dam mitigated the effects of floods, such as those in 1964, 1973, and 1988. Navigation along the river has been improved, both upstream and downstream of the dam. Sailing along the Nile is a favorite tourism activity, which is mainly done during the winter when the natural flow of the Nile would have been too low to allow navigation of cruise ships.[clarification needed] A new fishing industry has been created around Lake Nasser, though it is struggling due to its distance from any significant markets. The annual production was about 35 000 tons in the mid-1990s. Factories for the fishing industry and packaging have been set up near the Lake.
According to a 1971 CIA declassified report, Although the High Dam has not created ecological problems as serious as some observers have charged, its construction has brought economic losses as well as gains. These losses derive largely from the settling in dam's lake of the rich silt traditionally borne by the Nile. To date (1971), the main impact has been on the fishing industry. Egypt's Mediterranean catch, which once averaged 35,000-40,000 tons annually, has shrunk to 20,000 tons or less, largely because the loss of plankton nourished by the silt has eliminated the sardine population in Egyptian waters. Fishing in high dam's lake may in time at least partly offset the loss of saltwater fish, but only the most optimistic estimates place the eventual catch as high as 15,000-20,000 tons. Lack of continuing silt deposits at the mouth of the river also has contributed to a serious erosion problem. Commercial fertilizer requirements and salination and drainage difficulties, already large in perennially irrigated areas of Lower and Middle Egypt, will be somewhat increased in Upper Egypt by the change to perennial irrigation.
The dams also protected Egypt from the droughts in 1972–73 and 1983–87 that devastated East and West Africa. The High Dam allowed Egypt to reclaim about 2.0 million feddan (840,000 hectares) in the Nile Delta and along the Nile Valley, increasing the country's irrigated area by a third. The increase was brought about both by irrigating what used to be desert and by bringing under cultivation of 385,000 hectares (950,000 acres) that were previously used as flood retention basins. About half a million families were settled on these new lands. In particular the area under rice and sugar cane cultivation increased. In addition, about 1 million feddan (420,000 hectares), mostly in Upper Egypt, were converted from flood irrigation with only one crop per year to perennial irrigation allowing two or more crops per year. On other previously irrigated land, yields increased because water could be made available at critical low-flow periods. For example, wheat yields in Egypt tripled between 1952 and 1991 and better availability of water contributed to this increase. Most of the 32 km3 of freshwater, or almost 40 percent of the average flow of the Nile that were previously lost to the sea every year could be put to beneficial use. While about 10 km3 of the water saved is lost due to evaporation in Lake Nasser, the amount of water available for irrigation still increased by 22 km3. Other estimates put evaporation from Lake Nasser at between 10 and 16 cubic km per year.
Electricity production
The dam powers twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts (235,000 hp), with a total of 2.1 gigawatts (2,800,000 hp). Power generation began in 1967. When the High Dam first reached peak output it produced around half of Egypt's production of electric power (about 15 percent by 1998), and it gave most Egyptian villages the use of electricity for the first time. The High Dam has also improved the efficiency and the extension of the Old Aswan Hydropower stations by regulating upstream flows.
All High Dam power facilities were completed ahead of schedule. 12 turbines were installed and tested, giving the plant an installed capacity of 2,100 megawatts (MW), or more than twice the national total in 1960. With this capacity, the Aswan plant can produce 10 billion kWh of energy yearly. Two 500-kilovolt trunk lines to Cairo have been completed, and initial transmission problems, stemming mainly from poor insulators, were solved. Also, the damage inflicted on a main transformer station in 1968 by Israeli commandos has been repaired, and the Aswan plant is fully integrated with the power network in Lower Egypt. By 1971 estimation, Power output at Aswan, won't reach much more than half of the plant's theoretical capacity, because of limited water supplies and the differing seasonal water-use patterns for irrigation and power production. Agricultural demand for water in the summer far exceeds the amount needed to meet the comparatively low summer demand for electric power. Heavy summer irrigation use, however, will leave insufficient water under Egyptian control to permit hydroelectric power production at full capacity in the winter. Technical studies indicate that a maximum annual output of 5 billion kWh appears to be all that can be sustained due to fluctuations in Nile flows.
Resettlement and compensations
In Sudan, 50,000 to 70,000 Sudanese Nubians were moved from the old town of Wadi Halfa and its surrounding villages. Some were moved to a newly created settlement on the shore of Lake Nasser called New Wadi Halfa, and some were resettled approximately 700 kilometres (430 mi) south to the semi-arid Butana plain near the town of Khashm el-Girba up the Atbara River. The climate there had a regular rainy season as opposed to their previous desert habitat in which virtually no rain fell. The government developed an irrigation project, called the New Halfa Agricultural Development Scheme to grow cotton, grains, sugar cane and other crops. The Nubians were resettled in twenty five planned villages that included schools, medical facilities, and other services, including piped water and some electrification.
In Egypt, the majority of the 50,000 Nubians were moved three to ten kilometers from the Nile near Edna and Kom Ombo, 45 kilometers (28 mi) downstream from Aswan in what was called "New Nubia". Housing and facilities were built for 47 village units whose relationship to each other approximated that in Old Nubia. Irrigated land was provided to grow mainly sugar cane.
In 2019–20, Egypt started to compensate the Nubians who lost their homes following the dam impoundment.
Archaeological sites
Twenty-two monuments and architectural complexes that were threatened by flooding from Lake Nasser, including the Abu Simbel temples, were preserved by moving them to the shores of the lake under the UNESCO Nubia Campaign. Also moved were Philae, Kalabsha and Amada.
These monuments were granted to countries that helped with the works:
The Debod temple to Madrid
The Temple of Dendur to the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York
The Temple of Taffeh to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden of Leiden
The Temple of Ellesyia to the Museo Egizio of Turin
These items were removed to the garden area of the Sudan National Museum of Khartoum:
The temple of Ramses II at Aksha
The temple of Hatshepsut at Buhen
The temple of Khnum at Kumma
The tomb of the Nubian prince Djehuti-hotep at Debeira
The temples of Dedwen and Sesostris III at Semna
The granite columns from the Faras Cathedral
A part of the paintings of the Faras Cathedral; the other part is in the National Museum of Warsaw.
The Temple of Ptah at Gerf Hussein had its free-standing section reconstructed at New Kalabsha, alongside the Temple of Kalabsha, Beit el-Wali, and the Kiosk of Qertassi.
The remaining archaeological sites, including the Buhen fort and the cemetery of Fadrus have been flooded by Lake Nasser.
Loss of sediments
Before the construction of the High Dam, the Nile deposited sediments of various particle size – consisting of fine sand, silt and clay – on fields in Upper Egypt through its annual flood, contributing to soil fertility. However, the nutrient value of the sediment has often been overestimated. 88 percent of the sediment was carried to the sea before the construction of the High Dam. The nutrient value added to the land by the sediment was only 6,000 tons of potash, 7,000 tons of phosphorus pentoxide and 17,000 tons of nitrogen. These amounts are insignificant compared to what is needed to reach the yields achieved today in Egypt's irrigation. Also, the annual spread of sediment due to the Nile floods occurred along the banks of the Nile. Areas far from the river which never received the Nile floods before are now being irrigated.
A more serious issue of trapping of sediment by the dam is that it has increased coastline erosion surrounding the Nile Delta. The coastline erodes an estimated 125–175 m (410–574 ft) per year.
Waterlogging and increase in soil salinity
Before the construction of the High Dam, groundwater levels in the Nile Valley fluctuated 8–9 m (26–30 ft) per year with the water level of the Nile. During summer when evaporation was highest, the groundwater level was too deep to allow salts dissolved in the water to be pulled to the surface through capillary action. With the disappearance of the annual flood and heavy year-round irrigation, groundwater levels remained high with little fluctuation leading to waterlogging. Soil salinity also increased because the distance between the surface and the groundwater table was small enough (1–2 m depending on soil conditions and temperature) to allow water to be pulled up by evaporation so that the relatively small concentrations of salt in the groundwater accumulated on the soil surface over the years. Since most of the farmland did not have proper subsurface drainage to lower the groundwater table, salinization gradually affected crop yields.[31] Drainage through sub-surface drains and drainage channels is essential to prevent a deterioration of crop yields from soil salinization and waterlogging. By 2003, more than 2 million hectares have been equipped with a subsurface drainage system at a cost from 1973 to 2002 of about $3.1 billion.
Health
Contrary to many predictions made prior to the Aswan High Dam construction and publications that followed, that the prevalence of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) would increase, it did not. This assumption did not take into account the extent of perennial irrigation that was already present throughout Egypt decades before the high dam closure. By the 1950s only a small proportion of Upper Egypt had not been converted from basin (low transmission) to perennial (high transmission) irrigation. Expansion of perennial irrigation systems in Egypt did not depend on the high dam. In fact, within 15 years of the high dam closure there was solid evidence that bilharzia was declining in Upper Egypt. S. haematobium has since disappeared altogether. Suggested reasons for this include improvements in irrigation practice. In the Nile Delta, schistosomiasis had been highly endemic, with prevalence in the villages 50% or higher for almost a century before. This was a consequence of the conversion of the Delta to perennial irrigation to grow long staple cotton by the British. This has changed. Large-scale treatment programmes in the 1990s using single-dose oral medication contributed greatly to reducing the prevalence and severity of S. mansoni in the Delta.
Other effects
Sediment deposited in the reservoir is lowering the water storage capacity of Lake Nasser. The reservoir storage capacity is 162 km3, including 31 km3 dead storage at the bottom of the lake below 147 m (482 ft) above sea level, 90 km3 live storage, and 41 km3 of storage for high flood waters above 175 m (574 ft) above sea level. The annual sediment load of the Nile is about 134 million tons. This means that the dead storage volume would be filled up after 300–500 years if the sediment accumulated at the same rate throughout the area of the lake. Obviously sediment accumulates much faster at the upper reaches of the lake, where sedimentation has already affected the live storage zone.
Before the construction of the High Dam, the 50,000 km (31,000 mi) of irrigation and drainage canals in Egypt had to be dredged regularly to remove sediments. After construction of the dam, aquatic weeds grew much faster in the clearer water, helped by fertilizer residues. The total length of the infested waterways was about 27,000 km (17,000 mi) in the mid-1990s. Weeds have been gradually brought under control by manual, mechanical and biological methods.
Mediterranean fishing and brackish water lake fishery declined after the dam was finished because nutrients that flowed down the Nile to the Mediterranean were trapped behind the dam. For example, the sardine catch off the Egyptian coast declined from 18,000 tons in 1962 to a mere 460 tons in 1968, but then gradually recovered to 8,590 tons in 1992. A scientific article in the mid-1990s noted that "the mismatch between low primary productivity and relatively high levels of fish production in the region still presents a puzzle to scientists."
A concern before the construction of the High Dam had been the potential drop in river-bed level downstream of the Dam as the result of erosion caused by the flow of sediment-free water. Estimates by various national and international experts put this drop at between and 2 and 10 meters (6.6 and 32.8 ft). However, the actual drop has been measured at 0.3–0.7 meters (0.98–2.30 ft), much less than expected.[30]
The red-brick construction industry, which consisted of hundreds of factories that used Nile sediment deposits along the river, has also been negatively affected. Deprived of sediment, they started using the older alluvium of otherwise arable land taking out of production up to 120 square kilometers (46 sq mi) annually, with an estimated 1,000 square kilometers (390 sq mi) destroyed by 1984 when the government prohibited, "with only modest success," further excavation. According to one source, bricks are now being made from new techniques which use a sand-clay mixture and it has been argued that the mud-based brick industry would have suffered even if the dam had not been built.
Because of the lower turbidity of the water sunlight penetrates deeper in the Nile water. Because of this and the increased presence of nutrients from fertilizers in the water, more algae grow in the Nile. This in turn increases the costs of drinking water treatment. Apparently few experts had expected that water quality in the Nile would actually decrease because of the High Dam.
Appraisal of the Project
Although it is moot whether the project constitutes the best use of the funds spent, the Aswan Dam project unquestionably is and will continue to be economically beneficial to Egypt. The project has been expensive and it took considerable time to complete, as is usually the case with large hydroelectric developments, But Egypt now has a valuable asset with a long life and low operating costs. Even so, the wisdom of concentrating one-third of domestic saving and most of available foreign aid on a slow growth project is questionable. Since 1960, GNP has grown 50%, but mainly as a result of other investment.
Egyptian authorities were well aware that equivalent gains in output could have been achieved more quickly and more cheaply by other means. A series of low dams, similar to the barrages now contemplated, was suggested by Egyptian engineers as a more economical means of achieving up to 2,000 mW of additional generating capacity, US and WorldBank agricultural experts had long recommended improved drainage, introduction of hybrid seeds, and other such low-cost alternatives to land reclamation as a means of increasing agricultural output, In other areas, most notably the once efficient cotton textile industry, investment was needed to forestall an output decline, Implementation of these and other alternatives has been postponed rather than precluded by the High Dam project.
However, the decision to concentrate Egyptian savings and energies on the Aswan project for a decade was heavily based on non-economic factors. Nasser undoubtedly believed that a project of considerable symbolic appeal was needed to mobilize the population behind the government's economic goals, He also apparently felt that the East and West would be more easily persuaded to bid against each other for a project of this scope.
The Aswan High Dam made an appreciable contribution to Egyptian GNP, however the returns were well below what the planners had anticipated. The principal limiting factors on the High Dam's contribution to Egyptian output are a shortage of land suitable for reclamation, the high cost and long time required to bring reclaimed land to full productivity, and an inadequate water supply to meet power and irrigation goals simultaneously. The last limitation arises in part from the allocation in a 1959 agreement of more water to Sudan than was originally foreseen and in part from differences in the seasonal demand pattern of agriculture and the hydroelectric plant for the water. Irrigation requires very heavy use of water during summer months, while power generation needs peak during the winter. Ecological problems created by the dam, most of which were anticipated, have not seriously harmed the economy, although a few minor industries have been damaged.
The dam is, nonetheless, a viable project. Eventually the contribution to GNP equals as much as 20% of total investment. Moreover, the dam and associated projects provided returns that at least offset the cost of operation, repayment of foreign loans and amortisation of domestic loans.
Kitchen implements on display at the Allis-Bushnell House. The heavy mugs in foreground are actually measures; largest one is 2 quart.
See more tools, utensils and farm equipment at flic.kr/s/aHskTSBiQB.
(Photo credit Bob Gundersen www.flickr.com/photos/bobphoto51/albums).
Taken with a Praktina IIA camera in week 346 of my 52 film cameras in 52 weeks project:
www.flickr.com/photos/tony_kemplen/collections/72157623113584240
Agfa Vista 200 film from Poundland, developed in the Rollei C41 kit.
Lighted Farm Implement Parade, Sunnyside, Washington. I am pleasantly surprised how sharp these night photos are considering these shots are hand held and mostly shot at 1/30 and slower shutter speed. IMG_1053
Shot with my D600 and 14-24 Nikor Wide Angle Lens at my friends farm. Post processed in Lightroom and HDR'd in Photomatix Pro. I have a few more that I will upload later, but this is by far my favorite shot.
Anne Finucane, Vice-Chairman, Bank of America, USA, Lutfey Siddiqi, Visiting Professor-in-Practice, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom; Young Global Leader, Anne Ackerley, Head, Retirement Group, BlackRock, USA and Sonja Haut, Head, Strategic Measurement and Materiality, Novartis, Switzerlandspeaking during the Session "Implementing Stakeholder Capitalism 2" at the World Economic Forum, Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils 2019. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell
Persistent URL: digital.lib.muohio.edu/u?/tradecards,4697
Subject (TGM): Women; Caricatures; Puns (Visual works); Wheat; Agricultural machinery & implements; Floor coverings; Dry goods stores;
Implementation of the 16 control measures specified in the Time to Act publication is expected to have significant benefits for agriculture worldwide. Rapid reduction of methane and sot has the potential to avoid an annual loss of over 50 metric tonnes of crop yields per year by 2030.
For any form of publication, please include the link to this page:
This photo has been graciously provided to be used in the GRID-Arendal resources library by: GRID-Arendal
A rural farm under a cloudy moonlit sky near McBaine in Boone County Missouri by Notley Hawkins Photography. Taken on a cool August summer's evening with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera with a EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM lens. Colored gels were used with an exposure of 120 seconds.
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Net Zero (The Great Leap Forward: starvation and death) is a net of deception that will end with mass death and destruction. Reduce CO2 emissions! Less plants and oxygen, less life…woohoo! You are the CO2 they want to reduce. The unwanted carbon they most want to get rid of is you…the earth is overpopulated you know. Say no to cow farts…eating meat: bad; eating bugs: good! No driving or flying…yay! Green energy is unsustainable and so are you…buhahaha! Reduce nitrogen emissions (nitrogen fertilizer)! Less fertilizer and food, less life…woohoo! In the end you will not be allowed to collect rain water, grow a garden or raise animals. Scarcity = dependency = control. Sustainability means depopulation. If you haven’t figured it out yet: the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is an agenda to implement global communism—to centralize, control, and depopulate. It’s about the famous communist religious doctrine of “redistribution of wealth”. They will make the west poorer, yet they will allow China to be exempt, thus elevating China. It’s nothing but a communist redistribution scheme…equality for all! Stakeholder Capitalism (Stakeholder Communism) anyone? Communism rebranded…woohoo! Human rights: a repackaging of socialism. Let’s repackage and rename the latest version of the revolution: wokeism—“Tyranny of the minority.” Then the masses will consume the latest greatest neo-communist dialectic fad.
1970s: Global Cooling
1980s: Greenhouse Gas
1990s: Ozone Depletion
2000s: Global Warming
2010s: Climate Change
2020s: Global Boiling
“These, Health and Climate, are the twin tools of oppression being slatheringly adopted by all Politian’s and aspiring dictators.” They never let a crisis go to waste, even if they have to invent one—covid and climate fascism. The Nazi’s used medicine and science too. Why is it that Canada’s euthanasia laws remind me of Nazi Germany? Yet useful idiots will defend such laws. So where is the public debate on all this stuff? When talking about the Medical-Industrial Complex or the Scientific-Industrial Complex we get met by the Censorship-Industrial Complex. Hands off the Patent-for-profit Government-Medical-Pharmaceutical Axis! Governments and corporations working hand in hand: fascism. That’s odd…who would’ve thought!?! That’s why the United Nations loves its Public-Private Partnerships. Indeed, Google wasn't meant for searching anything but the user! Can anyone say: data mining!?! Data will be used to control you. Ah…the beautiful smell of the Beast Technostructure System—a techno-driven data enslavement system. 666: the sweet smelling system of tyranny. Woohoo…the future smells like death and destruction, like hell on earth! Authoritarianism at its finest! The utopian dream of sustainability!
Build Back Beter: you must destroy (tear down) in order to rebuild (Lahaina; Lytton). In order for them to rebuild, they will first tear down society. We must destroy democracy by adopting global environmental data standards, so that we can address the triple planetary crisis. We must pool data and digital infrastructure across all United Nations member states, building flagship data sets and standards for interoperability, so that we can bring together data and AI expertise to build insights and applications for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
To be a good global citizen you will need to follow (live by) the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. These Sustainable Development Goals will be enforced through a global Social Credit Score System. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals is the Hegelian Dialectic that is taking us into the New World Order—Build Back Better. Will we get to vote on all this? No! “Sustainability is the tyranny of the 21st century.”
The perfect global citizen is one who lacks purpose, one who is apathetic and cowardly, one who will not stand up for what is right and true. These people feel like they live empty and meaningless lives. They are bored, socially alienated and lonely (social media ring a bell?). Such people will more readily fall for spoon fed ideology through propaganda, indoctrination and peer pressure. Then, with faithful devotion, they will religiously adhere to their new doctrine of wokeism. They lack understand concerning freedom; they lack understand concerning their responsibility to maintain freedom. They lack critical thinking skills and are willfully ignorant. They don’t want to take responsibility for themselves but want someone else (big daddy government) to look after them. So when a One World Totalitarian Socialist Governance System presents itself, the masses will be compliant. Welcome to the New (dark) Age of enlightenment (unreason). Welcome to the cyber-zombie apocalypse. Paradigm blindness: they will gladly accept a digital pseudo-reality—the metaverse synthetic multiverse effect. These global citizens will outsource their thinking to the Beast hive mind system. They will be willing and blissful slaves. “They will own nothing and be happy.” Global citizens will embrace the false utopianism of the New World Order when it presents itself. They will take the smart-tattoo-chip to the hand or forehead, and they will plead allegiance to the new tyrant. This up coming regime will be worse than the other communist and fascist regimes, and it will have a worse leader. It will cause more starvation and death, and it will have more control of the people. Let’s repackage and rename this latest version of the techno-revolution: antichristism. Welcome to the digital 666 gulags, where billions will die! Welcome to the digital prison planet Beast system. They will tear down humanity, in order to replace it with transhumanity. You will not be able to live in a digital world and keep your individuality, freedom and autonomy. Even worse, you will not be able to live in a digital Trans-666-humanist world and keep your soul. Which christ will you follow? You cannot serve two masters!
Matthew 24:28 “Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.”
Photo captured via Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F/1.7 lens and Bracketing method of photography from the Vista Point on U.S. Highway 101 in McKinleyville. Humboldt County. Late May 2014.
GA71 Side Event - Leaving No One Behind: Agents of Change for Achieving Goal 5 and the 2030 Agenda during the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly. 24 September 2016.
While there are many diverse actors working to implement the 2030 Agenda, the voices and perspectives of those working at the grassroots and local level are central to ensuring that real and inclusive change is made. Women’s civil society and human rights organizations, girls’ activist groups, and men and boys engaged in advancing gender equality at the local level, have a unique role to play in our collective realization of SDG5 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development more broadly.
Through this high-level event Canada, UN Women and other partners are providing a space to promote the important role of these civil society actors and partners as agents of change, in the context of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by the year 2030.
Speakers, Panelists, Participants Include:
Elizabeth Plank, Moderator; Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, Canada; Shahriar Alam, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh; UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; Martin Bille Hermann, State Secretary for Development Policy, Denmark; Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary General, The Commonwealt; Gary Cohen, Together for Girls Founder; Laure Zonga-Hien, Ministre de la Femme, de la Solidarité nationale et de la Famille, Burkina Faso; Patricia Herdt, OIF; Sister Winifred Doherty, Director, Working Group on Girls; Mervis, Plan International Girl Advocate; Eneless, Plan International Girl Advocate; Aasha, Girl Activist, Working Group on Girls; Dr. Alaa Murabit, Voice of Libyan Women; Ishita Chaudhry, Member, High Level Task Force, International Conference on Population and Development;
Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown
Here are all the mobile phones I've owned. Starting from the left we have:
Ericsson SH888
Originally introduced in 1998, I was given it in about 2000 by someone I used to work for who worked for Ericsson. It was one of the earliest dual-band phones and also one of the first with built in infrared. I think I managed to get it to talk to my Psion 5 once. Very solid and dependable.
Ericsson T39m
In 2001 I took out a contract with Vodafone and chose this phone to go with it. It features tri-band, Bluetooth, predictive text, GPRS and a WAP browser, nice clear screen and very good battery life. It's also very light and thin. It's seen a lot of use: I used it for just over two years I think, then I lent it to my housemate who used it for a year or so. It still works fine, though it is a little worn. One of the best phones Ericsson made.
Sony Ericsson T610
Oh dear. I don't know what came over me with this one. I thought it was time I had a new phone on renewing my contract and the T610 caught my eye with its retro styling. This was in 2003 or so. Ericsson and Sony had joined forces to make phones and my good experience with the T39 lead me to believe this one would be OK. How wrong I was. Sony brought nice styling to the partnership, unfortunately rather than combining it with Ericsson's robust content they apparently discarded it altogether. It features a colour screen which is unreadable outdoors and a camera which not only takes pointlessly small 288x352 pictures, but the sensor lends a green tint usually and the optics distort to the edge of recognition. The software is very sluggish, especially when opening the text message inbox. The keys and joystick are not great, though they're even worse when mango chutney is applied I found. Yet another negative is the level of bastardisation by Vodafone, most annoyingly that the right-hand soft key always goes to "Vodafone Live" which I hardly ever used and was not allowed to change.
Nokia 6630
Just as soon as that contract was up I got this phone. I realised my mistake and so was much more careful choosing this one. Put off Sony Ericsson I decided to switch to Nokia and to splash out some extra cash to get a fairly high end smart phone. Definitely content over looks this time, it is a bit bulbous, funny looking and bulky. After the T610 the content is a very large breath of lovely fresh air. The very first thing I did was reassign all the shortcuts on the standby screen, because I could. Features a nice bright screen which is very legible in all lighting conditions, especially with the sensor which varies the backlight brightness depending on the ambient light level. It has a 1.3MP camera with reasonable optics though like nearly all phone cameras it doesn't cope well with bright lights in the shot. Has 3G and the keys are good and responsive. The main feature though is Series 60 which is a version of the Symbian OS. There's a fair bit of software available for it, including a version of PuTTY which is very handy. It takes a reduced size dual-voltage MMC memory card, it took me a while to find a compatible one, but I eventually got a 256MB card off ebay. It didn't take too long to fill it with music, pictures and text messages. One gripe with the software implementation is the lack of integration between the Symbian apps and the phone functions, for instance the clock and calendar applications have no connection so there is a lack of sophistication in how alarms can be set, one can't have different alarms repeated on different weekdays. I'd like to be able to set alarms which switch profiles for meetings, lectures etc. One can include a person's birthday in their entry in the contacts database, but it doesn't show up on the calendar.
Nokia E70
I've just got this one. After a fair bit of research, I was seriously considering the N93 with its 3.2MP camera with auto focus and 3x optical zoom, but then I saw some results and came to the conclusion that the quality is still not that good. So Instead I went for this phone, the most exciting feature of which is the full and very nice to use qwerty keyboard, or is it the 802.11G wireless networking? Probably both equally. SSH on this phone is a joy, nethack is quite playable though the 'b' key is on the other side of the screen to the rest of the direction keys. The WLAN really is great, if I'm at home or near an accessible network (including unconfigured netgears) I can use the networking features of my phone without worrying about paying for every byte. The browser has had mixed reviews, I think it is mostly very good. It copes with just about every page, including flickr with all its javascript, and though you get a little frame view onto the entire page it always seems to be wide enough to fit the main text column without having to scroll sideways to read the text. A major problem with it is the lack of RAM. It often runs out of memory on graphics heavy pages, though sometimes just reloading helps. Quite a hassle for me is the lack of ability to download a file linked to from a page, all it can do is attempt to open it with an installed program. I can't even find a way to copy and paste the linked url nor indeed any text on a web page. Again it suffers from a lack of integration between phone and application functionality. Yesterday I looked up a restaurant's phone number on their web page and wanted to dial it, all I could do is commit it to memory, switch to the phone interface and type it in.
Anne Ackerley, Head, Retirement Group, BlackRock, USA speaking during the Session "Implementing Stakeholder Capitalism 2" at the World Economic Forum, Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils 2019. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell
A rural farm under a cloudy moonlit sky near McBaine in Boone County Missouri by Notley Hawkins Photography. Taken on a cool August summer's evening with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera with a EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM lens. Colored gels were used with an exposure of 128 seconds.
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20 May 2019 - TALK TOGETHER
Session : The Male Disadvantage in Education
Speakers : Camilla Stoltenberg, Director-General, Norwegian Institute of Public Health; Head, Norwegian National Commission on Gender Equality in Education
With ** Francesca Borgonovi, Senior Analyst, Policy Advice and Implementation, Directorate for Education and Skills, OECD
OECD Headquarters, Paris.
Photo : © Hervé Cortinat / OECD
Essay:
Earth's Transformation and the Random Implementation of Alien Technology
The Earth, once a vibrant planet teeming with diverse ecosystems, has undergone a drastic transformation. A severe environmental catastrophe has devastated the planet, leading to the evaporation of life-giving water into the vast expanse of space. The once-blue planet is now dominated by barren deserts, stretching across continents where oceans and forests once thrived. Humanity, on the brink of extinction, has been thrust into a desperate struggle for survival.
The catalyst for this environmental apocalypse was a combination of factors: uncontrolled industrial activity, rampant deforestation, and unchecked pollution. These human activities pushed Earth's climate system past a critical threshold, triggering a cascade of irreversible changes. The polar ice caps melted at unprecedented rates, causing sea levels to rise and then rapidly fall as water vapor escaped the atmosphere. Rainforests, which acted as the planet's lungs, were decimated, and the delicate balance of ecosystems collapsed. The result was a planet unrecognizable from its former self—a desolate wasteland where life struggled to find a foothold.
In this dire scenario, hope arrived in the form of alien technology—an unexpected boon that became humanity's lifeline. The origins of this technology remain shrouded in mystery. Some speculate it was discovered accidentally during deep-space explorations, while others believe it was gifted by a benevolent extraterrestrial civilization. Regardless of its origins, this advanced technology became the cornerstone of Earth's new survival strategy.
The alien technology enabled the creation of isolated oases in the vast desert expanses. These oases, shielded by energy fields and sustained by advanced atmospheric processors, mimic the lost ecosystems of old Earth. They generate and recycle water, maintain breathable air, and support agriculture, allowing small human communities to thrive. The technology also includes sophisticated climate control mechanisms that protect these fertile areas from the harsh desert environment.
The implementation of alien technology was a stroke of luck, a fortuitous discovery in humanity's darkest hour. Scientists and engineers, initially skeptical, soon realized the potential of these alien devices. Through trial and error, they managed to integrate this technology into the remnants of human civilization. This integration was not without its challenges—there were numerous failures and setbacks, but the resilience of the human spirit prevailed.
Life in these technologically sustained oases is a stark contrast to the desolation that surrounds them. Within the protective domes, greenery flourishes, and small bodies of water reflect the sky. Communities have adapted to this new way of living, embracing a lifestyle that is a blend of ancient survival techniques and futuristic technology. Education systems focus on maintaining and understanding the alien technology, ensuring that future generations can continue to benefit from it.
The concept of 'Planet B' has taken on a new meaning. Instead of seeking a new home among the stars, humanity has been forced to redefine its existence on Earth—'Planet B' is Earth reborn, a new chapter after 'Planet A' vanished beneath the waves of environmental disaster. The Earth of today is a testament to human ingenuity and the unforeseen assistance of alien technology. It is a world where the line between science fiction and reality has blurred, and where survival hinges on the harmonious integration of alien and human advancements.
In conclusion, the transformation of Earth and the serendipitous implementation of alien technology have given rise to a new way of life. This new existence is fragile and fraught with challenges, but it is also a beacon of hope. The 'Cradle of the Desert' represents the resilience of life and the enduring quest for survival in the face of insurmountable odds.
Poem:
In deserts wide where oceans slept,
Beneath a sky where sorrow wept,
Alien whispers, silent, deep,
Brought life anew from restless sleep.
Once blue and green, now dust and bone,
Our planet’s heart, a hollow tone,
Yet through the sands, technology,
Revived the hope for you and me.
In domes of light, we plant our dreams,
Where water flows in gentle streams,
Alien hands unseen, yet kind,
Breathe life back to a world confined.
From barren waste to fertile land,
A future forged by chance and hand,
Cradle of the Desert, bright,
Guides us through this endless night.
Haikus:
Alien whispers,
Oases bloom in deserts,
Hope in arid lands.
Earth’s rebirth at hand,
Technology’s gentle touch,
Life in barren sands.
Antique Farm Implement,
Penn Farm Agricultural Heritage Center.
Cedar Hill State Park. Cedar Hill, Texas.
Dallas County. 24 December 2018.
Olympus E-P5. Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-200mm f/4-5.6 II.
(45mm) f/8 @ 1/100 sec. ISO 200.
And as I promised, the last plate I created on that day was appropriately one of my hands at the end of the process. When you coat the plates you hold them like a waiter holds a drink tray and you pour the collodion onto the plate and tilt the plate toward all four corners to spread the mixture. Invariably (regularly if you are a beginner) some of it dribbles off and onto your hand. Then when you pull the plate from the silver nitrate bath, some of that silver nitrate gets onto your hands and mixes with the collodion that is on there, creating a light sensitive emulsion on your skin which immediately gets exposed to light. Finally when you take your exposed plate into the darkroom and pour developer over it, that developer spills off onto your hands and develops the emulsion on them, which at this point are incredibly over-exposed and turn black. It wears off in a day or two, but til then you have some nicely stained hands.
I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a wet plate image of my wet plate stained hands. The results of the process documented by the process. There is a nice logic to that.
O Paramotor também conhecido como Parafly é considerado uma adaptação do parapente.[1]
Os parapentes para voar necessitam uma velocidade de vento que supera os 20 km/h dependendo do tipo de vela, esta velocidade se consegue graças ao vento que se gera ao correr nas costas.
No paramotor essa velocidade de vento se gera graças a força que proporciona o motor que levam as costas no momento que se supera a velocidade necessária para se levantar. Enquanto que em um parapente se requer uma certa altura para poder voar, com o paramotor se pode levantar voo praticamente de qualquer lugar plano.
Existem vários tipos de motores para o paramotor, sendo desde pequenos motores para pessoas de pouco peso (55 kg aproximadamente de impulso) a motores mais poderosos para realizar voos em dupla (piloto e acompanhante, de uns 120 a 150 kg aproximadamente de impulso). Os mais usados atualmente são motores de 2 tempos, porque para implementar com motores de 4 tempos ficaria pesado demais e ainda há desenvolvimento para um paramotor elétrico.
Warchief, everything is set as you ordered! The enemy ships just docked and they are unloading the troops. They will be here in an hour.- reported commander of the scouts.
Burlogh O'Rohal let out a sigh. For some reason I hoped they change their mind. - So it is decreeded. Stay calm and follow my orders.
Scouts of Lenfald army road into the valley. Suddenly a band of cheering beastman jumped out from the woods and ran towards them. Commander of the cavalry ordered a charge. The beastman group seemed confused and started to flee. Everything went as the warchief planned. The knights followed the Ironclad Company but after the turn of the road they faced a troll phalanx. Their charge broke in a minute. The beastmen turned back and flanked the cavalry.
Meanwhile main force of the invaders faced some problem too. Magical song rang over the valley as combined power of shamans created huge flamesnakes. As the fire stroke down to the knights, a sniper rose up from his hiding spot. His first shot hit the Lenfald commander who fall down to the ground. His army became disorganised in a moment. The ground shaked as Dragon Maiden lead their charge. The Lenfald army was surrounded in a few minutes. Their only chance was the road, but it was blocked by the warchief himself.
Let the massacre begin! For freedom, for the Bleeding Claws! - roared Burlogh and started to run and the horde followed him...
My entry to Lands of Classic Castle Global Challenge 3 - Purging the Magic Islands
The World Grid and the Whirled Mind ~
...The great sphere of the planet is crisscrossed by lines of force that adhere to the geometry of three dimensions. These shapes simultaneously mirror the patterns of higher order ‘hyperspace’ geometries [see TimeSpace]. Lines of energy follow paths of least resistance – the leyline network recognised and used by antediluvian civilisations, the dragon lines of the Gael and the Orient; the Songlines of nomadic aboriginal people.
The planet flows through a vibrating sea of energy. This bathes us in frequencies and wavelengths that define the courses of energies flowing across and through the Earth. Lines of least resistance form an intricately interconnected series of grids that map hyperspatial geometries onto and into the globe of the planet. They’re the acupuncture meridians of Gaia, and nodal points are strung along them as acupuncture points on the human body. As above, so below.
These nodal points are sacred sites and places of power that can be used for great good or ill. The fortuitous locations and arrangements of most temples and shrines, churches and mosques from antiquity to the present time indicates at least one of two things – 1) that gifted dowsers have always been with us, working at the behest of secretive conspiratorial master architects, and/or 2) that the works of humankind are parts of a greater plan serving the planet and/or other agencies – again, for good or for ill, in terms of the best interests of human beings and the myriad lifeforms that dwell in the wonderfully wild garden of Gaia.
In either case, the sanctuaries of world religions are constructed on primordial bastions of concentrated energy. There are those who know how to use or misuse these sites (and all the trappings of blinded faith – magical implements like altars, chalices, incense, books, bells and candles) in ways and purposes for which they’re intended. Just as the vast majority of people will never read or comprehend these little words, or read this far, almost all those in charge of sacred sites have no idea how to use them. They’re custodians, holding the sites in trust for others – just like all the smiling politicians and stern public servants in the secular world.
Where three or more gather in focus together our wills can combine to accomplish great ends. The whologram is greater than the sum of its parts. The massed and focused energies of congregations of living, breathing, wilful beings can be harnessed to feed the leyline/songline grid with specific patterns of sound, thought, motion and emotion – songs and dances, prayers and hopes that can be used as fuel to heal the world, or to further other agendas. The most cleverly constructed places of worship channel energy into the Earth and unto the sky, and even filter and focus it toward specific ends.
Controlling humankind is the main game around town. Most religions are in charge of edifices designed to subtly influence and control the minds of people in the lands they directly influence. At certain times and in the right hands, the grid network can be induced to resonate with extraordinary power. Sometimes, when the entire system is poised for impending change at times of cosmic confluence, the grid can be used to reset the mind of humankind – and even to alter human nature en masse.
The Magnetic Moment
“No man may know the day of my coming; I come like a thief in the night.” So says a ‘lord’ in the babbling Old Testament. ‘The Day of the Lord’ is the day of destruction, when the Earth is repaved in conflagrations and stars shift to new posts in heaven. At moments like these and at other nodal points in the spiral of timespace, when the magnetic field of the planet shifts and realigns, the entire world can be remade in manifold ways.
Certain places and edifices are finely tuned instruments whose potential can only be fulfilled by master conductors of energy - musicians/magicians prepared to emerge from the wings on cue to wield their baton/wand and remake the illusion of the world, and to repattern the human worldview. Those neophytes and supplicants who randomly pray or silently meditate in ‘spiritual centres’ can only feed psychic batteries that these priests and mages tap and channel.
At times in prehistory a singular consciousness controlled the entire old network of planetary influence from several plexuses at once – an extraordinary being possessed of transdimensional perceptions, who controlled the mass of humankind and instituted the hive-like pyramidal structures that have patterned almost all ‘civilised’ and domesticated human societies unto today. Many of the monuments that channelled this network were ultimately destroyed or submerged beneath the seas in a series of catastrophes that only culminated less than 3,000 years ago, when the ‘terrestrial’ inner planets of the solar system took up their current stations.
Those who inhabit the summit of power at the capstone of the societal pyramid are the very last to countenance change, unless it directly benefits them. Most real or fundamental change brings with it unpredictable and unforseen complications that can only threaten their towers of power. Change is anathema to most control freaks - yet when the magnetic field shifts they have little choice but to go with the flow, and attempt to ensure the next age to come in the wake of that shift will faithfully follow the pattern of their plan.
Nowadays there are several competing centres of power, all poised to attempt to wrest control of the planetary web at the Magnetic Moment, when momentum stops and Mind becomes silent. When everything pauses the code of the world is freed from its tethers and can be rewritten by those in control of the instruments of power. At this point in history the vocalists ready to sing their song are more cacophony than choir, possessed of as many differing agendas as a hydra has heads.
What can emerge from this discord? Will the harp they all attempt to simultaneously strum accidentally strike the right chord – the one that frees us all from their thrall?
To prepare for the Moment, examine and (dis)still your mind. With practice you can learn what it’s like in the moment of change, when the world turns around your silent centre. If enough of us focus on one thing when that time comes, all the plans of puppet masters will be for naught. If enough of us are prepared to dare to dream of paradise for all we can remake the world into something blessed. We can remake the world with dreams we all truly cherish in our combined heart of hearts. We can fulfil human destiny and remake Paradise on Earth.
No doubt all of this is difficult to credit for many or most. Those couched in the comforting illusions of permanence fostered by antiquated and carefully channelled academic and education systems may well ignore these little words entirely. The mindfield of the current paradigm is always self-reinforcing and filters out dangerous ideas, dreams and memories that are automatically proscribed for reasons of social stability.
No confirmation or conformation is required. You are free – and you are god(dess)!
See you in the Magnetic Moment – Happy New Aeon!
by Ram Ayana @ nexusilluminati.blogspot.com.au/search/label/r.%20ayana
— with Ram Ayana.
Yellowstone National Park (Arapaho: Henihco'oo or Héetíhco'oo) is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone, widely held to be the first national park in the world, is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful Geyser, one of the most popular features in the park. It has many types of ecosystems, but the subalpine forest is most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 square miles (8,983 km2), comprising lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges. Yellowstone Lake is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera, the largest supervolcano on the continent. The caldera is considered an active volcano. It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Half of the world's geothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of the land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the largest remaining nearly-intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone.
Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened. The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park is the largest and most famous megafauna location in the Continental United States. Grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in the park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988, nearly one third of the park was burnt. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, boating, fishing and sightseeing. Paved roads provide close access to the major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles.
The park is located at the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, from which it takes its historical name. Near the end of the 18th century, French trappers named the river "Roche Jaune", which is probably a translation of the Hidatsa name "Mi tsi a-da-zi" (Rock Yellow River). Later, American trappers rendered the French name in English as "Yellow Stone". Although it is commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Native American name source is not clear.
The first detailed expedition to the Yellowstone area was the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869, which consisted of three privately funded explorers. The Folsom party followed the Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake. The members of the Folsom party kept a journal and based on the information it reported, a party of Montana residents organized the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in 1870. It was headed by the surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn, and included Nathaniel P. Langford (who later became known as "National Park" Langford) and a U.S. Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane.
The expedition spent about a month exploring the region, collecting specimens and naming sites of interest. A Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, who had been a member of the Washburn expedition, proposed that the region should be set aside and protected as a national park; he wrote a number of detailed articles about his observations for the Helena Herald newspaper between 1870 and 1871. Hedges essentially restated comments made in October 1865 by acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher, who had previously commented that the region should be protected. Others made similar suggestions. In an 1871 letter from Jay Cooke to Ferdinand V. Hayden, Cooke wrote that his friend, Congressman William D. Kelley had also suggested "Congress pass a bill reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park forever".
By 1915, 1,000 automobiles per year were entering the park, resulting in conflicts with horses and horse-drawn transportation. Horse travel on roads was eventually prohibited.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal relief agency for young men, played a major role between 1933 and 1942 in developing Yellowstone facilities. CCC projects included reforestation, campground development of many of the park's trails and campgrounds, trail construction, fire hazard reduction, and fire-fighting work. The CCC built the majority of the early visitor centers, campgrounds and the current system of park roads.
During World War II, tourist travel fell sharply, staffing was cut, and many facilities fell into disrepair. By the 1950s, visitation increased tremendously in Yellowstone and other national parks. To accommodate the increased visitation, park officials implemented Mission 66, an effort to modernize and expand park service facilities. Planned to be completed by 1966, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service, Mission 66 construction diverged from the traditional log cabin style with design features of a modern style. During the late 1980s, most construction styles in Yellowstone reverted to the more traditional designs. After the enormous forest fires of 1988 damaged much of Grant Village, structures there were rebuilt in the traditional style. The visitor center at Canyon Village, which opened in 2006, incorporates a more traditional design as well.
A large arch made of irregular-shaped natural stone over a road
The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake just west of Yellowstone at Hebgen Lake damaged roads and some structures in the park. In the northwest section of the park, new geysers were found, and many existing hot springs became turbid. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in recorded history.
In 1963, after several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone, United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management of the national parks. In a paper known as the Leopold Report, the committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended management of Yellowstone's elk population.
The wildfires during the summer of 1988 were the largest in the history of the park. Approximately 793,880 acres (321,272 ha; 1,240 sq mi) or 36% of the parkland was impacted by the fires, leading to a systematic re-evaluation of fire management policies. The fire season of 1988 was considered normal until a combination of drought and heat by mid-July contributed to an extreme fire danger. On "Black Saturday", August 20, 1988, strong winds expanded the fires rapidly, and more than 150,000 acres (61,000 ha; 230 sq mi) burned.
The expansive cultural history of the park has been documented by the 1,000 archeological sites that have been discovered. The park has 1,106 historic structures and features, and of these Obsidian Cliff and five buildings have been designated National Historic Landmarks. Yellowstone was designated an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976, and a UN World Heritage Site on September 8, 1978. The park was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1995 to 2003 due to the effects of tourism, infection of wildlife, and issues with invasive species. In 2010, Yellowstone National Park was honored with its own quarter under the America the Beautiful Quarters Program.
Heritage and Research Center
The Heritage and Research Center is located at Gardiner, Montana, near the north entrance to the park. The center is home to the Yellowstone National Park's museum collection, archives, research library, historian, archeology lab, and herbarium. The Yellowstone National Park Archives maintain collections of historical records of Yellowstone and the National Park Service. The collection includes the administrative records of Yellowstone, as well as resource management records, records from major projects, and donated manuscripts and personal papers. The archives are affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration.
Approximately 96 percent of the land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another three percent is within Montana, with the remaining one percent in Idaho. The park is 63 miles (101 km) north to south, and 54 miles (87 km) west to east by air. Yellowstone is 2,219,789 acres (898,317 ha; 3,468.420 sq mi) in area, larger than the states of Rhode Island or Delaware. Rivers and lakes cover five percent of the land area, with the largest water body being Yellowstone Lake at 87,040 acres (35,220 ha; 136.00 sq mi). Yellowstone Lake is up to 400 feet (120 m) deep and has 110 miles (180 km) of shoreline. At an elevation of 7,733 feet (2,357 m) above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high altitude lake in North America. Forests comprise 80 percent of the land area of the park; most of the rest is grassland.
The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park. The divide is a topographic feature that separates Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages. About one third of the park lies on the west side of the divide. The origins of the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers are near each other but on opposite sides of the divide. As a result, the waters of the Snake River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone find their way to the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico.
The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, at an average elevation of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level. The plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains, which range from 9,000 to 11,000 feet (2,700 to 3,400 m) in elevation. The highest point in the park is atop Eagle Peak (11,358 feet or 3,462 metres) and the lowest is along Reese Creek (5,282 feet or 1,610 metres). Nearby mountain ranges include the Gallatin Range to the northwest, the Beartooth Mountains in the north, the Absaroka Range to the east, and the Teton Range and the Madison Range to the southwest and west. The most prominent summit on the Yellowstone Plateau is Mount Washburn at 10,243 feet (3,122 m).
Yellowstone National Park has one of the world's largest petrified forests, trees which were long ago buried by ash and soil and transformed from wood to mineral materials. This ash and other volcanic debris, are believed to have come from the park area itself. This is largely due to the fact that Yellowstone is actually a massive caldera of a supervolcano. There are 290 waterfalls of at least 15 feet (4.6 m) in the park, the highest being the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River at 308 feet (94 m).
Three deep canyons are located in the park, cut through the volcanic tuff of the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last 640,000 years. The Lewis River flows through Lewis Canyon in the south, and the Yellowstone River has carved two colorful canyons, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone in its journey north.
Yellowstone is at the northeastern end of the Snake River Plain, a great U-shaped arc through the mountains that extends from Boise, Idaho some 400 miles (640 km) to the west. This feature traces the route of the North American Plate over the last 17 million years as it was transported by plate tectonics across a stationary mantle hotspot. The landscape of present-day Yellowstone National Park is the most recent manifestation of this hotspot below the crust of the Earth.
The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America. It has been termed a "supervolcano" because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. The magma chamber that lies under Yellowstone is estimated to be a single connected chamber, about 37 miles (60 km) long, 18 miles (29 km) wide, and 3 to 7 miles (5 to 12 km) deep. The current caldera was created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred 640,000 years ago, which released more than 240 cubic miles (1,000 km³) of ash, rock and pyroclastic materials. This eruption was more than 1,000 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. It produced a caldera nearly five eighths of a mile (1 km) deep and 45 by 28 miles (72 by 45 km) in area and deposited the Lava Creek Tuff, a welded tuff geologic formation. The most violent known eruption, which occurred 2.1 million years ago, ejected 588 cubic miles (2,450 km³) of volcanic material and created the rock formation known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and created the Island Park Caldera. A smaller eruption ejected 67 cubic miles (280 km³) of material 1.3 million years ago, forming the Henry's Fork Caldera and depositing the Mesa Falls Tuff.
Each of the three climactic eruptions released vast amounts of ash that blanketed much of central North America, falling many hundreds of miles away. The amount of ash and gases released into the atmosphere probably caused significant impacts to world weather patterns and led to the extinction of some species, primarily in North America.
Wooden walkways allow visitors to closely approach the Grand Prismatic Spring.
A subsequent caldera-forming eruption occurred about 160,000 years ago. It formed the relatively small caldera that contains the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Since the last supereruption, a series of smaller eruptive cycles between 640,000 and 70,000 years ago, has nearly filled in the Yellowstone Caldera with >80 different eruptions of rhyolitic lavas such as those that can be seen at Obsidian Cliffs and basaltic lavas which can be viewed at Sheepeater Cliff. Lava strata are most easily seen at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where the Yellowstone River continues to carve into the ancient lava flows. The canyon is a classic V-shaped valley, indicative of river-type erosion rather than erosion caused by glaciation.
Each eruption is part of an eruptive cycle that climaxes with the partial collapse of the roof of the volcano's partially emptied magma chamber. This creates a collapsed depression, called a caldera, and releases vast amounts of volcanic material, usually through fissures that ring the caldera. The time between the last three cataclysmic eruptions in the Yellowstone area has ranged from 600,000 to 800,000 years, but the small number of such climactic eruptions cannot be used to make an accurate prediction for future volcanic events.
The most famous geyser in the park, and perhaps the world, is Old Faithful Geyser, located in Upper Geyser Basin. Castle Geyser, Lion Geyser and Beehive Geyser are in the same basin. The park contains the largest active geyser in the world—Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin. A study that was completed in 2011 found that at least 1283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone. Of these, an average of 465 are active in a given year. Yellowstone contains at least 10,000 geothermal features altogether. Half the geothermal features and two-thirds of the world's geysers are concentrated in Yellowstone.
In May 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, Yellowstone National Park, and the University of Utah created the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO), a partnership for long-term monitoring of the geological processes of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, for disseminating information concerning the potential hazards of this geologically active region.
In 2003, changes at the Norris Geyser Basin resulted in the temporary closure of some trails in the basin. New fumaroles were observed, and several geysers showed enhanced activity and increasing water temperatures. Several geysers became so hot that they were transformed into purely steaming features; the water had become superheated and they could no longer erupt normally. This coincided with the release of reports of a multiple year United States Geological Survey research project which mapped the bottom of Yellowstone Lake and identified a structural dome that had uplifted at some time in the past. Research indicated that these uplifts posed no immediate threat of a volcanic eruption, since they may have developed long ago, and there had been no temperature increase found near the uplifts. On March 10, 2004, a biologist discovered 5 dead bison which apparently had inhaled toxic geothermal gases trapped in the Norris Geyser Basin by a seasonal atmospheric inversion. This was closely followed by an upsurge of earthquake activity in April 2004. In 2006, it was reported that the Mallard Lake Dome and the Sour Creek Dome— areas that have long been known to show significant changes in their ground movement— had risen at a rate of 1.5 to 2.4 inches (3.8 to 6.1 cm) per year from mid–2004 through 2006. As of late 2007, the uplift has continued at a reduced rate. These events inspired a great deal of media attention and speculation about the geologic future of the region. Experts responded to the conjecture by informing the public that there was no increased risk of a volcanic eruption in the near future. However, these changes demonstrate the dynamic nature of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system.
Yellowstone experiences thousands of small earthquakes every year, virtually all of which are undetectable to people. There have been six earthquakes with at least magnitude 6 or greater in historical times, including a 7.5‑magnitude quake that struck just outside the northwest boundary of the park in 1959. This quake triggered a huge landslide, which caused a partial dam collapse on Hebgen Lake; immediately downstream, the sediment from the landslide dammed the river and created a new lake, known as Earthquake Lake. Twenty-eight people were killed, and property damage was extensive in the immediate region. The earthquake caused some geysers in the northwestern section of the park to erupt, large cracks in the ground formed and emitted steam, and some hot springs that normally have clear water turned muddy. A 6.1‑magnitude earthquake struck inside the park on June 30, 1975, but damage was minimal.
For three months in 1985, 3,000 minor earthquakes were detected in the northwestern section of the park, during what has been referred to as an earthquake swarm, and has been attributed to minor subsidence of the Yellowstone caldera. Beginning on April 30, 2007, 16 small earthquakes with magnitudes up to 2.7 occurred in the Yellowstone Caldera for several days. These swarms of earthquakes are common, and there have been 70 such swarms between 1983 and 2008. In December 2008, over 250 earthquakes were measured over a four-day span under Yellowstone Lake, the largest measuring a magnitude of 3.9. In January 2010, more than 250 earthquakes were detected over a two-day period. Seismic activity in Yellowstone National Park continues and is reported hourly by the Earthquake Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey.
On March 30, 2014, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck almost the very middle of Yellowstone near the Norris Basin at 6.34am; reports indicated no damage. This was the biggest earthquake to hit the park since February 22, 1980.
Over 1,700 species of trees and other vascular plants are native to the park. Another 170 species are considered to be exotic species and are non-native. Of the eight conifer tree species documented, Lodgepole Pine forests cover 80% of the total forested areas. Other conifers, such as Subalpine Fir, Engelmann Spruce, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Whitebark Pine, are found in scattered groves throughout the park. As of 2007, the whitebark pine is threatened by a fungus known as white pine blister rust; however, this is mostly confined to forests well to the north and west. In Yellowstone, about seven percent of the whitebark pine species have been impacted with the fungus, compared to nearly complete infestations in northwestern Montana. Quaking Aspen and willows are the most common species of deciduous trees. The aspen forests have declined significantly since the early 20th century, but scientists at Oregon State University attribute recent recovery of the aspen to the reintroduction of wolves which has changed the grazing habits of local elk.
There are dozens of species of flowering plants that have been identified, most of which bloom between the months of May and September. The Yellowstone Sand Verbena is a rare flowering plant found only in Yellowstone. It is closely related to species usually found in much warmer climates, making the sand verbena an enigma. The estimated 8,000 examples of this rare flowering plant all make their home in the sandy soils on the shores of Yellowstone Lake, well above the waterline.
In Yellowstone's hot waters, bacteria form mats of bizarre shapes consisting of trillions of individuals. These bacteria are some of the most primitive life forms on earth. Flies and other arthropods live on the mats, even in the middle of the bitterly cold winters. Initially, scientists thought that microbes there gained sustenance only from sulfur. In 2005 researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder discovered that the sustenance for at least some of the diverse hyperthermophilic species is molecular hydrogen.
Thermus aquaticus is a bacterium found in the Yellowstone hot springs that produces an important enzyme (Taq polymerase) that is easily replicated in the lab and is useful in replicating DNA as part of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process. The retrieval of these bacteria can be achieved with no impact to the ecosystem. Other bacteria in the Yellowstone hot springs may also prove useful to scientists who are searching for cures for various diseases.
Non-native plants sometimes threaten native species by using up nutrient resources. Though exotic species are most commonly found in areas with the greatest human visitation, such as near roads and at major tourist areas, they have also spread into the backcountry. Generally, most exotic species are controlled by pulling the plants out of the soil or by spraying, both of which are time consuming and expensive.
Yellowstone is widely considered to be the finest megafauna wildlife habitat in the lower 48 states. There are almost 60 species of mammals in the park, including the gray wolf, the threatened lynx, and grizzly bears. Other large mammals include the bison (often referred to as buffalo), black bear, elk, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain goat, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and mountain lion.
Bison graze near a hot spring
The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the largest public herd of American bison in the United States. The relatively large bison populations are a concern for ranchers, who fear that the species can transmit bovine diseases to their domesticated cousins. In fact, about half of Yellowstone's bison have been exposed to brucellosis, a bacterial disease that came to North America with European cattle that may cause cattle to miscarry. The disease has little effect on park bison, and no reported case of transmission from wild bison to domestic livestock has been filed. However, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has stated that bison are the "likely source" of the spread of the disease in cattle in Wyoming and North Dakota. Elk also carry the disease and are believed to have transmitted the infection to horses and cattle. Bison once numbered between 30 and 60 million individuals throughout North America, and Yellowstone remains one of their last strongholds. Their populations had increased from less than 50 in the park in 1902 to 4,000 by 2003. The Yellowstone Park bison herd reached a peak in 2005 with 4,900 animals. Despite a summer estimated population of 4,700 in 2007, the number dropped to 3,000 in 2008 after a harsh winter and controversial brucellosis management sending hundreds to slaughter. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is believed to be one of only four free roaming and genetically pure herds on public lands in North America. The other three herds are the Henry Mountains bison herd of Utah, at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota and on Elk Island in Alberta.
Elk Mother Nursing Her Calf
To combat the perceived threat of brucellosis transmission to cattle, national park personnel regularly harass bison herds back into the park when they venture outside of the area's borders. During the winter of 1996–97, the bison herd was so large that 1,079 bison that had exited the park were shot or sent to slaughter. Animal rights activists argue that this is a cruel practice and that the possibility for disease transmission is not as great as some ranchers maintain. Ecologists point out that the bison are merely traveling to seasonal grazing areas that lie within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that have been converted to cattle grazing, some of which are within National Forests and are leased to private ranchers. APHIS has stated that with vaccinations and other means, brucellosis can be eliminated from the bison and elk herds throughout Yellowstone.
A reintroduced northwestern wolf in Yellowstone National Park
Starting in 1914, in an effort to protect elk populations, the U.S. Congress appropriated funds to be used for the purposes of "destroying wolves, prairie dogs, and other animals injurious to agriculture and animal husbandry" on public lands. Park Service hunters carried out these orders, and by 1926 they had killed 136 wolves, and wolves were virtually eliminated from Yellowstone. Further exterminations continued until the National Park Service ended the practice in 1935. With the passing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, the wolf was one of the first mammal species listed. After the wolves were extirpated from Yellowstone, the coyote then became the park's top canine predator. However, the coyote is not able to bring down large animals, and the result of this lack of a top predator on these populations was a marked increase in lame and sick megafauna.
Bison in Yellowstone National Park
By the 1990s, the Federal government had reversed its views on wolves. In a controversial decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (which oversees threatened and endangered species), northwestern wolves, imported from Canada, were reintroduced into the park. Reintroduction efforts have been successful with populations remaining relatively stable. A survey conducted in 2005 reported that there were 13 wolf packs, totaling 118 individuals in Yellowstone and 326 in the entire ecosystem. These park figures were lower than those reported in 2004 but may be attributable to wolf migration to other nearby areas as suggested by the substantial increase in the Montana population during that interval. Almost all the wolves documented were descended from the 66 wolves reintroduced in 1995–96. The recovery of populations throughout the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho has been so successful that on February 27, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population from the endangered species list.
An estimated 600 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with more than half of the population living within Yellowstone. The grizzly is currently listed as a threatened species, however the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that they intend to take it off the endangered species list for the Yellowstone region but will likely keep it listed in areas where it has not yet recovered fully. Opponents of delisting the grizzly are concerned that states might once again allow hunting and that better conservation measures need to be implemented to ensure a sustainable population. Black bears are common in the park and were a park symbol due to visitor interaction with the bears starting in 1910. Feeding and close contact with bears has not been permitted since the 1960s to reduce their desire for human foods. Yellowstone is one of the few places in the United States where black bears can be seen coexisting with grizzly bears. Black bear observations occur most often in the park's northern ranges and in the Bechler area which is in the park's southwestern corner.
Population figures for elk are in excess of 30,000—the largest population of any large mammal species in Yellowstone. The northern herd has decreased enormously since the mid‑1990s; this has been attributed to wolf predation and causal effects such as elk using more forested regions to evade predation, consequently making it harder for researchers to accurately count them. The northern herd migrates west into southwestern Montana in the winter. The southern herd migrates southward, and the majority of these elk winter on the National Elk Refuge, immediately southeast of Grand Teton National Park. The southern herd migration is the largest mammalian migration remaining in the U.S. outside of Alaska.
In 2003 the tracks of one female lynx and her cub were spotted and followed for over 2 miles (3.2 km). Fecal material and other evidence obtained were tested and confirmed to be those of a lynx. No visual confirmation was made, however. Lynx have not been seen in Yellowstone since 1998, though DNA taken from hair samples obtained in 2001 confirmed that lynx were at least transient to the park. Other less commonly seen mammals include the mountain lion and wolverine. The mountain lion has an estimated population of only 25 individuals parkwide. The wolverine is another rare park mammal, and accurate population figures for this species are not known. These uncommon and rare mammals provide insight into the health of protected lands such as Yellowstone and help managers make determinations as to how best to preserve habitats.
Eighteen species of fish live in Yellowstone, including the core range of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout—a fish highly sought by anglers. The Yellowstone cutthroat trout has faced several threats since the 1980s, including the suspected illegal introduction into Yellowstone Lake of lake trout, an invasive species which consume the smaller cutthroat trout. Although lake trout were established in Shoshone and Lewis lakes in the Snake River drainage from U.S. Government stocking operations in 1890, it was never officially introduced into the Yellowstone River drainage. The cutthroat trout has also faced an ongoing drought, as well as the accidental introduction of a parasite—whirling disease—which causes a terminal nervous system disease in younger fish. Since 2001, all native sport fish species caught in Yellowstone waterways are subject to a catch and release law. Yellowstone is also home to six species of reptiles, such as the painted turtle and Prairie rattlesnake, and four species of amphibians, including the Boreal Chorus Frog.
311 species of birds have been reported, almost half of which nest in Yellowstone. As of 1999, twenty-six pairs of nesting bald eagles have been documented. Extremely rare sightings of whooping cranes have been recorded, however only three examples of this species are known to live in the Rocky Mountains, out of 385 known worldwide. Other birds, considered to be species of special concern because of their rarity in Yellowstone, include the common loon, harlequin duck, osprey, peregrine falcon and the trumpeter swan.
As wildfire is a natural part of most ecosystems, plants that are indigenous to Yellowstone have adapted in a variety of ways. Douglas-fir have a thick bark which protects the inner section of the tree from most fires. Lodgepole Pines —the most common tree species in the park— generally have cones that are only opened by the heat of fire. Their seeds are held in place by a tough resin, and fire assists in melting the resin, allowing the seeds to disperse. Fire clears out dead and downed wood, providing fewer obstacles for lodgepole pines to flourish. Subalpine Fir, Engelmann Spruce, Whitebark Pine, and other species tend to grow in colder and moister areas, where fire is less likely to occur. Aspen trees sprout new growth from their roots, and even if a severe fire kills the tree above ground, the roots often survive unharmed because they are insulated from the heat by soil. The National Park Service estimates that in natural conditions, grasslands in Yellowstone burned an average of every 20 to 25 years, while forests in the park would experience fire about every 300 years.
About thirty-five natural forest fires are ignited each year by lightning, while another six to ten are started by people— in most cases by accident. Yellowstone National Park has three fire lookout towers, each staffed by trained fire fighters. The easiest one to reach is atop Mount Washburn, though it is closed to the public. The park also monitors fire from the air and relies on visitor reports of smoke and/or flames. Fire towers are staffed almost continuously from late June to mid-September— the primary fire season. Fires burn with the greatest intensity in the late afternoon and evening. Few fires burn more than 100 acres (40 ha), and the vast majority of fires reach only a little over an acre (0.5 ha) before they burn themselves out. Fire management focuses on monitoring dead and down wood quantities, soil and tree moisture, and the weather, to determine those areas most vulnerable to fire should one ignite. Current policy is to suppress all human caused fires and to evaluate natural fires, examining the benefit or detriment they may pose on the ecosystem. If a fire is considered to be an immediate threat to people and structures, or will burn out of control, then fire suppression is performed.
In an effort to minimize the chances of out of control fires and threats to people and structures, park employees do more than just monitor the potential for fire. Controlled burns are prescribed fires which are deliberately started to remove dead timber under conditions which allow fire fighters an opportunity to carefully control where and how much wood is consumed. Natural fires are sometimes considered prescribed fires if they are left to burn. In Yellowstone, unlike some other parks, there have been very few fires deliberately started by employees as prescribed burns. However, over the last 30 years, over 300 natural fires have been allowed to burn naturally. In addition, fire fighters remove dead and down wood and other hazards from areas where they will be a potential fire threat to lives and property, reducing the chances of fire danger in these areas. Fire monitors also regulate fire through educational services to the public and have been known to temporarily ban campfires from campgrounds during periods of high fire danger. The common notion in early United States land management policies was that all forest fires were bad. Fire was seen as a purely destructive force and there was little understanding that it was an integral part of the ecosystem. Consequently, until the 1970s, when a better understanding of wildfire was developed, all fires were suppressed. This led to an increase in dead and dying forests, which would later provide the fuel load for fires that would be much harder, and in some cases, impossible to control. Fire Management Plans were implemented, detailing that natural fires should be allowed to burn if they posed no immediate threat to lives and property.
1988 started with a wet spring season although by summer, drought began moving in throughout the northern Rockies, creating the driest year on record to that point. Grasses and plants which grew well in the early summer from the abundant spring moisture produced plenty of grass, which soon turned to dry tinder. The National Park Service began firefighting efforts to keep the fires under control, but the extreme drought made suppression difficult. Between July 15 and 21, 1988, fires quickly spread from 8,500 acres (3,400 ha; 13.3 sq mi) throughout the entire Yellowstone region, which included areas outside the park, to 99,000 acres (40,000 ha; 155 sq mi) on the park land alone. By the end of the month, the fires were out of control. Large fires burned together, and on August 20, 1988, the single worst day of the fires, more than 150,000 acres (61,000 ha; 230 sq mi) were consumed. Seven large fires were responsible for 95% of the 793,000 acres (321,000 ha; 1,239 sq mi) that were burned over the next couple of months. A total of 25,000 firefighters and U.S. military forces participated in the suppression efforts, at a cost of 120 million dollars. By the time winter brought snow that helped extinguish the last flames, the fires had destroyed 67 structures and caused several million dollars in damage. Though no civilian lives were lost, two personnel associated with the firefighting efforts were killed.
Contrary to media reports and speculation at the time, the fires killed very few park animals— surveys indicated that only about 345 elk (of an estimated 40,000–50,000), 36 deer, 12 moose, 6 black bears, and 9 bison had perished. Changes in fire management policies were implemented by land management agencies throughout the United States, based on knowledge gained from the 1988 fires and the evaluation of scientists and experts from various fields. By 1992, Yellowstone had adopted a new fire management plan which observed stricter guidelines for the management of natural fires.
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In the current article, we will review how to implement the second phase of our project in which we detect an event of “SPF = Fail” and forward such E-mail message to approval by an authorizes a person.
The SPF Fail policy article series, including the following three...
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Anne Finucane, Vice-Chairman, Bank of America, USA, Judith Williams, SAP, .Robert Metzke, Chief of Staff, Innovation and Strategy; Head, Sustainability, Royal Philips, Netherlands and Sarah Kirby, Group Head, Organization Design and Human Resource Strategy, Zurich Insurance Group, Switzerland. speaking during the Session "Implementing Stakeholder Capitalism 1" at the World Economic Forum, Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils 2019. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Benedikt von Loebell