We hope that you enjoyed your visit to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and Weyerhaeuser St. Helens Tree Farm today.1. What is the major disturbance - natural or human-caused - in your home region?
2. What large disturbance events have you lived through? Tell us about one of them (year, event) and how it impacted your community. Include any relevant links.
4 comments:
In my country the earthquakes are very common, we also have lots of floods. The major disturbance that I've been through was the 1991 earthquake in Limon, Costa Rica. It lasted 49 seconds and its intensity was 7 in the Richter scale.
In Wyoming we experienced the Yellowstone Fires of 1988. We are now experiencing an infestation of beetles; mountain pine beetle, Douglas fir and spruce beetles. This is not unique to Wyoming and is a western epidemic. The large-scale forest infestations are the result of many years of fire suppression and prolonged drought. Huge stands of trees stand orange against their younger, green buddies. In the Bighorn and Shoshone National Forests of Wyoming the die-off exceeds 50%. Although it is a natural cycle, it is hard for me to work and recreate in areas that once were so green and healthy and now stand brown and ready to burn again. I fear the fires of 1988 will soon be the fires of 2009.
Mount Saint Helens was impressive. North and South Carolina's volcanoes occurred millions of years ago. Mount Morrow is the vestige of one and a place Native Americans went to collect rock materials such as argillite and rhyolite for spear and arrow points. Earth quakes are rare and imperceptible in our area.
I am looking forward to meeting the people today. I hope someone will tell a story. The dinner and EcoPark was very nice. I never heard of Marion Berries before.
I very much enjoyed our visit to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Growing up on the East Coast, we of course know of Mt. St. Helens and the 1980 eruption, but my knowledge pretty much ended there. I feel lucky to have visted Mt. St. Helens, learned more about the eruption and its effects, and witnessed the volcano's present-day "living" characteristics. Geology rocks.
I think the major disturbance in my home region is human-caused. The city of Washington, DC and the surrounding areas are under constant threat of further development. The natural areas in Washington, DC are also threatened by the urban population in terms of waste production, lack of general knowledge, and sadly in some areas, disinterest or disrespect.
I have lived through a natural disturbance in my hometown, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, which is located only a few miles outside the city of Pittsburgh. On May 31st, 2002, my county experienced a "microburst" - which can be defined as a strong downward blast of wind. Similar to a tornado, but without the funnel cloud, this intense wind storm uprooted trees, roofs, cars, utility poles, and more. One woman died from collapsing debris and 50 others were injured. No one I knew was harmed, but some family and friends' homes suffered substantial damage. You can read more about the event in a Pittsburgh Post Gazette article from June, 2002 here: http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20020601storm0601p2.asp
To add futher excitement to this natural event, Friday, May 31st, 2002, was also my senior prom night. A prom to remember!
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