My legs ache from this long, treacherous hike. As I walk up the rocky, steep trail, my feet start to slip, but I regain balance before I fall. I shiver from the extremely cold temperatures, and my body starts to go numb. Soon I realize, my body can not take this hike for much longer. When I find a nice place to rest and make camp, I pray that there are no bears or other predators that are looking for a feast. Just as I was about to get some sleep, I hear a loud noise, coming from the mountains. I look over and see an avalanche coming down straight towards me. I grab all my stuff and start running the other way, trying my hardest to get away from the rocks tumbling towards me. This extreme place is located in the Rocky Mountain Range, and is the highest point in Colorado and the rocky mountain range.Mount Elbert has an impact on animal's, temperature, and the steepness and extremeness of the mountain. …show more content…
One way that the environment impacts the animals is that the animals such as bears adapt and store their energy in the winter. This is also known as hibernating. “Animals in the mountains have also adapted to save energy during the harsh winter months.” (Cassandra Maier, Adaptations of plants and animals to mountains) When animals hibernate, they are less active during the winter, and they just sleep for most of the day. Other animals such as the goat and deer do not hibernate during the winter,
The Arctic region is home to a variety of valuable animals and plants, including polar bear, seal, and so on. The ecosystem of the Arctic region is fragile because these animals are evolved to live in extreme conditions. With the climate change, many animals are endangered. Ice is the habitat of polar animals because they have to rely on sea ices for resting, food, and reproduction. With the climate change and the decrease of sea ice, the number of polar animals is decreasing and their health is threatened. For example, the average weight of female polar bears in 1980 was about 650 pounds, but the number reduced to about 500 pounds in 2004 (Djoghlaf 15). The earlier breakup and later condensation of sea ice shortens the hunting season of polar bears. Polar bears mainly feed on seals that indwell icy land. The melting ice reduces the number of seals and food intake of polar bears. In addition, polar bears are used to living in ice caves. The rising temperature causes the collapse of ice caves, which can kill baby bears. The climate change is negatively affecting the biodiversity in the region and will definitely harm the ecosystem
Lassen Peak, also known as Mount Lassen, is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc which is an arc that covers southwestern British Columbia to northern California. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, Lassen rises 2,000 meters above the surrounding terrain and has a volume of 0.5 cubic miles, making it one of the largest lava domes on Earth. It was created on the destroyed northeastern side of now gone Mount Tehama, a stratovolcano that was at least 1,000 feet higher than Lassen Peak.
Abiotic factors of the arctic tundra are strong winds, little precipitation. Also very short summer days, instead there are very long and cold winters. There is poor soil and a permafrost which is a layer of permanently frozen subsoil. The biotic factors are that plants and mosses have to adapt to the long and cold winters, since the sun does not come up during winter. Also the wildlife animal that live there are Snowy owls, reindeer, white foxes, lemmings, arctic hares, wolverines, caribou, migrating birds, mosquitoes, black flies, and the chief predator the Polar
The winter will last 8 to 10 months followed by the short and much less cold summer. During the summer some lower areas of the Tundra will defrost at which point most of the flora and fauna will start to creep out of hiding. The few summer months are used by many animals such as the polar bear, to mate and to prepare for the once again oncoming winter. During the winter months, most everything remains frozen. Many of the animals migrate south for the winter whereas some stay behind or even group together for ritual group suicide (lemmings).
The mountains were tall (11,000 feet +) and covered with bright powdery snow. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I was eager to set-up camp and prepare for our nine day hunt. But, Dad said that we had to drive around and check out all the good places, just to make sure that we were in the best area. This was partially understandable, but since I am a teenager I'm not supposed to understand anything! So, we spent another several hours driving. We went up and down through the mountains and then we saw it. The spot was beautiful; it was right on the edge of a vertical drop-off, over looking everything. It was like paradise, but colder!
For years, we have heard of the devastating effects of global warming and how the melting of the polar ice caps will cause severe climate changes. One animal that has suffered most from global warming is the polar bear. Global warming has caused the polar bear population to decrease due to the results of having to swim longer distances, loss of habitat, and lack of mates to reproduce offspring. Global warming has caused this species to become endangered and has some attention with social media. Global warming has caused much damage to the polar bear population due to the warming of their habitat.
The shift in seasonal ice pack in the West Hudson Bay has changed polar bear behavior, reduced prey availability, lowered birth rate, and a positive effect on polar bear and human conflict. Polar bears require seals and other high fat animals for their survival in the arctic region. The decrease in ice packs also reduces prey abundance and increased bear mortality. Seasonal break up rate has increased and reduced seal availability within the Arctic region. The Lack of food has decreased female polar bear sexual reproductively as well as body weight. Finally, polar bears are encroaching onto human territory. Human safety is being threatened as bears go on land, instead of their usual habitat, to forage for food. Humans are forced to kill bears to protect themselves. Lastly, polar bear’s future is grim. Studies have predicted bears will lose a third of their habitat by 2100. Soon these polar bears will become extinct in the 6th global mass extinction. Humans must reevaluate their population output and seek ways to preserve the polar bears for future generations to
As I inched my way toward the cliff, my legs were shaking uncontrollably. I could feel the coldness of the rock beneath my feet when my toes curled around the edge in one last futile attempt at survival. My heart was racing like a trapped bird, desperate to escape. Gazing down the sheer drop, I nearly fainted; my entire life flashed before my eyes. I could hear stones breaking free and fiercely tumbling down the hillside, plummeting into the dark abyss of the forbidding black water. The trees began to rapidly close in around me in a suffocating clench, and the piercing screams from my friends did little to ease the pain. The cool breeze felt like needles upon my bare skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps. The threatening mountains surrounding me seemed to grow more sinister with each passing moment, I felt myself fighting for air. The hot summer sun began to blacken while misty clouds loomed overhead. Trembling with anxiety, I shut my eyes, murmuring one last pathetic prayer. I gathered my last breath, hoping it would last a lifetime, took a step back and plun...
One huge impact of global warming is the change in animals’ habitats. When the earth’s temperature is increasing, it creates the change of weather conditions in a certain area, which causes some kinds of animals in this area to live with many difficulties, or sometimes those kinds of animals are forced to move to new region when they cannot handle the difficulties. The arctic fox is an example for this situation. According to the article “How Does Global Warming Affect Wildlife,” arctic foxes prefer to live in the cooler environment while their habitat is getting warmer and warmer due to global warming, so arctic foxes have to leave their own home to seek a more suitable area (National W...
He arrived at his first destination after about an hour of hiking. After a short while he figured he had looked over his new found haven enough, he was ready. He started down the grade with a small arsenal, consisting of a shovel, about ten granola bars, two bottles of power-ade, his snowshoes, and what was left in his hydration bladder in his pack. After descending about two hundred feet he came into the clearing he was hoping to find, it was as smooth as silk, twenty inches of fresh powder under his board. Up ahead he say a small but formidable drop off on the mountain, he knew if he was going to escape this with his dignity he was going to have to work some magic, to his success. The drop was approximately eighteen feet, but he was ready for it, he landed perfectly, it was like a dream the poof of snow exploding out from his impact, and the gentle flakes hitting his face. As he continued down the slope he did not realize that his gentle landing had severely weakened the physical structure of the mountain’s blanket, and that any moment he could bring the mass down upon himself at impossible speeds.
A blast of adrenaline charges throughout my body as I experience the initial drop. My body's weight shifts mechanically, cutting the snow in a practiced rhythm. The trail curves abruptly and I advance toward a shaded region of the mountain. Suddenly, my legs chatter violently, scraping against the concealed ice patches that pepper the trail. After overcompensating from a nearly disastrous slip, balance fails and my knees buckle helplessly. In a storm of powder snow and ski equipment, body parts collide with nature. My left hand plows forcefully into ice, cracking painfully at the wrist. For an eternity of 30 seconds, my body somersaults downward, moguls of ice toy with my head and further agonize my broken wrist. Ultimately veering into underbrush and pine trees, my cheeks burn, my broken wrist surging with pain. Standing up confused, I attempt climbing the mountain but lose another 20 feet to the force of gravity.
The effect of climate change is very high; it could cause animal life to become extinct. Climate change affects many kinds of animals. According to an article written on Climate and Weather, birds are highly affected by climate change. When the climate changes, birds lay their eggs earlier than usual They migrate into the nest earlier and in some countries, birds don’t even live anymore. (Climate Change effect on Animals and BirdLife). This shows how climate change, which is caused by excessive greenhouse gas in the air affects the animal
As a result of climate change, specifically rising temperatures, there have been increased changes in sea ice and sea level in the Polar Regions. The melting ice creates a positive feedback, more rapidly changing the environment for marine mammals such as pinnipeds and cetaceans. Negative health effects of changes in their environment depend on species sensitivity. Because the most obvious effects of climate change appear in the Polar Regions, these impacts can give us clues in predicting how other areas of the world and species will be potentially affected.
With global warming the vegetation with large areas; the earth changes. This leaves animals remaining with reducing the amount of food, for instance, the koala’s habitat is in a eucalyptus forest which they feed on the leaves, but if too much carbon dioxide suddenly occurs near the area, it changes the chemical composition leaving the leaves toxic to the koalas which threatens their extinction.
His name is Smoke and he was the most beautiful, enormous horse I have ever seen. He was immediately intimidating with his jet black coat of sleek hair. My excitement to ride these mountains with him overcame all my fear. At first I was only able to stay on the saddle by holding onto the saddle horn. Not long after, I felt like I had ridden Smoke my whole life. It was dream-like as we trotted the trails with ease. I could never have chosen a more wonderful way to experience the beautiful Colorado mountains than astride this great horse. We rushed past the Aspen and Cottonwood trees. I caught the far off smell of campfires burning as we walked through fields of wildflowers. The scene laid out on all sides of me seemed to be a whole different