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What are the effects of global warming
Impacts of global warming on the environment
Impacts of global warming on the environment
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Argument Essay In the past year, the United States’ environmental policy has become a matter of great concern among its citizens. Our president Donald Trump has given little attention to the alarming condition of our environment. Global warming is creating erratic weather patterns, companies are extracting resources at unsustainably high rates and drought stricken states such as California are struggling to provide their citizens with potable water. With such ravaging problems and an unresponsive government, it is up to the citizens to monitor and maintain our pristine Earth and its vital services. One issue that deserves particular attention in the West, in states such as California and Oregon, is that of wildfires. It appears that …show more content…
For example, the destruction of old trees leaves the soil more fertile, and allows for faster growth of new trees. According to the Washington Post, “large fires and patches of intense fire, which create an abundance of biologically essential standing dead trees (known as snags) and naturally stimulate regeneration of vigorous new stands of forest.” The vast majority of people regard snags as unsightly , and government officials are pushing towards the eradication of these snags through harmful processes such as logging. However, what they fail to realize is that snags serve as habitats for a great number of species and without them, forests would not have the same biodiversity they had before. Not only are wildfires essential for plants in the area, they are also vital for the survival of other animal species. For example, “Small songbirds from Michigan nest only in young jack pine forests. But the pines' cones only release their seeds in a fire. So without fire, much of the birds' nesting habitat has been eliminated.(6) The same applies to the black billed woodpecker, whose nests are a breeding ground for tens of smaller insect species. Clearly, if we put out wildfires, hundreds of species would lose their homes, and this would have drastic impacts on the many fragile forest ecosystems in the West. …show more content…
They decided that logging would decrease the number of trees that could catch on fire, and this in turn would decrease the number and intensity of wildfires in the West. This is far from the truth. Scientists Chad Hanson and Mike Garritty assert that “Logging removes relatively noncombustible tree trunks and leaves behind flammable “slash debris,” consisting of kindling-like branches and treetops. (1) Consequently, our president’s plan is merely undoing what he is trying to do. The main reason why wildfires have increased over the past couple of years is simply because humans are being less tolerant of them and are using harmful and ineffective methods to try and stop them. The same problem is seen in North Dakota and Montana, where “Decades of stopping fires has led to a dangerous buildup of plant growth that is feeding fires at lower elevations”(3). At this point, it is obvious that the government needs to come up with new, if at all any, ways to counteract wildfires. Trees by themselves are biodiversity hotspots and have so many environmental uses, such as providing atmospheric oxygen. Trees burnt by wildfires also host many species. Logging trees, therefore, has absolutely no benefit, and merely increase the ratio of live trees to burnt trees, and decrease the total number of existing trees.
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America is about Teddy Roosevelt’s attempt to save the beautiful scenery of the West. Roosevelt used his presidency as a springboard to campaign his want of protection for our woodlands, while doing this he created the Forest Service from this battle. In this book Timothy Egan explores the Northern Rockies to analyze the worst wildfire in United States history. This disaster is known as the “Big Burn,” the 1910 fire quickly engulfed three million acres of land in Idaho, Montana and Washington, completely burned frontier towns and left a smoke cloud so thick that it hovered over multiple cities even after the flames had been extinguished.
The ecological effects of wildfires on Yosemite are among some its greatest benefits. Trees like Bishop Pines and Sequoias have evolved in such a way that their seeds will only open when exposed to high temperatures. The fires also help to clear out dead leaves and weeds, thereby making sunlight accessible to new plants and increasing their chances to germinate (Marder). Wildfires are so essential in areas like Yosemite that over millions of years, plants have developed strategies to be successful in this type of environment. For instance, giant sequoias have developed a thick layer of fire-resistant bark. This bark is “the main explanation for tree survival in intense fires” (Gignoux, Colbert, and Menaut). Fire makes the soil fertile and redistributes the nutrients evenly so that the next generation of trees can cover more space. The fires have helped...
In the introduction, the author has done a good job engaging the audience with emotions, and painting a vivid scene of the seals being slaughtered. This essay does a good job of acknowledging the other point of views. This essay also has a good, clear sense of structure. The author has a strong thesis statement, that gave a clear indication of what the following paragraphs are about.
Wildfires started as an annual and seasonal occurrence in the south western region of California since the early 1930’s in part because of the hot dry summers and the hot dry turbulent Santa Ana winds that blow in from the desert during the fall months. Now it has become a yearlong event (Mckay, 2010). These conditions greatly contribute to the “fire season” throughout this area. This set of circumstances in conjunction with downed power lines and humans that ignited fires took place in October of 2007. This led to a series of fires that burned more than 500,000 acres, destroyed 1,500 homes, killed 9, injured 85, and forced the successful evacuation of around 500,000 people out of harm’s way.
Policies regarding the handling of wildland fires continue to change and evolve as new information is learned each fire season. Attitudes have changed between complete wildland fire suppression to no suppression at all. We now seem to have reached a balance between the two schools of thought and fall somewhere in the middle.
As people of the twenty-first century, we are all too familiar with the frequent occurrence of wildfires in our nation’s forests. Each year millions of acres of woodlands are destroyed in brutal scorches. It has been estimated that 190 million acres of rangelands in the United States are highly susceptible to catastrophic fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). About a third of these high-risk forests are located in California (www.sfgate.com). These uncontrollable blazes not only consume our beautiful forests but also the wildlife, our homes and often the lives of those who fight the wildfires. The frequency of these devastating fires has been increasing over the years. In fact, in the years 2000 and 2002, it has been reported that the United States has faced its worst two years in fifty years for mass destruction fires (www.doi.gov/initiatives/forest.html.). The increased natural fuels buildup coupled with droughts have been a prevailing factor in contributing to our wildfires and unhealthy forests (www.blm.gov/nhp/news/releases/pages/2004/pr040303_forests.html). Due to the severity of these wildfires, several regulations and guidelines have been implemented to save our forests. In fact, the President himself has devised a plan in order to restore our forests and prevent further destruction of our woodlands.
It is so sad to see the horror of forest fires and how they corrupt our beautiful land. So much damage comes out of what started so small. At least 603 square miles of land were burned in the early stages of the Arizona fire only a couple of years ago (BBC 2). In a Colorado fire 2.3 million acres had been burned (BBC 3). That land could have been saved if the use of prescribed burns had been in the area.
The definition of grit is simple; it means being passionate about long term goals, and showing stamina to pursue them, but should students in public schools have a class dedicated to a grit-focused curriculum? This has become a major topic of discussion among teachers and mentors. Angela Duckworth, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, claims grit is not a fixed quality but one that can be developed. Many disagree with her statement. Grit is something everyone all have within themselves, but some just do not utilize this characteristic as often or as well as others. Grit is a puzzling concept. Duckworth has had an obsession with grit for over a decade. Her obsession started when she visited West Point,
In America, knives, forks, and spoons are necessary tools people have in order to function properly everyday. Without cutlery, people would continue to eat with their dirty, bacteria covered hands, slurping and licking their way through their meals. People would drink bowls of hot soup, maul steak like a feral dog stealing his first bone in weeks, and scoop large chunks of ice cream with frostbitten fingers. Like most individuals in the world, I never put too much thought into how important a spoon was until I needed it. I especially did not care where my family’s flatware came from or how they were created, as long as it was in the cabinet when I wanted to grab a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately, no one cares about a spoon, a fork, or
Prescribed fires are a well debated topic. While many people support them because they "help prevent" more wildfires, and they are "controlled," I see from a different point of view. There's a reason most building don't allow smoking within a certain distance of the building. Many people don't like it and it can damage their health. Same thing with prescribed fires. They add more pollution to the air we breathe. I know a lot of people support these kinds of fires because the help control fuels, but there are other ways.
The epic poem, Beowulf, a work of fiction, offers more insight into Ancient Anglo-Saxon English culture than the work of Bede, who wrote, A History of the English Church and People. The epic poem Beowulf gives an enhanced illustration and clearer understanding of the culture of the Ancient Anglo-Saxon’s. The epic poem gives the audience a picture of what the Ancient Anglo-Saxon English valued; seafaring, warriors, heroes, and paganism.
Humans have been changing the Western forests' fire system since the settlement by the Europeans and now we are experiencing the consequences of those changes. During the summer of 2002, 6.9 million acres of forests was burnt up in the West (Wildland Fires, 1). This figure is two times the ten year annual average, and it does not look like next summer will be any better (Wildfire Season, 1). Foresters have been trying to restore the forests back to their original conditions by thinning and prescribed fires but have encountered countless delays. Politicians are proposing sweeping changes in bills, which have caused great controversy, in efforts to correct the problems that the Forest Service has faced in restoration projects. Are these bills necessary or is there a better solution that politicians are overlooking?
One of the most predominate ecosystems is the forest community. Covering about one-fourth of the land area on Earth, forests consist mainly of trees and other woody vegetation, growing closely together. The trees can be large and densely packed, as they are in the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest, or they can be relatively small and sparsely scattered, as they are in the dry tropical forests of sub-Saharan Africa. Forests are complex ecosystems that also include “soils and decaying organic matter, fungi and bacteria, herbs and shrubs, vines and lichens, ferns and mosses, insects and spiders, reptiles and amphibians, birds and mammals, and many other organisms” (Audesirk, 2003). All of these components constitute an intricate web with many biological interconnections. A bird may depend on the upper branches of a tree for nesting, while the tree may depend on the fungi surrounding its roots to obtain water and nutrients. A forest performs a number of vital environmental services, such as cleansing the air, moderating the climate, filtering water, cycling nutrients, providing a habitat for animals and provides humans with recreation and beautiful scenery. Resources from the forest supply raw materials, such as lumber, paper products, greenery and pharmaceuticals. Some of the developing issues today concerning forests are fires and what we as a society can do to restore the natural ecosystems within the forests around our world. Many aspects are to be considered when looking at the ecology and bioremediation of forests such as, human activities, wildlife, endangerment and environmental changes. This paper will discuss the effect wildfires have on the forest ecosystem.
Fire is an important part of many ecosystems, affecting wildlife populations in various ways, such as by changing habitat, affecting food supply or quality, or by altering interactions of species. Fire suppression has allowed forested areas to achieve a climax state, which provides less forage for wildlife. While terrestrial wildlife is benefited by fire, large fires through the increase in sediment flow negatively impact aquatic ecosystems. Fire is essential in maintaining biological diversity in the Northern Rocky Mountain forests.
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.