~ Mother Earth ~
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Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton (Hungarian Balaton; German Plattensee; Slovak Blatenské jazero, meaning approximately "muddy lake", probable origin of the name), located in Hungary, is the largest lake of Central Europe with a surface area of 592 km². It lies approximately at co-ordinates 46°50' N 17°44' E. Its length is 77 kilometres and the width ranges from 4 to 14 kilometres. The lake's surface is 104 m above sea level; depth is up to 11 m (mean depth 3.2 m). Since Hungary is landlocked, Lake Balaton is sometimes called the "Hungarian Sea". The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water. The Sió Canal provides outflow as needed.
Lake Balaton - Landsat satellite photo
Towns and villages
Tourist information
High tourist season is from June until the end of August. The average water temperature during the summer is 23° C, which makes bathing and swimming very enjoyable. Other tourist attractions include sailing, fishing and other water sports as well as visiting the countryside and hills — wineries on the north coast and night life on the south. The Tihany Peninsula is a historical district.
Issue #240 -
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America.
The gulf's eastern, north, and northwestern shores lie within the United States of America (specifically, the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas); its southwestern and southern shores lie within Mexico (specifically, the states of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo); on the southeast it is bordered by Cuba. It connects with the Atlantic Ocean via the Florida Straits between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba.
Gulf of Mexico in 3D perspective.
(Note: In common usage, at least in the U.S., the term "Gulf Coast" usually refers to either the continuous portion of the coast running from Cape Sable, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas, or from Cape Sable, Florida, to the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula at Cabo Catoche, Quintana Roo. Both meanings exclude Cuba as well as the Florida Keys.)
The total area of the Gulf of Mexico is approximately 615,000 mi² (1.6 million km²), the southern third of which lies within the tropics, and plunges to a depth of 2,080 fathoms (3,804 m). This deepest part is Sigsbee Deep, an irregular trough more than 300 nautical miles (550 km) long, sometimes called the "Grand Canyon under the sea." The cooler water from the deep stimulates plankton growth, which attracts small fish, shrimp, and squid. The Gulf Stream, a warm Atlantic Ocean current and one of the strongest ocean currents known, originates in the gulf. The gulf has been visited many times by powerful Atlantic hurricanes, some of which have caused extensive human death and other destruction).
Gulf of Mexico
Tidal ranges are extremely small in the Gulf of Mexico due to the narrow connection with the ocean – much like the Mediterranean.
The Bay of Campeche in Mexico constitutes a major arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, the gulf's shoreline is fringed by numerous bays and smaller inlets. A number of rivers empty into the gulf, most notably the Mississippi River. The land that forms the gulf's coast, including many long, narrow barrier islands, is almost uniformly low-lying and is characterized by marshes and swamps as well as stretches of sandy beach.
The continental shelf is quite wide at most points along the coast. The shelf is exploited for its oil by means of offshore drilling rigs, most of which are situated in the western gulf. Another important commercial activity is fishing; major catches include various fishes as well as shrimp and crabs, with oysters being harvested on a large scale from many of the bays and sounds. Other important industries along the coast include shipping, petrochemical processing and storage, paper manufacture, and tourism.
Coastal cities of note include Tampa, St. Petersburg, Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans, Beaumont, and Houston (all in the U.S.), Tampico, Tuxpam, Veracruz and Mérida (in Mexico), and Havana (in Cuba).
The gulf's coastal areas were first settled by Native American groups, including those representing several of the early advanced cultures of Mexico. During the period of European exploration and colonization the entire region became a theatre of contention between the Spanish, French and English. The present-day culture of the coastal region is primarily Spanish-American (Mexico, Cuba) and Anglo-American (U.S.).
A point of interest about the Gulf is that 65 million years ago, the Chicxulub crater was formed when a large meteorite hit the earth. It is hypothesized that this impact was the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Pollution
Because of the ever increasing amount of nitrogen and phosphates dissolved in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, pollution has more than doubled since 1950. Current estimates suggest that three times as much nitrogen is being carried into the Gulf today compared with levels 30 years ago or at any time in history. Blooms of photosynthesizers die and sink, and the processes of their decay exhausts the available supplies of oxygen dissolved in the water. Every summer there is now an area south of the Louisiana coastline, larger than the U.S. state of Massachusetts at over 7,000 mi² (18,000 km²) that is hypoxic. These waters do not carry enough oxygen to sustain marine life. This annually enlarging "dead zone" is a major threat to the fishing industry and to public health.
Fishing Boats in Biloxi
Also, there are frequent "red tide" algae blooms that kill fish and marine mammals and cause respiratory problems in humans and some domestic animals when the blooms reach close to shore. This has especially been plaguing the southwest Florida coast, from the Keys to north of Pasco County, Florida.
Issue #241 -
Cumberland Gap
The Cumberland Gap is a pass across the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains. It is located near the spot where the current-day states of Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia meet. The pass elevation is 1,600 feet (488 meters).
Cumberland Gap in winter
The Gap was the chief passageway through the Appalachians in early American history. It was formed as an ancient creek, flowing southward, cut through the land being pushed up to form the mountains. As the land rose even more, the creek reversed direction flowing into the Cumberland River to the north. Used in prehistoric times by migrating animal herds, the Indians used it after their arrival into North America. The gap was named for Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland who sponsored an expedition into the area in 1750. In 1775, Daniel Boone brought a company of men to cut out a path through the gap to enable a settlement effort by the Transylvania Company in Transylvania. The trail was widened in the 1890s to accommodate wagon traffic. It is estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 immigrants passed through the gap on their way into Kentucky and the Ohio Valley before 1810.
U.S. Highway 25E passed overland through the gap before the completion of a tunnel in 1996. The original trail was then restored.
The Cumberland Gap is the western extreme point of Virginia. A person standing on Memorial Bridge in Arlington, Virginia (just across from Washington, DC) is as far from the Gap as they are from downtown Boston, Massachusetts -- 394 miles (636 km).
Issue #242 -
Cahir Castle
One of the biggest castles in Ireland, Cahir Castle was built in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, on an island in the river Suir. Now situated inside the town centre of Cahir, the castle is well preserved and has guided tour and audiovisual shows in multiple languages.
Cahir Castle
In 1375, the castle was granted to Butler, newly-created Baron of Cahir, for his loyalty to Edward III. The Butlers of Cahir sided with the Irish in the Elizabethan wars, and in 1599 the castle was captured after a three day siege by the army of the Earl of Essex.
In the Irish Confederate Wars in Ireland in the late 1640s that accompanied the English Civil War the castle was besieged twice. In 1647 George Mathews, the guardian of the young Lord Cahir, surrendered to Lord Inchiquin, after his victory at the battle of Knocknanauss. In 1650 he surrendered again to Oliver Cromwell, during his conquest of Ireland without a shot being fired.
The Great Hall was partly rebuilt in 1840.
In 1961 the last Lord Cahir died and the castle reverted to the state.
Issue #243 -
Heimaey
Heimaey (pronounced HAY-mah-ay) is the largest island in the Vestmannaeyjar cluster, approximately 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) off the south coast of Iceland. It is the only island in Vestmannaeyjar that is populated, and currently there are around 4,500 inhabitants.
Cliffs on Heimaey, Vestmannaeyjar
History
Oldest tales
In Landnáma it is said that when Ingólfur Arnarson, the first settler in Iceland had spent a winter at Ingólfshöfði, and went west in search of his "Öndvegissúlur" (somewhat like Totem poles, that were ritualistically dumped into the sea and let float to shore. Where they came ashore, there the viking in question would build his farm.), and found upon Hjörleifshöfði his brother, Hjörleifur, dead and his slaves missing. Out at sea he could see boats going towards a small group of islands, and likewise he set off after them.
Heimaey off of southwest Iceland
The slaves in question had been abducted from Ireland, and were called westmen (Vestmenn), since Ireland was the most western part of the known world at that time (c.a. 840). The slaves came ashore in Heimaey and took shelter upon the mountains and anywhere else they thought they might be safe, but alas, Ingólfur slaughtered them all, unknowingly creating names for various places in the process - for example "Dufþekja", an area on Heimaklettur, Heimaey's highest mountain (263 m), is named after the slave Dufþakur, who is said to have thrown himself off Heimaklettur at that point - rather taking his own life that to let Ingólfur take it.
First settlers
The first person said to have built a farm in Heimaey was known as Herjólfur Bárðarson. He apparently built his farm in Herjólfsdalur (literally: Herjólf's valley). The ruins in Herjólfsdalur were excavated in 1971, and did much to unsettle the story of Herjólfur Bárðarson though.
Turkish invasion
The year 1627, three Algerian pirate ships raided many towns on the south coast of Iceland, most notably GrindavÃk and Vestmannaeyjar. In GrindavÃk townspeople could flee into the lava field of Reykjanes and hide indefinitely, however Heimaey, being so remote and secluded, was hit rather badly. The invasion fleet was called "Turkish" by Icelanders, simply because of a lack of cultural distinction between Islamic countries. Many heroic stories exist of the people who survived the invasion, most notably GuðrÃður SÃmonardóttir, better known as Tyrkja-Gudda (Turkish-Gudda), who was taken from her home at Stakkagerði on Heimaey to a slave market in Algeria. From there she bought her way back to Iceland through Tunisia, Italy and Denmark - Iceland was then under Danish rule. Upon returning to Iceland she married Icelandic poet HallgrÃmur Pétursson, to whom HallgrÃmskirkja in ReykjavÃk is honoured.
Eldfell
On the 22nd of January 1973 at around one in the morning a volcanic eruption of the mountain Eldfell began on Heimaey. During the night the 5000 inhabitants of the island were evacuated, mostly by fishing boats, as almost the entire fishing fleet was in dock. The encroaching lava flow threatened to destroy the harbour that was the main source of livelihood for most of the town. However, by spraying the lava constantly with cold sea water some of it solidified and diverted the rest, saving the harbour from destruction. During the eruption, though, half of the town was crushed and the island grew a great deal, however only one fatality could be directly or indirectly attributed to the eruption, and that was the death of a man who had broken into the chemist's store to acquire drugs and was suffocated by toxic fumes.
Present day
Currently Vestmannaeyjar is the home to around 4,500 humans, 2,000,000 puffins, and many millions of other birds.
Issue #244 -
Groundwater
Groundwater is water flowing within aquifers below the water table. Within aquifers, the water flows through the pore spaces in unconsolidated sediments and the fractures of rocks. Groundwater is recharged from, and eventually flows to, the surface naturally; natural discharge often occurs at springs and seeps and can form oases or swamps. Groundwater is also often withdrawn for agricultural, municipal and industrial use through man-made wells. The study of the distribution and movement of groundwater is hydrogeology.
Groundwater can be a long-term 'reservoir' of the natural water cycle (with residence times from days to millennia), as opposed to short-term water reservoirs like the atmosphere and fresh surface water (which have residence times from minutes to years). The figure shows how deep groundwater (which is quite distant from the surface recharge) can take a very long time to complete its natural cycle. Groundwater is naturally replenished by surface water from precipitation, streams, and rivers when this recharge reaches the water table. It is estimated that the volume of groundwater is fifty times that of surface freshwater; the icecaps and glaciers are the only larger reservoir of fresh water on earth.
Usable groundwater is contained in aquifers, which are subterranean areas (or layers) of permeable material (like sand and gravel) that channel the groundwater's flow. Aquifers can be confined or unconfined. If a confined aquifer follows a downward grade from a recharge zone, groundwater can become pressurized as it flows. This can create artesian wells that flow freely without the need of a pump. The top of the upper unconfined aquifer is called the water table or phreatic surface, where water pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.
Relative groundwater travel times.
Typically groundwater is thought of as liquid water flowing through shallow aquifers, but technically it can also include soil moisture, permafrost (frozen soil), immobile water in very low permeability bedrock, and deep geothermal or oil formation water. Groundwater is believed to provide lubrication and buoyancy which allow thrust faults to move. Nearly any point in the Earth's subsurface has water in it, to some degree (it may be very dry or mixed with other fluids). Groundwater is not confined only to the Earth, either; subsurface water on Mars is believed to have given rise to some of the landforms observed there.
Problems with groundwater
Groundwater overdraft
Groundwater is a highly useful and abundant resource, but in arid or semi-arid regions it cannot renew itself as rapidly as it is being withdrawn by humans. If groundwater is extracted intensively from water wells, as for irrigation or municipal use in arid or semi-arid regions, it may not recover to its pre-development state. The most evident problem that may result from this is a lowering of the water table beyond the reach of existing wells. Wells must consequently be deepened to reach the groundwater; in some places (e.g., California, Texas and India) the water table has dropped hundreds of feet due to well pumping. A lowered water table may, in turn, cause other problems such as subsidence.
Subsidence
In its natural equilibrium state, the groundwater in the pore spaces of the aquifer supports some of the weight of the overlying sediments. When groundwater is depressurized or even removed from aquitards, where the materials are very compressible and pore pressures can be high, compaction may occur. This compaction, typically called subsidence, may be partially recoverable if pressures rebound, but much of it is not. Thus the aquifer is permanently reduced in capacity, and the surface of the ground may also subside. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is actually below sea level today, and its subsidence is partly caused by removal of ground water under it.
Seawater intrusion
Generally, in very humid or undeveloped regions, the shape of the water table mimics the slope of the surface. The recharge zone of an aquifer near the seacoast is likely to be inland, often at considerable distance. In these coastal areas, a lowered water table may induce sea water to reverse the flow toward the sea. Sea water moving inland is called a saltwater intrusion. Alternatively, salt from mineral beds may leach into the groundwater of its own accord.
Mining groundwater
Sometimes the water movement from the recharge zone to the place where it is withdrawn may take centuries (see figure above). When the usage of water is greater than the recharge, it is referred to as mining water (the water is often called fossil water, due to its geologic age). Under those circumstances it is not a renewable resource.
Groundwater pollution
In the Ganges Plain of northern India and Bangladesh, severe natural pollution by arsenic affects 25% of water wells in the shallower of two regional aquifers. The pollution occurs because aquifer sediments contain organic matter (dead plant material) that generates anaerobic (an environment without oxygen) conditions in the aquifer. These conditions result in the microbial dissolution of iron oxides in the sediment and thus the release of the arsenic, normally strongly bound to iron oxides, into the water. As a consequence, arsenic-rich groundwater is often iron-rich, although secondary processes often obscure the association of dissolved arsenic and dissolved iron.
Not all groundwater problems are caused by over-extraction. Pollutants dumped on the ground or in landfills may leach into the soil, and work their way down into aquifers. Movement of water within the aquifer is then likely to spread the pollutant over a wide area, making the groundwater unusable. Areas of karst topography on limestone bedrock are especially vulnerable to surface pollution. Sinkholes and underground caverns allow direct groundwater flow without the filtering effect of a permeable aquifer. See environmental engineering and remediation.
Water table conditions are of great importance to agricultural irrigation, waste disposal (including nuclear waste), and other ecological issues.
Issue #245 -
Telstra Dome
Telstra Dome is a stadium in the developing Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Australia, that caters for both sporting and entertainment events. Opened on 9 March 2000, as Colonial Stadium, its name was changed on 22 July 2002 when the Telstra telecommunications carrier acquired the naming rights.
The Telstra Dome by day
The stadium features both movable seating and a retractable roof. It can seat from 12,000 to 74,000 people depending on the type of event. The fixed seating number for Australian Football League matches is 53,399. The playing surface area is 19,053 square metres (170 m x 140 m), making this the largest indoor stadium in the world (by playing surface area). While the playing surface is one of the largest in the world, the quality of the turf is one of the poorest.
The stadium was developed as a replacement for Waverley Park. The Seven Network is an important shareholder in the ground, and has it's Melbourne offices located at the ground (visible to the right of the picture, near the large red wall with the station's white '7' logo on it).
Issue #246 -
Hardangerfjord
With a length of 179 km (111 miles) the Hardangerfjord in the county of Hordaland, is the third largest fjord in the world. The surrounding landscape is called Hardanger.
The Hardangerfjord starts at the Atlantic Ocean just south of Bergen (SW Norway). Here the fjord penetrates in a north easterly direction until it meets the grand mountain plateau of Hardangervidda. The longest branch of the Hardangerfjord is Sørfjorden which cuts south about 50 km from the main fjord. Its maximum depth is more than 800 m (2,624 ft) just outside Norheimsund in the middle of the fjord.
Hardangerfjord
About 10,000 years ago the Scandinavian land mass started to rise up as enormous glacial ice started to melt. The lower parts of the valleys became flooded, and so created what we today know as the Hardangerfjord. The valley was originally not only made through glacial erosion but by the high pressure melting water which pushed its way beneath the ice.
On the Folgefonn peninsula which belongs to the Hardangerfjord, the third largest glacier in Norway is found. The Folgefonn glacier is with its three parts covering an area of 220 km² (85 sq mi), and an area which in 2005 became protected as a national park.
The history of the fjord goes far beyond its Viking history to hunters on the surrounding mountains and later farming along this fertile area which today is considered the fruit orchard of Norway. Later the fjord became the birthplace for larger tourism influx to Norway, and in 1875 Thomas Cook started with weekly cruise departures from London to the Hardangerfjord, due to its spectacular nature, glaciers and grand waterfalls. Soon after this many of the major waterfalls became the source for large industries in fjord settlements as Odda.
Today the Hardangerfjord is witness to a renaissance in tourism and new infrastructure for travellers has once again become an industry for the local communities along the fjord.
The contemporary fjord is divided among the 13 municipalities Bømlo, Eidfjord, Etne, Granvin, Jondal, Kvam, Kvinnherad, Odda, Sund, Sveio, Tysnes, Ullensvang and Ulvik. Total number of inhabitants for all these municipalities is only a bit more than 70 thousand - on a total area of 8,471 km².
Issue #247 -
Altocumulus mackerel sky
An altocumulus mackerel sky or mackerel sky is an indicator of moisture (the cloud) and instability (the cumulus form) at intermediate levels (2,400-6,100 m, 8,000-20,000 ft). If the lower atmosphere is stable and no moist air moves in, the weather will most likely remain dry. However, moisture at lower levels combined with surface temperature instability can lead to rainshowers or thunderstorms should the rising moist air reach this layer.
Mackerel sky over Edmonton, Alberta
Issue #248 -
Columbia Icefield
The Columbia Icefield is a large icefield located in the Canadian Rockies, astride the Continental Divide of North America. The icefield lies partly in the northwestern tip of Banff and the southern end of Jasper National Park. It is about 325 km² in area, 100 to 365 metres (328' to 1,197') in depth and receives up to seven metres (23 feet) of snowfall per year.
Athabasca Glacier, Columbia Icefield, Canadian Rockies.
The icefield feeds eight major glaciers, including:
- Athabasca Glacier
- Castleguard Glacier
- Columbia Glacier
- Dome Glacier
- Stutfield Glacier
- Saskatchewan Glacier
Some of the highest mountains in the Canada Rockies are located around the edges:
- Mount Andromeda (3,450 m)
- Mount Athabasca (3,491 m)
- Mount Bryce (3,507 m)
- Castleguard Mountain (3,090 m)
- Mount Columbia (3,747 m)
- Mount King Edward (3,490 m)
- Mount Kitchener (3,505 m)
- North Twin Peak (3,684 m)
- South Twin Peak (3,566 m)
- Snow Dome (3,456 m)
- Stutfield Peak (3,450 m)
Part of the icefield, the Athabasca Glacier, is visible from the Icefields Parkway. The Athabasca Glacier has receded significantly since its greatest modern-era extent in 1844. During the summer months visitors to the area can travel onto the glacier in the comfort of large "snowcoaches".
The icefield was discovered in 1898 by J. Norman Collie and Hermann Woolley after they had completed the first ascent of Mount Athabasca.
The Columbia River, the North Saskatchewan River, and the Athabasca River originate in the Columbia Icefield. As the icefield is atop a triple continental divide these waters flow ultimately to the Pacific Ocean, Hudson's Bay, and the Arctic Ocean, respectively.
Issue #249 -
Spitak Earthquake
The Spitak Earthquake was a tremor, measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale, which took place on December 7, 1988 at 11:41 local time (07:41 UTC) in the Spitak region of Armenia.
Local housing infrastructure (particularly schools and hospitals) performed poorly in the earthquake and this resulted in 25,000 lives lost. It has been estimated that if the earthquake had occurred 5 minutes later, children would have left their schools' unstable buildings. This short time delay could have saved many lives.
The historic Amenaprkitch (All Savior's) Church, ruined in the 1988 Spitak Earthquake.
The entire city of Spitak was destroyed, and there was partial damage to the nearby cities of Leninakan (later renamed to Gyumri) and Kirovakan (later renamed to Vanadzor). The tremor also caused damage to many surrounding villages.
Since most of the hospitals in the area were destroyed, and due to freezing winter temperatures, officials at all levels were not ready for a disaster of this scale and the relief effort was therefore not launched properly. The Armenian government let in foreign aid workers to help with the recovery in the earthquake's aftermath, and this was one of the first cases when rescue and relief workers from other countries were allowed to take part in relief works in the former Soviet Union.
Issue #250 -
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range (a.k.a Eastern Highlands) is Australia's only substantial mountain range. It stretches from the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through New South Wales, then into Victoria and turning west before finally fading into the central plain at the Grampians in western Victoria.
The Great Dividing Range runs around the entire eastern and south-eastern edge of Australia.
Australia's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, and all of mainland Australia's alpine areas are part of this range. The highest areas in southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria are known as the Australian Alps.
In fact Great Dividing Range is a misnomer, as it is not a single range. It does, however, divide the watershed of streams and rivers which flow directly into the Pacific Ocean on the eastern coast of Australia, from streams and rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin which flow inwards, away from the coast into the interior plains. Because of this, the native freshwater fish faunas of the Murray-Darling Basin and East Coast river systems are very different.
In some areas, such as the Blue Mountains, Snowy Mountains, Victorian Alps and the eastern escarpments of the New England region, the highlands form a significant barrier. In other areas the slopes are gentle and in places the range is barely perceptible.
Whilst some of the peaks of the highlands reach respectable heights of a little over 2,000 metres, the age of the range and its erosion mean that the most of the mountains are not outrageously steep, and virtually all peaks can be reached without mountaineering equipment.
Much of the range is in a succession of national parks and other reserves. The lower reaches are used for forestry, an activity that causes much friction with conservationists. It is also the source of virtually all of eastern Australia's water supply, both through runoff caught in dams, and, throughout much of Queensland, through the Great Artesian Basin.
In the early days of European colonization, the Blue Mountains, the part of the range directly west of Sydney, represented an impenetrable barrier to the colonists until 1813, when Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson, and William Wentworth, three graziers, passed the mountains. There are many mountains in the dividing range that include the Snowy Mountains and the Blue Mountains.
Issue #251 -
Haze
Haze is an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other pollutant particles obscure the normal clarity of the sky. It occurs when dust and smoke particles accumulate in relatively dry air. When weather conditions block the dispersal of smoke and other pollutants they concentrate and form a usually low-hanging shroud that impairs visibility and may become a respiratory health threat. Dense haze caused by industrial pollution is also known as smog.
Moon over red and blue haze
Sources for haze particles include farming (ploughing in dry weather), traffic, industry, forest fires and peat field fire.
Seen from far (e.g. approaching airplane), haze is brownish, while mist is more blueish-grey. While haze is formed in relatively dryish air, in more humid air mist is formed, and the haze particles can even act as condensation nucleii for the mist droplets.
Haze in Southeast Asia
Haze is a regular problem in Southeast Asia caused by land and forest fires in Indonesia, especially Sumatra and Kalimantan. Those fires mainly affect Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The economic losses of the fires in 1997 have been estimated at US$9.3 billion. This includes damages in agriculture production, destruction of forest lands, health, transportation, tourism, and other economic endeavours. Not included are social, environmental, and psychological problems and long term health effects. The latest bout of haze to occur in Malaysia and the Malacca Straits was in August 2005.
Severe haze affecting Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August 2005
As a reaction, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, formed a Regional Haze Action Plan (RHAP) and established a co-ordination and support unit (CSU). As part of this Action Plan and with the help of Canada, a monitoring and warning system for forest/vegetation fires was developed and implemented called Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS). Since September 2003 daily ratings have been issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Service (MMS).
Pollution index
The severity of haze is often measured using automated laser instruments such as Nephelometers, as haze is associated with visibility and traffic control in ports. Haze however can also be an indication of poor air quality though this is often better reflected using accurate purpose built air indexes such as the American Air Quality Index or the Malaysian API (Air Pollution Index)
In hazy conditions, it is likely that the index will report the suspended particulate level. The disclosure of the responsible pollutant is mandated in some jurisdictions.
The American AQI is divided into six color coded categories, similar to homeland security. Technically AQI runs only from 0 to 500. The 301 to 500 range is categorised as hazardous and colored maroon.
The Malaysian APIs most hazardous category is above 500. Above 500, a state of emergency is declared in the reporting area. Usually, this means that non essential government services are suspended, and all ports in the affected area closed. There may also be a prohibition on private sector commercial and industrial activities in the reporting area excluding the food sector. So far, the state of emergency ruling due to a hazardous API level applied to the Malaysian towns of Port Klang, Kuala Selangor (2005) and Sarawak state (1997).
Issue #252 -
Dry Tortugas National Park
Dry Tortugas National Park is a United States National Park, located in the Dry Tortugas islands of the Florida Keys. The park covers 101 mi² (262 km²).
Location of Dry Tortugas National Park
It is famous for abundant sea life, colorful coral reefs and legends of shipwrecks and sunken treasures. The park's centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress that was rendered obsolete by the invention of the rifled cannon. The fort was eventually converted into a prison for Union Army deserters and the accomplices implicated in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The U.S. Army abandoned the fortress in 1874 and a nearby sooty tern rookery was a favored hunting ground for egg collectors until a wildlife refuge was established in 1908. In 1935 President Franklin Roosevelt designated it Fort Jefferson National Monument, and in 1992 the Dry Tortugas was declared a national park. The islands do not exhibit any standing fresh water or even seasonal streams, hence their name. Owing to the potential difficulties of survival in such conditions one of these islands were used as the location for the filming of a military survival film used to train aircraft personnel.
Fort Jefferson
The park is roughly 70 miles or 110 kilometers by boat west of Key West, and plays host to almost 80,000 visitors each year. Activities include snorkeling, picnicking, scuba diving, saltwater fishing and birdwatching.
The most popular bird watching event is the sooty tern gathering, the nesting season on Bush Key between February and September involving an estimated 100,000 terns. Bush Key remains closed to visitors during the nesting season, but bird watchers with binoculars or telephoto lenses can watch the spectacle from Fort Jefferson. Other bird species in the park include noddies, brown pelicans, frigate birds, masked boobies, roseate terns, brown boobies and double-crested cormorants.
Underwater artifact with sea life
Issue #253 -
Jared Diamond
Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American author, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and biogeographer. He is best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997), which asserts that the main international issues of our time are legacies of processes that began during the early-modern period, in which civilizations that had experienced an extensive amount of "human development" began to intrude upon simpler civilizations around the world. Diamond's quest is to explain why such advanced civilzations developed only in Eurasia, and to do so in ways that do not appeal to ethnocentric myths, but do away with them. Most significantly, although it identifies the main processes and factors of civilizational development that were present in Eurasia, but not elsewhere, it does so by tracing commonalities between Eurasian civilizations, leaving the question open of why Europe came to supersede other Eurasian civilizations after 1800.
Jared Mason Diamond
Diamond was born in Boston to a physician father and a teacher/musician/linguist mother. After attending The Roxbury Latin School, he earned a BA degree from Harvard in 1958 and his PhD in physiology and membrane biophysics from Cambridge University in 1961. During 1962-1966, he returned to Harvard as a junior Fellow. He became professor of physiology at UCLA Medical School in 1966. While in his twenties, he also developed a second parallel career in the ecology and evolution of New Guinea birds, and he has led numerous trips to explore New Guinea and nearby islands. In his fifties, Diamond gradually developed a third career in environmental history, becoming professor of geography and of environmental health sciences at UCLA, his current position.
Diamond is renowned as the author of a number of popular science works that combine anthropology, biology, linguistics, genetics, and history. While Diamond became a staunch opponent of the use of genetic and racial arguments to account for the differences in technological sophistication, his early work included a paper entitled "Ethnic differences: Variation in human testis size", in which he investigated correlations between possible genetic and racial variations in testicular size and hormone levels and argued that testicular size and hormone levels were highest among African races and lowest in East Asian, with Caucasian populations falling between the two.
In his most recent book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2004), Diamond examines what caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin and considers what contemporary society can learn from their fates.
Diamond speaks a dozen languages, and his books rely on fields as diverse as molecular biology and archaeology, as well as obscure knowledge about everything from typewriter design to feudal Japan. Because of his broad expertise and the large number of articles credited to him, it has been suggested jokingly by Mark Ridley that "Jared Diamond" is not a single person, but instead "is really a committee".
Diamond is on the editorial board of Skeptic Magazine, a publication of The Skeptics Society.
Diamond is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Issue #254 -
Ruin
Ruins are the remains of a piece of man-made architecture. The term is used to describe a structure that was at one time whole but has, with the intervention of weathering and lack of maintenance, become wrecked by time. There are basic types of ruins that can be found in the world. Historical ruins, like those found at Rome and Athens, have been unearthed through the work of archaeologists. Modern ruins, such as abandoned buildings in large metropolitan areas, are discovered by urban exploration.
Rocky landscape with ruins, by Nicolaes Berchem, ca. 1650 (Alte Pinakotek, Munich)
In Christian iconography, the Nativity of Christ has often been depicted in a setting of grand ruins, symbolising the new Temple (the body of Christ) that rises on the site of the old.
Popular adventure films, such as the Indiana Jones trilogy or the Mummy films, rely on ancient relics and artifacts found in ruins. The idea of the ruin has become prominent in popular culture as a device with which to add suspense and in many cases horror.
Architectural follies were sometimes built as intentional ruins.
Burg Are
In the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer designed buildings calculated to have a high "ruin value" for posterity. These buildings were never built, but perhaps ironically some of the most recent and understated modern ruins (ruined through passage of time rather than intentional destruction) are the uncompleted autobahn motorways built by the Nazis that litter the German countryside.
Issue #255 -
Originally posted by Lazylordz:yo wuddup guez whos bak yo mothafuc'kas itz fity cent in da hoodt' git yo ass upp heer shet yo moth n see muh mothafuc'kin pics widd ma nigga homiez o ah'm bustin uh cap in ya. fo shizzle ma nizzle.
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Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde is the estuary of the River Clyde, from its upper tidal limit in Glasgow city centre to the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland.
The Holy Loch seen across the Firth of Clyde with Dunoon on the left.
Geography
The firth encompasses many islands and peninsulas and has twelve ferry routes connecting them to the mainland and each other. The majority of these services are run by Caledonian MacBrayne and many of the routes are lifeline services for communities living in remote areas. A number of sea lochs adjoin the firth.
History
In Victorian times with the advent of tourism the area became popular with well heeled Glaswegians who travelled 'doon the watter' on pleasure steamers to holiday in the picturesque seaside towns that line the firth. Many of these towns such as Largs, Dunoon and Rothesay flourished during this boom period and became fully fledged resorts with well appointed hotels and attractions.
In 1942 the World's first deep water test of a submarine oil pipeline was conducted on a pipeline laid across the Firth of Clyde in Operation Pluto.
In more recent times the firth has sadly had much of its natural beauty diminished by a succesion of industrial and military developments along the shoreline.
Marine wildlife
Common & Grey Seals abound in the firth.
Harbour Porpoises are also common and while Dolphins are much less so they have been spotted in the upper reaches of the firth in the summer of 2005. Whales do not favour the Clyde and although there have been instances of larger whales beaching themselves or becoming stranded in the upper firth, only smaller Pilot or Minke Whales seem to visit with any kind of regularity.
In 2005 the firth was listed as having the 2nd highest incidence of basking shark sightings in Scotland (after the Hebridean Sea). In particular these huge sharks seem to favour the warm, shallow waters surrounding Pladda.
Although at one time heavily fished, the only animals remaining in Clyde waters today that are of any commercial interest to fisherman are Prawns, Lobster and a little Herring.
There is a Marine Biological Station run by the Universities of Glasgow and London on Great Cumbrae.
Shipping in the Firth
The Firth of Clyde like the River Clyde has historically been an important centre of shipbuilding. There have been shipyards at Renfrew, Greenock, Port Glasgow and Troon and a highly regarded boatyard at Fairlie.
Ships are still seen in the firth today many visiting the deep sea cargo terminal, Clydeport.
Issue #256 -
Ice shelf
An ice shelf is a thick, floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface, typically in Antarctica or Greenland. The boundary between floating ice shelf and the grounded (resting on bedrock) ice that feeds it is called the grounding line. When the grounding line retreats inland, water is added to the ocean and sea level rises.
Ross Ice Shelf
In contrast, sea ice is formed on water, is much thinner, and forms throughout the Arctic Ocean. It also is found in the Southern Ocean around the continent of Antarctica.
Ice shelves flow by gravity-driven horizontal spreading on the ocean surface. That flow continually moves ice from the grounding line to seaward front of the shelf. The primary mechanism of mass loss from ice shelves is iceberg calving, in which a chunk of ice breaks off from the seaward front of the shelf. Typically, a shelf front will extend forward for years or decades between major calving events. Snow accumulation on the upper surface and melting from the lower surface are also important to the mass balance of an ice shelf.
The thickness of modern-day ice shelves ranges from about 100 to 1000 meters. The density contrast between solid ice and liquid water means that only about 1/9 of the floating ice is above the ocean surface. The world's largest ice shelves are the Ross Ice Shelf and the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Antarctic ice shelves
The Antarctic continent is mostly surrounded by ice formations. The coast composition is:
Coastal types around Antarctica (from Drewry, 1983)
Type -- Frequency
Ice shelf (floating ice front) -- 44%
Ice walls (resting on ground) -- 38%
Ice stream/outlet glacier (ice front or ice wall) -- 13%
Rock -- 5%
Total -- 100%
Recently, glaciologists have observed unexpected ice-shelf events, such as complete disintegration of some small ice shelves. For example, two sections of Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf broke apart into hundreds of unusually small fragments (100's of meters wide or less) in 1995 and 2002. The breakup events are linked to climate change in the region, although there is not complete agreement about the most important causative process. The leading ideas involve enhanced ice fracturing due to surface meltwater and enhanced bottom melting due to warmer ocean water circulating under the floating ice.
The cold, fresh water produced by melting underneath the Ross and Flichner-Ronne ice shelves is a component of Antarctic Bottom Water.
Issue #257 -
Socotra
Socotra or Soqotra is a small archipelago of four islands and islets in the Indian Ocean off the Horn of Africa some 350 km south of the Republic of Yemen, which administers Socotra for the Banu Afrar Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra.
Map of the Socotra archipelago
Geography and climate
The archipelago consists of the mountainous main island of Socotra (3,625 km² ) and three smaller islands known collectively as "the Brothers", Abd Al Kuri, Samha, Darsa, plus other uninhabitable rock outcrops. Abd Al Kuri and Samha have a population of a few hundred people between them; Darsa is uninhabited. The principal city is Hadiboh (estimated population in 2004, 43,000) The inhabitants of Socotra raise cattle and goats.
The climate is generally tropical desert, with rainfall being light, seasonal (winter) and more abundant at the higher ground in the interior than along the coastal lowlands.
Socotra has three geographical terrains: the narrow coastal plains, a limestone plateau permeated with karstic caves, and the Haghier mountains.
Satellite image of Socotra
Socotra is one of the most isolated bits of land on earth of continental landmass origin (i.e., not of volcanic origin). The island probably detached from Africa as a fault block during the Middle Pliocene (ca 6 mya), in the same set of rifting events that have opened the Gulf of Aden to its northwest. The long geological isolation of the archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique and spectacular endemic flora that would be highly vulnerable to change; surveys have revealed that more than a third of the 800 or so plant species of Socotra are found nowhere else. Botanists rank the flora of Socotra among the ten most endangered island flora in the world. The archipelago is a site of global importance for biodiversity conservation and a possible center for ecotourism. Even the Modern South Arabian Semitic language, Soqotri, is spoken only there, although it is related to other South Arabian languages on the Arabian mainland such as Mehri language.
One of the most striking of Socotra's plants is the dragon's blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari), which is a very strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree. Its red sap was the dragon's blood of the ancients, sought after as a medicine and a dye.
As with many isolated island systems, bats are the only mammals native to Socotra. In contrast, the marine biodiversity around Socotra is rich, characterized by a unique mixture of species that have originated in farflung biogeographic regions: the western Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, Arabia, East Africa and the wider Indo-Pacific.
The monsoonal climate is strong: from June to September the island has traditionally been inaccessible, because of exceedingly strong monsoon winds and high seas. In July 1999 a new airport opened Socotra to the outside year round. Most Socotris still live without electricity, running water or a paved road. At the end of the 1990s a United Nations Development Programme was launched with the aim of providing a close survey of the island of Socotra. The semiarid island is mountainous with a narrow coastal plain. Interior mountains rise to 5,000 feet (1,525 meters). The chief products of the island are dates, ghee, tobacco, and fish.
History
Socotra appears as Dioskouridou ("of the Dioscurides") in the 1st century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a navigation aid. In the notes to his translation of the Periplus, G.W.B. Huntingford remarks that the name Socotra is not Greek in origin, but from the Sanskrit dvipa sukhadhara ("island of bliss"). A local tradition held that the inhabitants were converted to Christianity by Thomas in AD 52, and in the 10th century the Arab geographer Abu Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Hamdani stated that in his time most of the inhabitants were Christians.
The explorer Tristão da Cunha put ashore in the early 16th century and considered Socotra conquered for Portugal, at which time Christianity had disappeared from the island except for stone crosses at which Alvares said people worshipped. However, during a visit of the island in 1542, Francis Xavier found a group of people claiming to be descended from the converts made by St. Thomas.
The islands passed under the control of the Mahra sultans in 1511, but eventually became a British protectorate in 1886, for whom it was an important strategic stop-over. With the independence of Yemen, the islands arrived at their current arrangement.
Issue #258 -
Katse Dam
The Katse Dam, part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, is a concrete arch dam in Lesotho.
Katse Dam
The dam was completed in 1996 and filled by 1997, causing induced seismicity and evacuation of a handful of local residents.
Water from the dam first travels through a 45 km, 4 m diameter tunnel, exiting at a hydroelectric station near Muela. The dam's high elevation allows a gravity flow delivery system to South Africa, in addition to hydroelectric power for Lesotho, and was a prime reason behind the choice of site.
Water delivery officially began on 22 January 1998. The dam currently supplies about 30 m3/s of water to South Africa, which pays Lesotho $5 million per year, plus a variable royalty based on calculated water usage benefits.
Dam features
- Height - 185 m
- Crest length - 710 m
- Design - double arch, concrete
- Concrete - 2,320,000 cubic metres
- 1993 meters above sea level (highest dam in Africa)
Issue #259 -
Okefenokee Swamp
The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 400,000 acre (1,600 km²), peat-filled marsh straddling the Georgia-Florida border, in the United States. It is the largest freshwater swamp in North America. It is believed to have been a prehistoric salt marsh. The name means "trembling earth" in a Native American language. It is bordered by the Trail Ridge west of the marsh and the Saint Marys River to the east. The swamp forms the head waters of the Suwannee River which has its origination at the Suwannee River sill on the north side of the swamp. Most of the Georgia portion of the swamp is included in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Canal Diggers Trail in Okefenokee Swamp
There are four public entrances or landings to the swamp:
- Suwannee Canal Recreation Area at Folkston, GA,
- Stephen C. Foster State Park at Fargo, GA,
- Kingfishers Landing at Race Pond, GA,
- Okefenokee Swamp Park at Waycross, GA.
In addition, Florida State Road 2 passes through the Florida portion between the Georgia cities of Council and Moniac.
It is also the home of the comic strip character Pogo.
Issue #260 -
Cheddar Gorge
Cheddar Gorge is the largest gorge in the United Kingdom, near the village of Cheddar in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar Caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton at 9,000 years old, Cheddar Man, was found. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000 - 13,000 years ago) have been found.
Cheddar Gorge is the largest gorge in the United Kingdom.
Jacob's Ladder is a public path of 274 steps, built up the side of the gorge. The gorge is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a tourist site.
The rocks of the gorge are Carboniferous Limestone on top of Old Red Sandstone. The river at the bottom of the gorge is the Cheddar Yeo, rising in the gorge in Gough's Cave. The maximum depth of the gorge is 113 m (370 ft).
The gorge, which has no river for most of its length, has near-vertical sides and shows characteristics of a river-formed valley. The lack of water is expected since limestone is permeable (it is pervious - allows water through its cracks, but is non-porous - doesn't have any holes.). The gorge was formed in the ice age when any water in the limestone froze, making the rock temporarily impermeable. Torrents of melt water gradually eroded the rock away to form the gorge. After the ice age the limestone thawed and became permeable again so that any water on the surface seeped into the rock, leaving behind a dry valley.
In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, Cheddar Gorge was named as the second greatest natural wonder in Britain (surpassed only by Dan yr Ogof caves).
Issue #261 -
Dingle Peninsula
The Dingle Peninsula (Irish: Corca Dhuibhne) is located in County Kerry and is the most westerly point of the Republic of Ireland. The peninsula is named after the town of Dingle and is the location of numerous prehistoric and early medieval remains, for example the Gallarus Oratory in the very west of the peninsula near the village of Baile an Fheirtéaraigh. The peninsula exists because of the band of granite rock that forms the Sliabh Mish mountain range. Ireland's second highest mountain, Mount Brandon, at 953 m (3,127 ft) forms part of a beautiful high ridge with stunning views over the peninsula and North Kerry.
Dingle Peninsula as viewed from Banna Strand
The Conor Pass going from Dingle on the southern end of the peninsula towards Brandon Bay and Castlegregory in the North is the highest mountain pass in Ireland, a tight precarious road weaving its way around the sharp cliff faces and past the high corrie lakes.
The Blasket Islands lie off the west coast. They are famous for the literary and linguistic heritage of the former inhabitants. However, these remote islands have been uninhabited since the 1950's following a government rehousing plan.
Brandon Bay, Dingle Peninsula
The western end of the peninsula is a Gaeltacht area that has produced a number of regionally notable authors and poets, like Ó Siochfhradha, and Peig Sayers, among others. This is the most western part of Ireland, and the village of Dún Chaoin is often jokingly referred to as "the next parish to America".
Issue #262 -
Breccia
Breccia, derived from the Latin word for "broken," is typically a sedimentary rock composed of angular fragments in a matrix that may be of a similar or a different material. A conglomerate by contrast is a sedimentary rock composed of rounded fragments or clasts of pre-existing rocks. Both breccias and conglomerates are composed of fragments averaging greater than 2 mm in size. The angular shape of the fragments indicate that the material has not been transported far from its source. Breccias indicate accumulation in a juvenile stream channel or accumulations due to gravity erosion. Talus slopes may become buried and the talus cemented in a similar manner.
Basalt breccia, green groundmass is composed of epidote.
Fault breccias result from the grinding action of two fault blocks as they slide past each other. Subsequent cementation of these broken fragments may occur by means of mineral matter introduced by groundwater.
Volcanic breccias result from the cementation or welding (when the material is glass) of fragments that have been broken by volcanic action. Sometimes the surface of a lava flow will harden while the interior will remain liquid; the fracturing of the surface layer and its subsequent cementation by uncooled lava produces flow breccia.
The intrusion of plutonic rocks will often shatter the invaded country rock, producing a shatter breccia. In the case of plutonic rocks partly cooled and subsequently broken by further invasions of magma, intrusive breccias are formed. Explosive release of volatiles can form masses or pipe like breccias above an intrusion . These shatter breccias or breccia pipes may be mineralized by later hydrothermal fluids forming metal rich sulfide ores.
Impact breccias are thought to be diagnostic of an impact event such as an asteroid or comet striking the earth, and are usually found at impact craters.
Ornamental uses of breccia
The striking visual appearance of breccias has for millennia made them a popular sculptural and architectural material. Breccia was used on a limited scale by the ancient Egyptians - one of the best-known examples is the statue of the goddess Tawaret in the British Museum). It was regarded by the Romans as an especially precious stone and was often used in high-profile public buildings. Many types of marble are brecciated, such as Breccia Oniciata or Breche Nouvelle.
Breccia statue of the ancient Egyptian goddess Tawaret
It is most often used as an ornamental or facing material in walls and columns. A particularly striking example can be seen in the Pantheon in Rome, which features two gigantic columns of pavonazzetto, a breccia coming from Phrygia (in modern Turkey). Pavonazzetto obtains its name from its extremely colourful appearance, which is reminiscent of a peacock's feathers (pavone is "peacock" in Italian).
Issue #263
