Yellowstone National Park

By Will

How global warming is affecting the environment

In Yellowstone global warming is affecting the wild life in the park greatly. The salamanders and frogs in the park are decreasing because of global warming. The ponds are drying up and amphibians have trouble finding other places to live. There used to be 43-46 ponds containing amphibian populations but now out of the 31-38 ponds researchers could visit, only 21 ponds contained amphibian populations. The park is being affected greatly by the recklessness of humans.

How Yellowstone was formed/when it became a national park

Yellowstone became a national park established by Congress. On March 1, 1872 President Ulysses S. Grant signed the document that made Yellowstone a national park. It is located in Wyoming and goes partly into Idaho and Montana. It was the first national park in the world. The park was created by the moving of tectonic plates which create lava flows and creates new land. The volcanoes are responsible for the parks geothermal features. There are over 10,000 geothermal features in the park. It contains the most famous geyser in the world, Old Faithful.

How the land in the park is changing

The land is changing in Yellowstone very much. In the center of Yellowstone there is a caldera. This caldera was formed by a volcanic eruption which happened millions of years ago. The land continues to rise and fall due to magma moving in the lithosphere. This is changing the land in Yellowstone.

Rocks/Landforms

Geyserite is formed wherever relatively alkaline springs are found. Travertine is an other type of rock in Yellowstone. It is rare in Yellowstone but it makes up mammoth hot springs terraces. The Yellowstone caldera is a volcanic caldera. It is what is left of a super volcano in Yellowstone. It measures 34 miles by 44 miles. Two eruptions have happened in the past two million years

MAP

How technology is used to preserve the park

There are many things occurring to “green Yellowstone”.

26 projects are in place to achieve the following goals by 2016:

• reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30%

• reduce electricity consumption by 15%

• reduce fossil fuel consumption by 18%

• reduce water consumption by 15%

• divert 100% of solid waste from landfills

Park managers are inserting alternative power sources such as hydro electric power and solar power. Also they are using low roll resistance tires so they can reduce fuel emissions. That is how technology is used to preserve the park.

bibliography

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081028184830.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_National_Park

http://www.yellowstonetreasures.com/yellowstone_rocks.htm

http://www.google.com/images?q=maps+of+yellowstone&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&tbs=isch:1&sa=N&start=40&ndsp=20http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/upload/yes09.pdf