St. Helens alert

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
Hardly a blade of grass grows there almost 25 years after the
blast. Yet they think they are far enough away to be safe. They don't seem
to get a clue from the total devastation that surrounds them.

I know scientists don't expect another eruption like 1980. Well, they
didn't
expect it in 1980, either.

It's just that there's a few hundred million tons less of mountain to erupt
now. You could put the entire population of the world in the 1980 crater
and not fill it up.

You wanna see something sad? Go to the visitor's observatory (when it
opens) They've got a great demo of how the mountain erupts, buries the
countryside in hundreds of feet of molten ash, and then how the forest
rebuilds itself and life goes on in a miraculously short time; then they
tell you not to walk off the trail or pick up rocks because the ecosystem is
fragile. Another sign says 'If Mt.St Helens would have wanted you to
take souvenirs, she would have given them to you.' OK...I remember wearing
a dusk mask for a week while my parents put pantyhose over the car's air
filter. I'll take that as permission, thanks.

-c

and then how the forest
rebuilds itself and life goes on in a miraculously short time; then they
tell you not to walk off the trail or pick up rocks because the ecosystem is
fragile.


That's actually not so crazy as it sounds. Remember, tourists have a big
impact on an ecology, just because there are so many of them.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

"Teacherjh" wrote in message
...

and then how the forest
rebuilds itself and life goes on in a miraculously short time; then they
tell you not to walk off the trail or pick up rocks because the ecosystem
is
fragile.


That's actually not so crazy as it sounds. Remember, tourists have a big
impact on an ecology, just because there are so many of them.

And besides, the ecology never gets a chance to recover from the tourists.
The eruption happens, wipes everything out, and then things can gradually
come back. But to do so, they need to be left alone. Unlike the damage
from the eruption, damage from tourists happens every day, and the ecology
never gets a break.

Reminds me of our visit to Death Valley, where we stopped to look at some
salt pools, the edges of which teemed with very tiny microscopic life.
Signs everywhere implored the tourists to stay on the path, and to not walk
up to the pools, since a single step can wipe out millions of the creatures
and render the area under the footprint sterile for years, maybe even
decades.

More tourists completely ignored the signs than made any attempt to comply
with them. And yes, you could see the left-over footprints everywhere.

Pete

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Teacherjh" wrote in message
...

and then how the forest
rebuilds itself and life goes on in a miraculously short time; then they
tell you not to walk off the trail or pick up rocks because the
ecosystem
is
fragile.


That's actually not so crazy as it sounds. Remember, tourists have a
big
impact on an ecology, just because there are so many of them.

And besides, the ecology never gets a chance to recover from the tourists.
The eruption happens, wipes everything out, and then things can gradually
come back. But to do so, they need to be left alone. Unlike the damage
from the eruption, damage from tourists happens every day, and the ecology
never gets a break.

Reminds me of our visit to Death Valley, where we stopped to look at some
salt pools, the edges of which teemed with very tiny microscopic life.
Signs everywhere implored the tourists to stay on the path, and to not
walk
up to the pools, since a single step can wipe out millions of the
creatures
and render the area under the footprint sterile for years, maybe even
decades.

More tourists completely ignored the signs than made any attempt to comply
with them. And yes, you could see the left-over footprints everywhere.


It is just as bad at Yellowstone.

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Teacherjh" wrote in message
...

and then how the forest
rebuilds itself and life goes on in a miraculously short time; then they
tell you not to walk off the trail or pick up rocks because the
ecosystem
is
fragile.


That's actually not so crazy as it sounds. Remember, tourists have a
big
impact on an ecology, just because there are so many of them.

And besides, the ecology never gets a chance to recover from the tourists.
The eruption happens, wipes everything out, and then things can gradually
come back. But to do so, they need to be left alone. Unlike the damage
from the eruption, damage from tourists happens every day, and the ecology
never gets a break.

Reminds me of our visit to Death Valley, where we stopped to look at some
salt pools, the edges of which teemed with very tiny microscopic life.
Signs everywhere implored the tourists to stay on the path, and to not
walk
up to the pools, since a single step can wipe out millions of the
creatures
and render the area under the footprint sterile for years, maybe even
decades.

More tourists completely ignored the signs than made any attempt to comply
with them. And yes, you could see the left-over footprints everywhere.


It is just as bad at Yellowstone.