1.
Alaska
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Alaska is a U. S. state located in the northwest extremity of North America. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas–the southern parts of the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 3rd least populous, approximately half of Alaskas residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaskas economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30,1867, the area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11,1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U. S. on January 3,1959, the name Alaska was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut, or Unangam idiom, which refers to the mainland of Alaska. Literally, it means object to which the action of the sea is directed, Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States and has the most easterly longitude in the United States because the Aleutian Islands extend into the Eastern Hemisphere. Alaska is the only non-contiguous U. S. state on continental North America and it is technically part of the continental U. S. but is sometimes not included in colloquial use, Alaska is not part of the contiguous U. S. often called the Lower 48. The capital city, Juneau, is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system. Alaskas territorial waters touch Russias territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island, Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U. S. states combined. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by total area at 663,268 square miles, over twice the size of Texas, Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries. Counting territorial waters, Alaska is larger than the area of the next three largest states, Texas, California, and Montana. It is also larger than the area of the 22 smallest U. S. states. Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage, this is the region of Alaska closest to the rest of the United States, as such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following the Alaska Purchase. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest and it contains the state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, at one time Alaskas largest city. The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital transportation link throughout the area. The Interior is the largest region of Alaska, much of it is uninhabited wilderness, Fairbanks is the only large city in the region
2.
Cook Inlet
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Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, on its south end merges with Shelikof Strait, Stevenson Entrance, Kennedy Entrance and Chugach Passage. The watershed includes the areas of Denali. Within the watershed there are national parks and the active volcano Mount Redoubt. Cook Inlet provides navigable access to the port of Anchorage at the northern end, before the growth of Anchorage, Knik was the destination for most marine traffic in upper Cook Inlet. Approximately 400,000 people live within the Cook Inlet watershed, the Cook Inlet region contains active volcanoes, including Augustine Volcano and Mount Redoubt. Volcanic eruptions in the region have been associated with earthquakes and tsunamis, there was an earthquake of the magnitude of 7.1 on December 31,1901 generated by an eruption that caused several tsunamis. In 2009 a lahar from Mt. Redoubt threatened the Drift River oil terminal, the inlet was first explored and settled by Denaina people. In the 18th century, Russian fur hunters were among the first European visitors, the Lebedev Lastochkin Company leader Stepan Zaikov established a post at the mouth of the Kenai River, Fort Nikolaev, in 1786. Other Europeans to visit Cook Inlet include the 1778 expedition of James Cook, its namesake, the inlet was named after Cook in 1794 by George Vancouver, who had served under Cook in 1778. Turnagain Arm was named by William Bligh of HMS Bounty fame, Bligh served as Cooks Sailing Master on his 3rd and final voyage, the aim of which was discovery of the Northwest Passage. Upon reaching the head of Cook Inlet, Bligh was of the opinion that both Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm were the mouths of rivers and not the opening to the Northwest Passage. Under Cooks orders Bligh organized a party to travel up Knik Arm, afterwards a second party was dispatched up Turnagain Arm and it too returned to report only a river lay ahead. As a result of this frustration the second body of water was given the disingenuous name Turn Again, early maps label Turnagain Arm as the Turnagain River. The S. S. Farallon was a wooden Alaskan Steamship Company liner that struck Black Reef in the Cook Inlet on January 5,1910, all thirty-eight men on board survived, and were rescued twenty-nine days later. Few white people visited upper Cook Inlet until construction of the Alaska Railroad along the shores of Turnagain Arm. The natives of the Eklutna village are the descendants of the residents of eight villages around upper Cook Inlet. During the 1964 Alaska earthquake, areas around the head of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood and Portage dropped as much as 8 feet by subsidence, Girdwood was later relocated inland and Portage was abandoned
3.
Mount Redoubt
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Redoubt Volcano, or Mount Redoubt, is an active stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of the U. S. state of Alaska. At 10,197 feet, in just over 5 miles Mount Redoubt attains 9,150 feet of prominence over its surrounding terrain and it is the highest summit in the Aleutian Range. Active for millennia, Mount Redoubt has erupted four times since it was first observed, in 1902,1966,1989 and 2009, the eruption in 1989 spewed volcanic ash to a height of 45,000 ft. It caught KLM Flight 867, a Boeing 747 aircraft, in its plume, after the plane descended 13,000 feet, the pilots restarted the engines and landed the plane safely at Anchorage. The ash blanketed an area of about 7,700 sq mi, as of August 2015, the Alaska Volcano Observatory has rated Redoubt as Aviation Alert Level Green and Volcano Alert Level Normal. The official name of the mountain is Redoubt Volcano, a translation of the Russian name Sopka Redutskaya, referring to, as does the word redoubt, a fortified place. A local name, Ujakushatsch, also means fortified place, the Board on Geographic Names decided on the name Redoubt Volcano in 1891. The Alaska Volcano Observatory also uses simply Redoubt, it lists the alternate names in addition to the following, Goryalaya, Redoute Mtn. and Redutskaya. The volcano is about 3.7 miles in diameter at its base with a volume of 7.2 to 8.4 cu mi. The sides of the cone are relatively steep. The current main vent is on the side of the crater by the head of the Drift glacier. Also present on the mountain are Holocene lahar deposits that extend as far as the Cook Inlet and this mountain has produced andesite, basalt and dacite, with relatively silicic andesite dominant in recent eruptions. But this besides being too small for one of those clouds, however, several sources call this a discredited eruption. There are several other of these activities that are not called eruptions, in 1819, smoke was observed at the mountain. However, this is not recorded as an eruption as the information was insufficient to identify it as such. Similarly, in 2003, a cloud of snow was mistaken by an employee of the ConocoPhillips Building in Anchorage for an ash plume. Possible steam-vapor let off was observed in 1933 at the mountain, there was apparently an eruption described as to the eastward, Redoubt Volcano,11,060 feet high, is constantly smoking, with periods of exaggerated activity. Fire has been seen issuing from its summit far out at sea, a great eruption took place in 1881, when a party of native hunters half-way up its slopes were overwhelmed by a lava-flow and only two escaped
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883
6.
ZIP Code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001
7.
Klondike Gold Rush
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The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by miners on August 16,1896 and. Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain and it has been immortalized in photographs, books, films, and artifacts. To reach the fields most took the route through the ports of Dyea. Here, the Klondikers could follow either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River, each of them was required to bring a years supply of food by the Canadian authorities in order to prevent starvation. In all, their equipment weighed close to a ton, which for most had to be carried in stages by themselves, together with mountainous terrain and cold climate this meant that those who persisted did not arrive until summer 1898. Once there, they found few opportunities and many left disappointed, mining was challenging as the ore was distributed in an uneven manner and digging was made slow by permafrost. As a result, some chose to buy and sell claims, building up huge investments. To accommodate the prospectors, boom towns sprang up along the routes and at their end Dawson City was founded at the confluence of the Klondike, from a population of 500 in 1896, the town grew to house around 30,000 people by summer 1898. Built of wood, isolated and unsanitary, Dawson suffered from fires, high prices, despite this, the wealthiest prospectors spent extravagantly gambling and drinking in the saloons. The Native Hän people, on the hand, suffered from the rush, being moved into a reserve to make way for the stampeders. From 1898, the newspapers that had encouraged so many to travel to the Klondike lost interest in it. In the summer of 1899, gold was discovered around Nome in west Alaska, the boom towns declined and the population of Dawson City fell. Gold mining activity lasted until 1903 when production peaked after heavier equipment was brought in, since then the Klondike has been mined on and off, and today the legacy draws tourists to the region and contributes to its prosperity. The indigenous peoples in north-west America had traded in copper prior to European expansion. Most of the tribes were aware that gold existed in region, in the second half of the 19th century, American prospectors began to spread into the area. Making deals with the Native Tlingit and Tagish tribes, the early prospectors opened the important routes of Chilkoot and White Pass, here, they encountered the Hän people, semi-nomadic hunters and fishermen who lived along the Yukon and Klondike Rivers. The Hän did not appear to know about the extent of the deposits in the region
8.
Nome, Alaska
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Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U. S. state of Alaska. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea, according to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. The 2014 population estimate was 3,788, suggesting a slight increase, Nome was incorporated on April 9,1901, and was once the most populous city in Alaska. Nome lies within the region of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, the city of Nome claims to be home to the worlds largest gold pan, although this claim has been disputed by the Canadian city of Quesnel, British Columbia. In the winter of 1925, a diphtheria epidemic raged among Alaska Natives in the Nome area, fierce territory-wide blizzard conditions prevented delivery of a life-saving serum by airplane from Anchorage. A relay of dog sled teams was organized to deliver the serum, the origin of the citys name Nome is debated, there are three theories. The first is that the name was given by Nomes founder, Jafet Lindeberg, within trekking distance of his home in Kvænangen, Norway. Name next to the unnamed cape, the mapmaker misread the annotation as C. Nome, or Cape Nome, and used that name on his own chart, the third proposed origin of the name is from a misunderstanding of the local Inupiaq word for Where at. The United States Post Office in Nome refused to accept the change, fearing a move of the post office to Nome City, a mining camp on the Nome River, the merchants unhappily agreed to change the name of Anvil City back to Nome. Nome is located at 64°30′14″N 165°23′58″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.6 square miles, of which 12.5 square miles is land and 9.1 square miles is water. Nome has a climate, with long, very cold winters. However, conditions in winter and summer are moderated by the citys coastal location, winters are less severe than in the Interior. For example, Fairbanks at a similar parallel quite far inland has much greater temperature swings with both very warm and cold temperatures throughout the year, the coldest month is January, averaging 5. Average highs stay below freezing from late October until late April, and the average first and last dates of freezing lows are August 30 and June 9, respectively, a freeze-free period of 81 days. The warmest month is July, with an average of 52.2 °F, Snow averages 76 inches per season, with the average first and last dates of measurable snowfall being October 4 and May 16, accumulating snow has not been officially observed in July or August. Precipitation is greatest in the months, and averages 16.8 inches per year. The annual average temperature is 27.35 °F, extreme temperatures range from −54 °F on January 27–28,1989 up to 86 °F on June 19,2013 and July 31,1977
9.
Fairbanks, Alaska
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Fairbanks /ˈfɛrbæŋks/ is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U. S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska,2014 estimates put the population of the city proper at 32,469, and the population of the Fairbanks North Star Borough at 99,357, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in Alaska. Fairbanks is home to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the campus of the University of Alaska system. Captain E. T. Barnette founded Fairbanks in August 1901 while headed to Tanacross, the steamboat on which Barnette was a passenger, the Lavelle Young, ran aground while attempting to negotiate shallow water. Barnette, along with his party and supplies, were deposited along the banks of the Chena River 7 miles upstream from its confluence with the Tanana River, the two met Barnette where he disembarked and convinced him of the potential of the area. Barnette set up his trading post at the site, still intending to make it to Tanacross. Teams of gold prospectors soon congregated in and around the newly founded Fairbanks, they built drift mines, dredges, agricultural activity still occurs today in the Tanana Valley, but mostly to the southeast of Fairbanks in the communities of Salcha and Delta Junction. During the early days of Fairbanks, its vicinity was a producer of agricultural goods. What is now the northern reaches of South Fairbanks was originally the farm of Paul J. Rickert, Farmers Loop Road and Badger Road, loop roads north and east of Fairbanks, were also home to major farming activity. Badger Road is named for Harry Markley Badger, a resident of Fairbanks who later established a farm along the road. Ballaine and McGrath Roads, side roads of Farmers Loop Road, were named for prominent local farmers. The Haines - Fairbanks 626 mile long 8 petroleum products pipeline was constructed during the period 1953-55, the presence of the U. S. military has remained strong in Fairbanks. Ladd became Fort Wainwright in 1960, the post was annexed into Fairbanks city limits during the 1980s, Fairbanks suffered from numerous floods in its first six decades, whether from ice jams during spring breakup or due to heavy rainfall. On August 14,1967, after record rainfall upstream, the Chena began to surge over its banks, flooding almost the entire town of Fairbanks overnight. The project was designed to prevent a repetition of the 1967 flood by being able to water in the Chena upstream from Fairbanks into the Tanana River. Fairbanks is located in the central Tanana Valley, straddling the Chena River near its confluence with the Tanana River, immediately north of the city is a chain of hills that rises gradually until it reaches the White Mountains and the Yukon River. The southern border of the city is the Tanana River, South of the river is the Tanana Flats, an area of marsh and bog that stretches for more than 100 miles until it rises into the Alaska Range, which is visible from Fairbanks on clear days. To the east and west are low valleys separated by ridges of hills up to 3,000 feet above sea level, the Tanana Valley is crossed by many low streams and rivers that flow into the Tanana River
10.
Anchorage, Alaska
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Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U. S. state of Alaska. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016. Anchorage is located in the portion of Alaska at the terminus of the Cook Inlet on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north. The city limits span 1,961.1 square miles encompass the urban core. Due to its location on the globe, being almost equidistant from New York City, Tokyo, Anchorage has been named an All-America City four times, in 1956,1965, 1984–85, and 2002, by the National Civic League. It has also named by Kiplinger as the most tax-friendly city in the United States. Russian presence in south central Alaska was well established in the 19th century, in 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from Imperial Russia for $7.2 million. His political rivals lampooned the deal as Sewards folly, Sewards icebox, by 1888, gold was discovered along Turnagain Arm. Alaska became a United States territory in 1912, Anchorage, unlike every other large town in Alaska south of the Brooks Range, was neither a fishing nor mining camp. The area surrounding Anchorage lacks significant economic metal minerals, a number of Denaina settlements existed along Knik Arm for years. By 1911 the families of J. D. Bud Whitney, jack Brown, and his bride, Nellie, in 1912 to have lived in the Ship Creek valley in the 1910s prior to the large influx of settlers. The city grew from its choice as the site, in 1914, under the direction of Frederick Mears. The area near the mouth of Ship Creek, where the headquarters was located. A town site was mapped out on higher ground to the south of the tent city, greatly noted in the years since for its order and rigidity compared with other Alaska town sites. In 1915, territorial governor John Franklin Alexander Strong encouraged residents to change the name to one that had more significance. In the summer of year, residents held a vote to change the citys name. However, the government ultimately declined to change the citys name. Anchorage was incorporated on November 23,1920, construction of the Alaska Railroad continued until its completion in 1923
11.
Water pollution
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Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies. This form of environmental degradation occurs when pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds, Water pollution affects the entire biosphere – plants and organisms living in these bodies of water. In almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and population, Water pollution is a major global problem which requires ongoing evaluation and revision of water resource policy at all levels. It has been suggested that pollution is the leading worldwide cause of deaths and diseases. An estimated 580 people in India die of water related illness every day. About 90 percent of the water in the cities of China is polluted, as of 2007, half a billion Chinese had no access to safe drinking water. In addition to the problems of water pollution in developing countries. The head of Chinas national development agency said in 2007 that one quarter the length of Chinas seven main rivers were so poisoned the water harmed the skin. Natural phenomena such as volcanoes, algae blooms, storms, and earthquakes also cause changes in water quality. Although interrelated, surface water and groundwater have often studied and managed as separate resources. Surface water seeps through the soil and becomes groundwater, conversely, groundwater can also feed surface water sources. Sources of surface water pollution are generally grouped into two based on their origin. Point source water pollution refers to contaminants that enter a waterway from a single, identifiable source, examples of sources in this category include discharges from a sewage treatment plant, a factory, or a city storm drain. The U. S. Clean Water Act defines point source for regulatory enforcement purposes, the CWA definition of point source was amended in 1987 to include municipal storm sewer systems, as well as industrial storm water, such as from construction sites. Nonpoint source pollution refers to contamination that does not originate from a single discrete source. NPS pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area, a common example is the leaching out of nitrogen compounds from fertilized agricultural lands. Nutrient runoff in storm water from sheet flow over a field or a forest are also cited as examples of NPS pollution. Contaminated storm water washed off of parking lots, roads and highways, however, because this runoff is typically channeled into storm drain systems and discharged through pipes to local surface waters, it becomes a point source
12.
Kenai Peninsula
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The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the southern coast of Alaska. The name Kenai is derived from the word Kenaitze, the name of the Native Alaskan tribe that inhabited the area. The peninsula extends approximately 150 miles southwest from the Chugach Mountains and it is separated from the mainland on the west by Cook Inlet and on the east by Prince William Sound. Most of the peninsula is part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, gerasim Izmailov was the first European man to explore and map the peninsula in 1789, though Athabaskan and Alutiiq Native groups have lived on the peninsula for thousands of years. The glacier-covered Kenai Mountains run along the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska, much of the range is within Kenai Fjords National Park. The northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is flatter and marshy, several larger lakes extend through the interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake and Tustumena Lake. Rivers include the Kenai River, famous for its population, as well as its tributary, the Russian River, the Kasilof River. Kachemak Bay, an inlet off the larger Cook Inlet, extends into the peninsulas southwest end. The Kenai Peninsula has many glaciers in its eastern and southern areas and it is home to both the Sargent Icefield and Harding Icefields and numerous glaciers that spawn off them. Homer famously marks the terminus of the highway system of North America and is a popular destination for travelers who have driven to Alaska from the lower 48 states. Seward is the terminus of the Alaska Railroad. There are airports with scheduled flights in Kenai and Homer as well as smaller general aviation airports in Soldotna. The Seward Highway connects Seward to Anchorage, and the Sterling Highway is the backbone of Kenai Peninsula connecting the towns to Anchorage. The peninsula has a climate that is relatively mild, with abundant rainfall. It is one of the few areas in Alaska that allows for agriculture, with a growing season adequate for producing hay, the peninsula also has natural gas, petroleum, and coal deposits, as well as abundant commercial and personal-use fisheries. Tourism is an industry, along with outfitting and guiding services for hunters and fishers. The Kenai Peninsula is known as Alaskas Playground
United States
Alaska
Media related to Kenai, Alaska at Wikimedia Commons
