1.
Grand Canyon
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The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the U. S. state of Arizona in North America. President Theodore Roosevelt was a proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon. For thousands of years, the area has been inhabited by Native Americans. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, the first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540. It is not the deepest canyon in the world, however, the Grand Canyon is known for its visually overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape. Geologically, it is significant because of the sequence of ancient rocks that are well preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon. These rock layers record much of the geologic history of the North American continent. Uplift associated with mountain formation later moved these sediments thousands of feet upward, the higher elevation has also resulted in greater precipitation in the Colorado River drainage area, but not enough to change the Grand Canyon area from being semi-arid. The uplift of the Colorado Plateau is uneven, and the Kaibab Plateau that Grand Canyon bisects is over a one thousand feet higher at the North Rim than at the South Rim. Almost all runoff from the North Rim flows toward the Grand Canyon, the result is deeper and longer tributary washes and canyons on the north side and shorter and steeper side canyons on the south side. Temperatures on the North Rim are generally lower than those on the South Rim because of the greater elevation, heavy rains are common on both rims during the summer months. Access to the North Rim via the route leading to the canyon is limited during the winter season due to road closures. The Grand Canyon is part of the Colorado River basin which has developed over the past 40 million years, a recent study places the origins of the canyon beginning about 17 million years ago. Previous estimates had placed the age of the canyon at 5–6 million years, the study, which was published in the journal Science in 2008, used uranium-lead dating to analyze calcite deposits found on the walls of nine caves throughout the canyon. There is an amount of controversy because this research suggests such a substantial departure from prior widely supported scientific consensus. In December 2012, a study published in the journal Science claimed new tests had suggested the Grand Canyon could be as old as 70 million years, the canyon is the result of erosion which exposes one of the most complete geologic columns on the planet. The major geologic exposures in the Grand Canyon range in age from the 2-billion-year-old Vishnu Schist at the bottom of the Inner Gorge to the 230-million-year-old Kaibab Limestone on the Rim
2.
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
3.
Himachal Pradesh
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Himachal Pradesh is a state of India located in Northern India. It is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab and Chandigarh on the west, Haryana on the south-west, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east. The name was coined from Sanskrit him snow and achal mountain, by Acharya Diwakar Datt Sharma, Himachal Pradesh is famous for its natural beauty, hill stations, and temples. Himachal Pradesh has been ranked fifteenth in the list of the highest per capita incomes of Indian states, many perennial rivers flow in the state, and numerous hydroelectric projects set up. Himachal produces surplus hydroelectricity and sells it to states such as Delhi, Punjab. Hydroelectric power projects, tourism, and agriculture form important parts of the states economy, the state has several valleys, and more than 90% of the population living in rural areas. Practically all houses have a toilet and 100% hygiene has been achieved in the state, the villages have good connectivity with roads, public health centres, and now with high-speed broadband. Shimla district has maximum urban population of 25%, according to a 2005 Transparency International survey, Himachal Pradesh was ranked the second-least corrupt state in the country, after Kerala. The history of the area that now constitutes Himachal Pradesh dates to the Indus valley civilisation that flourished between 2250 and 1750 BCE, tribes such as the Koili, Hali, Dagi, Dhaugri, Dasa, Khasa, Kinnar, and Kirat inhabited the region from the prehistoric era. During the Vedic period, several small republics known as Janapada existed which were conquered by the Gupta Empire. After a brief period of supremacy by King Harshavardhana, the region was divided into several local powers headed by chieftains and these kingdoms enjoyed a large degree of independence and were invaded by Delhi Sultanate a number of times. Mahmud Ghaznavi conquered Kangra at the beginning of the 10th century, timur and Sikander Lodi also marched through the lower hills of the state and captured a number of forts and fought many battles. Several hill states acknowledged Mughal suzerainty and paid tribute to the Mughals. The Gurkha people, a tribe, came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their power and began to expand their territory. Gradually, the Gorkhas annexed Sirmour and Shimla, under the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa, the Gurkha laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand Katoch, the ruler of Kangra, however, the Gurkha could not capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1809. After the defeat, the Gurkha began to expand towards the south of the state, however, Raja Ram Singh, Raja of Siba State, captured the fort of Siba from the remnants of Lahore Darbar in Samvat 1846, during the First Anglo-Sikh War
4.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
5.
Cagayan River (Mindanao)
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Cagayan River, often called the Cagayan de Oro River, is one of the rivers draining the northern central part of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The river has its headwaters in the Kalatungan Mountain Range and Kitanglad Mountain Range found in the part of the province of Bukidnon. It traverses the municipalities of Talakag, Baungon and Libona, connecting tributaries along the way and it finally empties into the Macajalar Bay at Cagayan de Oro in the province of Misamis Oriental. In Cagayan de Oro, it is the line between its two Congressional districts. The Cagayan River is a popular site for whitewater rafting in the Philippines and has been promoted by the Department of Tourism as the main tourist attraction of Cagayan de Oro. The original name of the river is Kalambaguasasahan River, because of the presence of Lambago trees along the river banks, during the arrival of the Spaniards in Cagayan de Oro, the name was changed to Cagayan River. The name of the river Cagayan comes from the Malayo-Polynesian word Ag, kagay means river and Kagayan is place with a river. The rivers headwaters is found in the Kalatungan Mountain Range, in the portion of the Province of Bukidnon. It flows northward towards Cagayan de Oro for about 90 kilometers before emptying into the Macajalar Bay, the river drains an area of approximately 1,521 square kilometers. About 80% of the basin is located in the Province of Bukidnon. The main tributaries of the Cagayan de Oro River are the following, after a 90-kilometer course from the mountains of Bukidnon, the river finally discharges its load to the Macajalar Bay. Whitewater Rafting, Kayaking and River Trekking has been one of the activities being promoted in the river. The city administration and the Department of Tourism made it as the tourism activity in Cagayan de Oro. The jump-off point of the river, whitewater rafting is at Barangay Mambuaya, Cagayan de Oro Macajalar Bay Bukidnon
6.
Philippines
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The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 square kilometers, and it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of 2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas, multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelagos earliest inhabitants and they were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Exchanges with Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Islamic nations occurred, then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization, in 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion, during this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, since then, the Philippines has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution. It is a member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines was named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte, eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other such as Islas del Poniente. The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of its history, during the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the República Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the name Philippines began to appear, since the end of World War II, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines. The metatarsal of the Callao Man, reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago is the oldest human remnant found in the archipelago to date and this distinction previously belonged to the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 26,500 years ago. Negritos were also among the archipelagos earliest inhabitants, but their first settlement in the Philippines has not been reliably dated, there are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos
7.
Arkansas River
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The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the US states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and it then flows east into the Midwest via Kansas, and finally into the South through Oklahoma and Arkansas. At 1,469 miles, it is the sixth-longest river in the United States, the second-longest tributary in the Mississippi–Missouri system, and its origin is in the Rocky Mountains in Lake County, Colorado, near Leadville. In 1859, placer gold discovered in the Leadville area brought thousands seeking to strike it rich, the Arkansas Rivers mouth is at Napoleon, Arkansas, and its drainage basin covers nearly 170,000 sq mi. In terms of volume, the river is smaller than the Missouri and Ohio Rivers. The Arkansas from its headwaters to the 100th meridian west formed part of the US-Mexico border from the Adams–Onís Treaty until the Texas Annexation or Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Arkansas has three distinct sections in its long path through central North America. At its headwaters, the Arkansas runs as a steep fast-flowing mountain river through the Rockies in its narrow valley and this section supports extensive whitewater rafting, including The Numbers, Browns Canyon, and the Royal Gorge. At Cañon City, Colorado, the Arkansas River valley widens and flattens markedly, just west of Pueblo, Colorado, the river enters the Great Plains. Through the rest of Colorado, Kansas, and much of Oklahoma, it is a typical Great Plains riverway, with wide, shallow banks subject to seasonal flooding, tributaries include the Cimarron River and the Salt Fork Arkansas River. In eastern Oklahoma the river begins to widen further into a more contained consistent channel, the river valley then expands as it encounters much flatter land beginning just west of Little Rock, Arkansas. It continues eastward across the plains and forests of eastern Arkansas until it flows into the Mississippi River. Important cities along the Arkansas River include Pueblo, Colorado, Garden City, Kansas, Wichita, Kansas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. The I-40 bridge disaster of May 2002 took place on I-40s crossing of Kerr Reservoir on the Arkansas River near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma. The problems over the possession and use of Arkansas River water by Colorado, while Congress approved the Arkansas River Compact in 1949, the compact did not stop further disputes by the two states over water rights to the river. The Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Basin Compact was created in 1965 to promote mutual consideration and it led to the Kansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Commission, which was charged with administering the compact and reducing pollution. The compact was approved and implemented by states in 1970, and has been in force since then. Through Oklahoma and Arkansas, dams artificially deepen and widen the river to build it into a navigable body of water. Many nations of Native Americans lived near, or along, the 1, the first Europeans to see the river were members of the Spanish Coronado expedition on June 29,1541
8.
Colorado
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Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,540,545 on July 1,2016, the state was named for the Colorado River, which Spanish travelers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28,1861, Colorado is nicknamed the Centennial State because it became a state in the same year as the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, residents of the state are properly known as Coloradans, although the term Coloradoan has been used archaically and lives on in the title of Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado, Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than one half of the area of Colorado is flat, East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet. The Colorado plains were mostly prairies, but they have many patches of forests, buttes. Eastern Colorado is presently covered in farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages. Precipitation is fair, averaging from 15 to 25 inches annually, corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, however, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline. As well as agriculture, eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as cattle ranches. Roughly 70% of Colorados population resides along the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The Front Range includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley and other townships, on the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction, Durango, and Montrose
9.
Ladakh
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It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir and its culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and culture, Aksai Chin is one of the disputed border areas between China and India. It is administered by China as part of Hotan County but is claimed by India as a part of the Ladakh region of the state of Jammu. In 1962, China and India fought a war over Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh. Since 1974, the Government of India has successfully encouraged tourism in Ladakh, since Ladakh is a part of strategically important Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian military maintains a strong presence in the region. The largest town in Ladakh is Leh, followed by Kargil, almost half of Ladakhis are Shia Muslims and the rest are mostly Tibetan Buddhists. In terms of pronunciation, the use of Ladakh, the Persian transliteration of the Tibetan La-dvags, is warranted by the pronunciation of the word in several Tibetan districts. Ladakh in the Farsi transliteration of the Tibetan La-dvags, which means on the borderland of extreme Pakistan, Ladakh has been described as The Mysterious Land of the Mystic Lamas, The Broken Moonland, or The Last Shangri-La for its unique landscape and exquisite culture. One sees no horizon here but only mountain peaks soaring up to 5 to 6 km, in the prehistoric period Ladakh formed a Great Lake. Even at present the region has some of the largest and most beautiful lakes, Pangong and it is a repository of myriad cultural and religious influences from Tibet, Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. Rock carvings found in parts of Ladakh indicate that the area has been inhabited from Neolithic times. Around the 1st century, Ladakh was a part of the Kushana empire, Buddhism spread into western Ladakh from Kashmir in the 2nd century when much of eastern Ladakh and western Tibet was still practising the Bon religion. The 7th century Buddhist traveler Xuanzang describes the region in his accounts, in the 8th century, Ladakh was involved in the clash between Tibetan expansion pressing from the East and Chinese influence exerted from Central Asia through the passes. Suzerainty over Ladakh frequently changed hands between China and Tibet, in 842 Nyima-Gon, a Tibetan royal prince annexed Ladakh for himself after the break-up of the Tibetan empire, and founded a separate Ladakhi dynasty. During this period, Ladakh acquired a predominantly Tibetan population, the dynasty spearheaded the second spreading of Buddhism, importing religious ideas from north-west India, particularly from Kashmir. The first spreading of Buddhism was the one in Tibet proper, according to Rolf Alfred Stein, author of Tibetan Civilization, the area of Zhangzhung was not historically a part of Tibet and was a distinctly foreign territory to the Tibetans. Then further west, The Tibetans encountered a distinctly foreign nation—Shangshung, mt. Kailāśa and Lake Manasarovar formed part of this country, whose language has come down to us through early documents. Though still unidentified, it seems to be Indo-European, geographically the country was certainly open to India, both through Nepal and by way of Kashmir and Ladakh
10.
Outdoor recreation
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Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to leisure pursuits engaged in the outdoors, often in natural or semi-natural settings out of town. Outdoor recreation may also refer to a sport game or practice held in an outdoor setting. When the recreation involves excitement, physical challenge, or risk, such as in rafting or climbing, the two primary purposes for outdoor recreation are beneficial use and pleasurable appreciation. Beneficial use is related to the physical and social rewards that goal-directed activity instills in individuals or groups, some outdoor goal-directed activities are, backpacking, canoeing, canyoning, caving, climbing, hiking, hill walking, hunting, kayaking, and rafting. Arguably broader groupings of goal-directed outdoor activities would include water sports, snow sports, goal-directed outdoor activities are predominantly physical, though they may also be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually rewarding. The outdoors as a physical or social setting may meet the needs of health, self-sufficiency, risk-taking, the building of social ties. The outdoors can be an environment in which show what they can do. Pleasurable appreciation encourages experiences of being let in on natures show and these activities may also be physically rewarding. Many people in modern civilizations believe that the value of nature is only in its utilitarian value. They would discount the inner perceptual and/or spiritual benefits of the value of nature that may be experienced during pleasurable appreciation. Outdoor activities may also be pursued for the purposes of finding peace in nature, enjoying life and they are alternatives to expensive forms of tourism. Outdoor activities are frequently used as a medium in education. Trekking is about enjoying a great walking holiday, treks can be day hikes, overnight or extended hikes. An example of a day trek is hiking during the day and returning at night to a lodge for a hot meal, trekking can be more enjoyable when undertaken while being generally physically fit. Physical preparation for trekking includes cycling, swimming, jogging and long walks and its also expected that backpackers leave no trace while enjoying the outdoors. The activity of mountain biking involves steering a mountain cycle over rocky tracks, to tackle the trails, the requirements are physical strength, stamina and a strong mountain cycle. Mountain bikes or ATBs feature a rugged frame and fork and their frames are often built of aluminum so they are lightweight and stiff, making them efficient to ride. Many styles of mountain biking are practiced, including all mountain, downhill, trials, dirt jumping, trail riding, the latter two are the most common
11.
Raft
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A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull, traditional or primitive rafts are constructed of wood or reeds. Modern rafts may also use pontoons, drums, or extruded polystyrene blocks, inflatable rafts use durable, multi-layered rubberized fabrics. Depending on its use and size, it may have a superstructure, masts, timber rafting is used by the logging industry for the transportation of logs, by tying them together into rafts and drifting or pulling them down a river. This method was common up until the middle of the 20th century but is now used only rarely. Large rafts made of logs and using sails for navigation were important in maritime trade on the Pacific Ocean coast of South America from pre-Columbian times until the 19th century. The type of raft used for recreational rafting is almost exclusively an inflatable boat, in biology, particularly in island biogeography, non-manmade rafts are an important concept. g. They stay afloat by its buoyancy and can travel for hundreds, even thousands of miles and ultimately are destroyed by wave action and decomposition. Rafting events are important means of dispersal for non-flying animals. World of Boats Collection ~ Australian Reed Raft World of Boats Collection ~ Brazilian Jangada Homemade Raft Plans and Photos of Rafts Neutrino Raft – vessels made from scrap
12.
River
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A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water, small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill. There are no official definitions for the term river as applied to geographic features. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location, examples are run in parts of the United States, burn in Scotland and northeast England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always, Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Potamology is the study of rivers while limnology is the study of inland waters in general. Extraterrestrial rivers of liquid hydrocarbons have recently found on Titan. Channels may indicate past rivers on other planets, specifically outflow channels on Mars and rivers are theorised to exist on planets, a river begins at a source, follows a path called a course, and ends at a mouth or mouths. The water in a river is confined to a channel. In larger rivers there is also a wider floodplain shaped by flood-waters over-topping the channel. Floodplains may be wide in relation to the size of the river channel. This distinction between river channel and floodplain can be blurred, especially in areas where the floodplain of a river channel can become greatly developed by housing. Rivers can flow down mountains, through valleys or along plains, the term upriver refers to the direction towards the source of the river, i. e. against the direction of flow. Likewise, the term describes the direction towards the mouth of the river. The term left bank refers to the bank in the direction of flow. The river channel typically contains a stream of water, but some rivers flow as several interconnecting streams of water. Extensive braided rivers are now found in only a few regions worldwide and they also occur on peneplains and some of the larger river deltas. Anastamosing rivers are similar to braided rivers and are quite rare
13.
Whitewater
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The term is also loosely used to refer to less turbulent, but still agitated, flows. The term whitewater also has a meaning, applying to any river or creek itself that has a significant number of rapids. The term is used as an adjective describing boating on such rivers. Four factors, separately or in combination, can create rapids, gradient, constriction, obstruction, gradient, constriction and obstruction are streambed topography factors and are relatively consistent. Flow rate is dependent upon both seasonal variation in precipitation and snowmelt and upon release rates of upstream dams, streambed topography is the primary factor in creating rapids, and is generally consistent over time. The gradient of a river is the rate at which it loses elevation along its course and this loss determines the rivers slope, and to a large extent its rate of flow. Shallow gradients produce gentle, slow rivers while steep gradients are associated with raging torrents, constrictions can form a rapid when a rivers flow is forced into a narrower channel. This pressure causes the water to more rapidly and to react differently to riverbed events. As with hydraulics, the power of eddies increases with the flow rate, in large rivers with high flow rates next to an obstruction, eddy walls can occur. An eddy wall is formed when the height of the river is higher than the level of the water in the eddy behind the obstruction. A marked increase or decrease in flow can create a rapid, flow rate is typically measured in cubic metres per second, or in cubic feet per second, depending on the country. The most widely used grading system is the International Scale of River Difficulty, grade-VI rapids are sometimes downgraded to grade-V or V+ if they have been run successfully. Harder rapids are often portaged, a French term for carrying, a portaged rapid is where the boater lands and carries the boat around the hazard. A rapids grade is not fixed, since it may vary depending on the water depth. Although some rapids may be easier at high flows because features are covered or washed-out, high water usually makes rapids more difficult, at flood stage, even rapids which are usually easy can contain lethal and unpredictable hazards. Class 1, Very small rough areas, requires no maneuvering, Class 2, Some rough water, maybe some rocks, small drops, might require maneuvering. Class 3, Medium waves, maybe a 3–5 ft drop, Class 4, Whitewater, large waves, long rapids, rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed. Class 5, Whitewater, large waves, continuous rapids, large rocks and hazards, maybe a large drop, often characterized by must make moves, i. e. failure to execute a specific maneuver at a specific point may result in serious injury or death
14.
Extreme sport
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Extreme sports is a popular term for certain activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a level of physical exertion. While use of the extreme sport has spread far and wide to describe a multitude of different activities. There are, however, several characteristics common to most extreme sports, while not the exclusive domain of youth, extreme sports tend to have a younger-than-average target demographic. Extreme sports are sanctioned by schools. Extreme sports tend to be more solitary than traditional sports, in addition, beginning extreme athletes tend to work on their craft without the guidance of a coach. Activities categorized by media as extreme sports differ from traditional sports due to the number of inherently uncontrollable variables. These environmental variables are frequently weather and terrain related, including wind, snow, water, because these natural phenomena cannot be controlled, they inevitably affect the outcome of the given activity or event. In a traditional sporting event, athletes compete against each other under controlled circumstances, while it is possible to create a controlled sporting event such as X Games, there are environmental variables that cannot be held constant for all athletes. Examples include changing snow conditions for snowboarders, rock and ice quality for climbers, whilst traditional sporting judgment criteria may be adopted when assessing performance, extreme sports performers are often evaluated on more subjective and aesthetic criteria. While the exact definition and what is included as extreme sport is debatable, a passenger in a canyon jet boat ride will not fulfill the requirements, as the skill required pertains to the pilot, not the passengers. Thrill seeking might in these cases be a suitable qualification than extreme sport. Extreme sports may be subdivided into, These sports require the use of snow, ice or water) sports, the phrase is, There are only three sports, bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering, all the rest are merely games. The implication of the phrase was that the word sport defined an activity in one might be killed. The other activities being termed games, the phrase may have been invented by either writer Barnaby Conrad or automotive author Ken Purdy. The Dangerous Sports Club of Oxford University, England was founded by David Kirke, Chris Baker, Ed Hulton and Alan Weston. They first came to public attention by inventing modern day bungee jumping, by making the first modern jumps on 1 April 1979, from the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol. Bungee jumping was treated as a novelty for a few years, then became a craze for young people, and is now an established industry for thrill seekers
15.
Pacuare River
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The Pacuare River, or the Río Pacuare, flows approximately 108 km to the Caribbean. It is a location for white water rafting, whitewater kayaking and riverboarding. The rainforests that surround the river are home to animal species such as jaguars, monkeys, ocelots. Also it was considered one of the 5 nicest rivers to practice rafting, the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad - Costa Ricas state-owned electricity agency - suggested in 1986 the possibility of building a hydroelectric dam on the river. This plan was rejected in 2005 due to concerns about the pollution and other impacts on tourism. The Pacuare River is divided into sixteen sections. Starting from the top the three commonly run sections are known as The Upper Upper, The Upper and The Lower, the Upper Upper Section - This run is approximately 16 miles long and contains numerous class II through IV rapids. This section is commonly run due to the necessary to reach the put-in. This section can be rafted and kayaked, the Upper Section - This more technical section consists of approximately ten miles of whitewater including multiple class IV and V rapids as well as waterfalls. The take-out for this section is Finca La Cruz and this section is most commonly run in creeking style whitewater kayaks. The Lower Section - This is the section of class III, flowing approximately 23 miles from Finca La Cruz to the town of Siquirres. The run can be done in a day trip or as long as a three-day trip. The highlights of this include the whitewater rapids and the waterfalls that flow into the river in the Huacas River Gorge. The rapids include Upper and Lower Huacas, Double Drop, Cimarones as well as multiple others, the first known river running of the Pacuare was done by a group of Polish kayakers traveling the length of Central America on their way to South America in the winter of 1980/81. The first rafting expedition was in Feb 1981 and the party was composed of Nick Hershenow, Sharon Hester, Jerry Kaufman, Sharon Hester and Nick Hershenow were rafting guides for Michael Kaye of CREAR. This expedition used a 12-foot Avon Redshank and Rudy mostly kayaked in a Holloform, the trip was divided into the Upper and Lower sections starting at a bridge crossing and took 5 days to reach the narrow gauge railroad where they flagged a train back to San Jose. In 1978 Kaye started Costa Rica Expeditions to run commercial trips in Costa Rica, between 1980 and 1983 Rafael Gallo, a previous employee of Kaye at Costa Rica Expeditions, gathered four rafts and started the company Rios Tropicales. Aventuras Naturales joined the list of commercial rafting companies on the Pacuare River in the mid-1980s,1986 saw Ticos River Adventures started in Turrialba, the closest city to the Pacuare River
16.
Costa Rica
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It has a population of around 4.5 million, of whom nearly a quarter live in the metropolitan area of the capital and largest city, San José. Costa Rica was sparsely inhabited by people before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. Since then, Costa Rica has remained among the most stable, prosperous, following a brief civil war, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army. Costa Rica is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. The country has consistently performed favourably in the Human Development Index, placing 69th in the world as of 2015 and its rapidly developing economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. Costa Rica is known for its environmental policies, being the only country to meet all five UNDP criteria established to measure environmental sustainability. Costa Rica officially plans to become a country by 2021. In 2012, it became the first country in the Americas to ban recreational hunting, historians have classified the indigenous people of Costa Rica as belonging to the Intermediate Area, where the peripheries of the Mesoamerican and Andean native cultures overlapped. More recently, pre-Columbian Costa Rica has also described as part of the Isthmo-Colombian Area. The oldest evidence of occupation in Costa Rica is associated with the arrival of various groups of hunter-gatherers about 10,000 to 7,000 years BCE in the Turrialba Valley. The presence of Clovis culture type spearheads and arrows from South America opens the possibility that, in this area, agriculture became evident in the populations that lived in Costa Rica about 5,000 years ago. They mainly grew tubers and roots, for the first and second millennia BCE there were already settled farming communities. These were small and scattered, although the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the livelihood in the territory is still unknown. The earliest use of pottery appears around 2,000 to 3,000 BCE, shards of pots, cylindrical vases, platters, gourds and other forms of vases decorated with grooves, prints, and some modelled after animals have been found. The impact of indigenous peoples on modern Costa Rican culture has been small compared to other nations. Costa Rica was described as the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all America by a Spanish governor in 1719, for all these reasons, Costa Rica was, by and large, unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and left to develop on its own. Costa Rica became a democracy with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil, like the rest of Central America, Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain
17.
International scale of river difficulty
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The International Scale of River Difficulty is an American system used to rate the difficulty of a stretch of river, or a single rapid. The scale was created by the American Whitewater Association for the purpose of evaluating rivers throughout the world and it should not be confused with the internationally used whitewater scale, which is published and adapted by a committee of the International Canoe Federation ICF. The grade reflects the difficulty and skill level required associated with the section of river. The scale is of use to water sports and activities, such as rafting, riverboarding, whitewater canoeing, stand up paddle surfing. There are six categories, each referred to as Grade or Class followed by a number, the scale is not linear, nor is it fixed. For instance, there can be difficult grade twos, easy grade threes, the grade of a river may change with the level of flow. Often a river or rapid will be given a numerical grade, while a river section may be given an overall grading, it may contain sections above that grade, often noted as features, or conversely, it may contain sections of lower graded water as well. Details of portages may be given if these pose specific challenges, the grade of a river or rapid is likely to change along with the level of the water. High water usually makes rapids more difficult and dangerous, although some rapids may be easier at high flows because features are covered or washed out, at spate/flood stage, even rapids which are usually easy can contain lethal and unpredictable hazards. Conversely, some rapids may be easier with lower levels when dangerous hydraulics become easier to manage. Some rivers with high volumes of fast moving water may require little maneuvering, but will pose serious risk of injury or death in the event of a capsize
18.
Lao River, Italy
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The Lao is a river in southern Italy. It rises in the Lucanian Apennines in Basilicata and drains into the Tyrrhenian Sea near Scalea in Calabria, the river has a length of 51 km. Its source is near the Serra del Prete mountain in the Pollino massif, here it flows to the west through the Valley of the Mercure and passes Viggianello. Later it changes course to southwest and passes Laino Borgo and Papasidero, near Orsomarso it is joined by the Argentino from the left, its main tributary. It empties in the Tyrrhenian Sea near Scalea, pliny, Ptolemy and Strabo all describe the river and note that it was the boundary between Lucania and Bruttium in classical antiquity. The archaeological site of the ancient Greek colony Laüs is located close to the mouth in the frazione Marcellina of the comune Santa Maria del Cedro
19.
Calabria
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Calabria, known in antiquity as Bruttium and formerly as Italia, is a region in Southern Italy and forms the traditionally conceptualized toe of the Italian Peninsula which resembles a boot. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro and its most populated city, and the seat of the Regional Council of Calabria, is Reggio Calabria in the Province of Reggio Calabria. The region is bordered to the north by the Basilicata Region, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, the region covers 15,080 km2 and has a population of just under 2 million. The demonym of Calabria in English is Calabrian, in ancient times Calabria was referred to as Italy. The Romans later extended the name to cover Southern Italy and then the entire peninsula, the region is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km, with a maximum width of 110 km. Some 42% of Calabrias area, corresponding to 15,080 km2, is mountainous, 49% is hilly and it is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. It is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina, where the narrowest point between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3.2 km, three mountain ranges are present, Pollino, La Sila and Aspromonte. All three mountain ranges are unique with their own flora and fauna, the Pollino Mountains in the north of the region are rugged and form a natural barrier separating Calabria from the rest of Italy. Parts of the area are heavily wooded, while others are vast and these mountains are home to a rare Bosnian Pine variety, and are included in the Pollino National Park. The highest point is Botte Donato, which reaches 1,928 metres, the area boasts numerous lakes and dense coniferous forests. La Sila also has some of the tallest trees in Italy which are called the Giants of the Sila, the Sila National Park is also known to have the purest air in Europe. The Aspromonte massif forms the southernmost tip of the Italian peninsula bordered by the sea on three sides and this unique mountainous structure reaches its highest point at Montalto, at 1,995 metres, and is full of wide, man-made terraces that slope down towards the sea. In general, most of the terrain in Calabria has been agricultural for centuries. The lowest slopes are rich in vineyards and citrus fruit orchards, the Diamante citron is one of the citrus fruits. Moving upwards, olives and chestnut trees appear while in the regions there are often dense forests of oak, pine, beech. Calabrias climate is influenced by the sea and mountains, mountain areas have a typical mountainous climate with frequent snow during winter. Erratic behavior of the Tyrrhenian Sea can bring heavy rainfall on the slopes of the region, while hot air from Africa makes the east coast of Calabria dry. The mountains that run along the region also influence the climate, the east coast is much warmer and has wider temperature ranges than the west coast
20.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
21.
Surfing
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Surfing is a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving wave, which is usually carrying the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found in the ocean, however, surfers can also utilize artificial waves such as those from boat wakes and the waves created in artificial wave pools. The term surfing refers to the act of riding a wave, regardless of whether the wave is ridden with a board or without a board, and regardless of the stance used. The native peoples of the Pacific, for instance, surfed waves on alaia, paipo, and other such craft, and did so on their belly and knees. The modern-day definition of surfing, however, most often refers to a riding a wave standing up on a surfboard. Another prominent form of surfing is body boarding, when a surfer rides a wave on a bodyboard, either lying on their belly, drop knee, other types of surfing include knee boarding, surf matting, and using foils. Body surfing, where the wave is surfed without a board, using the surfers own body to catch, recently with the use of V-drive boats, Wakesurfing, in which one surfs on the wake of a boat, has emerged. For centuries, surfing was a part of ancient Polynesian culture. Surfing may have first been observed by British explorers at Tahiti in 1767, samuel Wallis and the crew members of the Dolphin who were the first Britons to visit the island in June of that year. Another candidate is the botanist Joseph Banks being part of the first voyage of James Cook on the HMS Endeavour, who arrived on Tahiti on 10 April 1769. Lieutenant James King was the first person to write about the art of surfing on Hawaii when he was completing the journals of Captain James Cook upon Cooks death in 1779. When Mark Twain visited Hawaii in 1866 he wrote, In one place we came upon a company of naked natives. In July 1885, three teenage Hawaiian princes took a break from their school, St. Mathew’s Hall in San Mateo. George Freeth is often credited as being the Father of Modern Surfing and he is thought to have been the first modern surfer. In 1907, the interests of the land baron Henry E. Huntington brought the ancient art of surfing to the California coast. While on vacation, Huntington had seen Hawaiian boys surfing the island waves, looking for a way to entice visitors to the area of Redondo Beach, where he had heavily invested in real estate, he hired a young Hawaiian to ride surfboards. George Freeth decided to revive the art of surfing, but had success with the huge 16-foot hardwood boards that were popular at that time. When he cut them in half to them more manageable, he created the original Long board
22.
Carabiner
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A carabiner or karabiner is a specialized type of shackle, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate used to quickly and reversibly connect components, most notably in safety-critical systems. The word is a form of Karabinerhaken, a German phrase for a spring hook used by a carbine rifleman, or carabinier. The carabiner has been improved several times over the decades, making it more lightweight and they are predominantly made from both steel and aluminium. Those used in sports tend to be of a lighter weight than those used in commercial applications, often referred to as carabiner-style or as mini-biners, carabiner keyrings and other light-use clips of similar style and design have also become popular. Most are stamped with a “Not For Climbing” or similar warning due to a lack of load-testing. Carabiners on hot air balloons are used to connect the envelope to the basket and are rated at 2.5 tonne,3 tonne or 4 tonne, load-bearing screw-gate carabiners are used to connect the divers umbilical to the surface supplied divers harness. They are usually rated for a working load of 5 kN or more. Carabiners come in four shapes, Oval, Symmetric. Smooth regular curves are gentle on equipment and allow easy repositioning of loads and their greatest disadvantage is that a load is shared equally on both the strong solid spine and the weaker gated axis. D, Asymmetric shape transfers the majority of the load onto the spine, offset-D, Variant of a D with a greater asymmetry, allowing for a wider gate opening. Pear/HMS, Specialized oversized offset-Ds used in belaying and these are usually the heaviest carabiners. There are three categories of carabiner, auto locking, manual locking, and non-locking. Non-locking carabiners have a swinging gate that accepts a rope, webbing sling. Rock climbers frequently connect two non-locking carabiners with a length of nylon web to create a quickdraw. Three gate types are common, Straight gate, The most utilitarian, wire gate, The lightest type, with a strength roughly equal to the others, allowing more to be carried for a given weight. Wire gates are less prone to icing up than solid gates, life supporting carabiners such as those used in tree climbing need to be strong, but also secure against unintentional opening under use. All carabiners with a spring loaded gate are self closing, several are also self locking, some even self double locking. Locking carabiners have the general shape as non-locking carabiners but have an additional mechanism securing the gate
23.
Colorado River
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The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The 1, 450-mile-long Colorado River drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U. S. starting in the central Rocky Mountains in the U. S. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora. Known for its dramatic canyons, whitewater rapids, and eleven U. S. National Parks, the Colorados large flow and steep gradient are used for generating hydroelectric power, and its major dams regulate peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Intensive water consumption has dried up the lower 100 miles of the river, beginning with small bands of nomadic hunter-gatherers, Native Americans have inhabited the Colorado River basin for at least 8,000 years. Most native peoples that inhabit the basin today are descended from groups that settled in the region beginning about 1,000 years ago. Europeans first entered the Colorado Basin in the 16th century, when explorers from Spain began mapping and claiming the area, early contact between Europeans and Native Americans was generally limited to the fur trade in the headwaters and sporadic trade interactions along the lower river. After most of the Colorado River basin became part of the U. S. in 1846, several expeditions charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century – one of which, led by John Wesley Powell, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon. American explorers collected valuable information that would later be used to develop the river for navigation, lesser numbers settled in the upper basin, which was the scene of major gold strikes in the 1860s and 1870s. Large engineering works began around the start of the 20th century, with guidelines established in a series of international. The U. S. federal government was the driving force behind the construction of dams and aqueducts in the river system, although many state. Most of the dams in the river basin were built between 1910 and 1970, the system keystone, Hoover Dam, was completed in 1935. The Colorado is now considered among the most controlled and litigated rivers in the world, as demands for Colorado River water continue to rise, the level of human development and control of the river continues to generate controversy. The Colorado begins at La Poudre Pass in the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, after a short run south, the river turns west below Grand Lake, the largest natural lake in the state. As it flows southwest, it gains strength from many tributaries, as well as larger ones including the Blue, Eagle. In a few areas, such as the marshy Kawuneeche Valley near the headwaters, arcing northwest, the Colorado begins to cut across the eponymous Colorado Plateau, a vast area of high desert centered at the Four Corners of the southwestern United States. In Utah, the Colorado flows primarily through the slickrock country and this is one of the most inaccessible regions of the continental United States. Here, the San Juan River, carrying runoff from the slope of Colorados San Juan Mountains, joins the Colorado from the east. S
24.
Montenegro
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Montenegro is a sovereign state in Southeastern Europe. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Old Royal Capital. In the 9th century, three Slavic principalities were in the territory of Montenegro, Duklja, roughly corresponding to the half, Travunia, the west, and Rascia. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in the independence of Duklja, Duklja reached its zenith under Vojislavs son, Mihailo, and his grandson Bodin. By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm. In the late 14th century, southern Montenegro came under the rule of the Balšić noble family, then the Crnojević noble family, large portions fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire from 1496 to 1878. Parts were controlled by Venice and the First French Empire and Austria-Hungary, from 1515 until 1851, the prince-bishops of Cetinje were the rulers. The House of Petrović-Njegoš ruled the country from 1697 to 1918, from 1918, it was a part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was succeeded by SFR Yugoslavia in 1945, FR Yugoslavia in 1992, and subsequently by the state union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. On the basis of a referendum held on 21 May 2006. Montenegro is also a candidate negotiating to join the European Union, on 2 December 2015, Montenegro received an official invitation to join NATO, whereby it would be the 29th member country. This invitation was meant to start accession talks. The countrys name in most Western European languages reflects an adaptation of the Venetian Montenegro, many other languages, particularly nearby ones, use their own direct translation of the term black mountain. Examples are the Albanian name for the country, Mali i Zi, the Greek name Μαυροβούνιο, the Chinese name 黑山, all Slavic languages use slight variations on the Montenegrin name Crna Gora, examples include the Czech Černá Hora and the Polish Czarnogóra. Chechen and Ingush people call the country Ӏаьржаламанчоь, the name Crna Gora came to denote the majority of contemporary Montenegro only in the 15th century. The aforementioned region became known as Old Montenegro by the 19th century to distinguish it from the acquired territory of Brda. Its borders have changed little since then, losing Metohija and gaining the Bay of Kotor, the ISO Alpha-2 code for Montenegro is ME and the Alpha-3 Code is MNE. By 1000 BC, a common Illyrian language and culture had spread across much of the Balkans, interaction amongst groups was not always friendly – hill forts were the most common form of settlement – but distinctive Illyrian art forms such as amber and bronze jewellery evolved. In time, the Illyrians established a federation of tribes centred in what is now Macedonia
25.
Conservation movement
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The early conservation movement included fisheries and wildlife management, water, soil conservation and sustainable forestry. Some say the movement is part of the broader and more far-reaching environmental movement. Chiefly in the United States, conservation is seen as differing from environmentalism in that it aims to preserve natural resources expressly for their sustainable use by humans. The conservation movement can be traced back to John Evelyns work Sylva, published as a book two years later, it was one of the most highly influential texts on forestry ever published. The field developed during the 18th century, especially in Prussia and these methods were first applied rigorously in British India from the early-19th century. This early ecological idea was in order to preserve the growth of teak trees. The first forestry officer was appointed in 1806 to regulate and preserve the trees necessary for shipbuilding and this promising start received a setback in the 1820s and 30s, when laissez-faire economics and complaints from private landowners brought these early conservation attempts to an end. Conservation was revived in the century, with the first practical application of scientific conservation principles to the forests of India. Edward Percy Stebbing warned of desertification of India and this was the first case of state management of forests in the world. These local attempts gradually received more attention by the British government as the unregulated felling of trees continued unabated, in 1850, the British Association in Edinburgh formed a committee to study forest destruction at the behest of Dr. Hugh Cleghorn a pioneer in the nascent conservation movement. He had become interested in forest conservation in Mysore in 1847, in the same year, Cleghorn organised the Madras Forest Department and in 1860 the Department banned the use shifting cultivation. Cleghorns 1861 manual, The forests and gardens of South India, in 1861, the Forest Department extended its remit into the Punjab. Sir Dietrich Brandis, a German forester, joined the British service in 1856 as superintendent of the forests of Pegu division in eastern Burma. During that time Burmas teak forests were controlled by militant Karen tribals and he introduced the taungya system, in which Karen villagers provided labour for clearing, planting and weeding teak plantations. After seven years in Burma, Brandis was appointed Inspector General of Forests in India and he formulated new forest legislation and helped establish research and training institutions. The Imperial Forest School at Dehradun was founded by him, germans were prominent in the forestry administration of British India. As well as Brandis, Berthold Ribbentrop and Sir William P. D, schlich brought new methods to Indian conservation, the latter becoming the Inspector-General in 1883 after Brandis stepped down. Schlich helped to establish the journal Indian Forester in 1874, and he authored the five-volume Manual of Forestry on silviculture, forest management, forest protection, and forest utilisation, which became the standard and enduring textbook for forestry students
26.
Natural resource
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Natural resources are resources that exist without actions of humankind. This includes all valued characteristics such as magnetic, gravitational, on earth it includes, sunlight, atmosphere, water, land along with all vegetation and animal life that naturally subsists upon or within the heretofore identified characteristics and substances. Particular areas such as the rainforest in Fatu-Hiva are often characterized by the biodiversity and geodiversity existent in their ecosystems, Natural resources may be further classified in different ways. Natural resources are materials and components that can be found within the environment, every man-made product is composed of natural resources. Some natural resources such as sunlight and air can be found everywhere, however, most resources only occur in small sporadic areas, and are referred to as localised resources. There are very few resources that are considered inexhaustible – these are solar radiation, geothermal energy, the vast majority of resources are theoretically exhaustible, which means they have a finite quantity and can be depleted if managed improperly. There are various methods of categorizing natural resources, these include source of origin, stage of development, fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum are also included in this category because they are formed from decayed organic matter. Abiotic – Abiotic resources are those that come from non-living, non-organic material, examples of abiotic resources include land, fresh water, air and heavy metals including ores such as gold, iron, copper, silver, etc. For example, petroleum occurs with sedimentary rocks in various regions, Actual resources — Actual resources are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and are being used in present times. The development of a resource, such as wood processing depends upon the technology available. Reserve resources — The part of a resource which can be developed profitably in the future is called a reserve resource. Stock resources — Stock resources are those that have been surveyed, renewability is a very popular topic and many natural resources can be categorized as either renewable or non-renewable, Renewable resources — Renewable resources can be replenished naturally. Some of these resources, like sunlight, air, wind, water, etc. are continuously available, though many renewable resources do not have such a rapid recovery rate, these resources are susceptible to depletion by over-use. Non-renewable resources – Non-renewable resources either form slowly or do not naturally form in the environment, minerals are the most common resource included in this category. Some resources actually naturally deplete in amount without human interference, the most notable of these being radio-active elements such as uranium, of these, the metallic minerals can be re-used by recycling them, but coal and petroleum cannot be recycled. Once they are used they take millions of years to replenish. Resource extraction involves any activity that withdraws resources from nature and this can range in scale from the traditional use of preindustrial societies, to global industry. Extractive industries are, along with agriculture, the basis of the sector of the economy
27.
Habitat
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A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and it is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population. Every organism has certain habitat needs for the conditions in which it will thrive, habitat types include polar, temperate, subtropical and tropical. The terrestrial vegetation type may be forest, steppe, grassland, the word habitat has been in use since about 1755 and derives from the Latin third-person singular present indicative of habitāre, to inhabit, from habēre, to have or to hold. Habitat can be defined as the environment of an organism. It is similar in meaning to a biotope, an area of environmental conditions associated with a particular community of plants. Generally speaking, animal communities are reliant on specific types of plant communities, some plants and animals are generalists, and their habitat requirements are met in a wide range of locations. The small white butterfly for example is found on all the continents of the world apart from Antarctica and its larvae feed on a wide range of Brassicas and various other plant species, and it thrives in any open location with diverse plant associations. Disturbance is important in the creation of biodiverse habitats, in the absence of disturbance, a climax vegetation cover develops that prevents the establishment of other species. Lightning strikes and toppled trees in tropical forests allow species richness to be maintained as pioneering species move in to fill the gaps created. Similarly coastal habitats can become dominated by kelp until the seabed is disturbed by a storm, another cause of disturbance is when an area may be overwhelmed by an invasive introduced species which is not kept under control by natural enemies in its new habitat. Terrestrial habitat types include forests, grasslands, wetlands and deserts, within these broad biomes are more specific habitats with varying climate types, temperature regimes, soils, altitudes and vegetation types. Many of these habitats grade into each other and each one has its own communities of plants. A habitat may suit a particular species well, but its presence or absence at any particular location depends to some extent on chance, on its dispersal abilities, freshwater habitats include rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes and bogs. Although some organisms are found across most of these habitats, the majority have more specific requirements, similarly, aquatic plants can be floating, semi-submerged, submerged or grow in permanently or temporarily saturated soils besides bodies of water. Marine habitats include brackish water, estuaries, bays, the sea, the intertidal zone. Further variations include rock pools, sand banks, mudflats, brackish lagoons, sandy and pebbly beaches, the benthic zone or seabed provides a home for both static organisms, anchored to the substrate, and for a large range of organisms crawling on or burrowing into the surface. A desert is not the kind of habitat that favours the presence of amphibians, with their requirement for water to keep their skins moist, nevertheless, some frogs live in deserts, creating moist habitats underground and hibernating while conditions are adverse
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Municipality
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It is to be distinguished from the county, which may encompass rural territory and/or numerous small communities such as towns, villages and hamlets. The term municipality may also mean the governing or ruling body of a given municipality, a municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district. The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis, a municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, or a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York. The power of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete subordination to the state, municipalities may have the right to tax individuals and corporations with income tax, property tax, and corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state. Similar terms include Spanish ayuntamiento, also called municipalidad, Polish gmina, Dutch/Flemish Gemeente, in Australia, the term local government area is used in place of the generic municipality. Here, the LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia, incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. In Canada, municipalities are local governments established through provincial and territorial legislation, the Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers. Types of upper tier municipalities in Ontario include counties and regional municipalities, nova Scotia also has regional municipalities, which include cities, counties, districts, or towns as municipal units. In India, a Nagar Palika or Municipality is a local body that administers a city of population 100,000 or more. Under the Panchayati Raj system, it directly with the state government. Generally, smaller cities and bigger towns have a Nagar Palika. Nagar Palikas are also a form of local self-government entrusted with duties and responsibilities. Such a corporation in Great Britain consists of a head as a mayor or provost, since local government reorganisation, the unit in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is known as a district, and in Scotland as a council area. A district may be awarded borough or city status, or can retain its district title, in Jersey, a municipality refers to the honorary officials elected to run each of the 12 parishes into which it is subdivided. This is the highest level of government in this jurisdiction. In the United States, municipality is usually understood as a city, town, village, or other local government unit, in the Peoples Republic of China, a direct-controlled municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing. In Taiwan, a municipality is a city with equal status to a province, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei. In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ, when referring to the territory, the word concelho is used, when referring to the organ of State, the word município is used
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Tourism
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Tourism is travel for pleasure or business, also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. Tourism may be international, or within the travellers country, Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a countrys balance of payments. Today, tourism is a source of income for many countries. International tourism receipts grew to US$1.03 trillion in 2011, the ITB Berlin is the worlds leading tourism trade fair. The word tourist was used by 1772 and tourism by 1811. It is formed from the tour, which is derived from Old English turian, from Old French torner, from Latin tornare, to turn on a lathe. Tourism is an important, even vital, source of income for many regions and it also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy associated with tourism. This is in addition to goods bought by tourists, including souvenirs, in 1936, the League of Nations defined a foreign tourist as someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours. Its successor, the United Nations, amended this definition in 1945 and it includes movements for all purposes. In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of particular activities chosen and undertaken outside the home, in this context, travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited, by contrast, traveler is often used as a sign of distinction. The sociology of tourism has studied the values underpinning these distinctions. International tourist arrivals reached 1.035 billion in 2012, up from over 996 million in 2011, the World Tourism Organization reports the following ten destinations as the most visited in terms of the number of international travellers in 2016. International tourism receipts grew to US$1.2 trillion in 2014, based upon air traffic, the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index reports the following cities as the top ten most popular destinations of international tourism worldwide. MasterCard reports the following cities as the top ten biggest earners on international tourism worldwide in 2015, as early as Shulgi, however, kings praised themselves for protecting roads and building waystations for travelers. During the Roman Republic, spas and coastal resorts such as Baiae were popular among the rich, pausanias wrote his Description of Greece in the 2nd century AD. In ancient China, nobles sometimes made a point of visiting Mount Tai and, on occasion, the Islamic hajj is still central to its faith and Chaucers Canterbury Tales and Wu Chengens Journey to the West remain classics of English and Chinese literature. The 10th- to 13th-century Song dynasty also saw secular travel writers such as Su Shi, under the Ming, Xu Xiake continued the practice
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Stream bed
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A stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream, river or creek, the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the banks or river banks, during all. Under certain conditions a river can branch from one bed to multiple stream beds. A flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto its flood plain, as a general rule, the bed is the part of the channel up to the normal water line, and the banks are that part above the normal water line. However, because water flow varies, this differentiation is subject to local interpretation, the nature of any stream bed is always a function of the flow dynamics and the local geologic materials, influenced by that flow. With small streams in mesophytic regions, the nature of the bed is strongly responsive to conditions of precipitation runoff. Where natural conditions of either grassland or forest ameliorate peak flows, stream beds are stable, possibly rich, with organic matter and these streams support a rich biota. Where conditions produce unnatural levels of runoff, such as occurs below roads and this process greatly increases watershed erosion and results in thinner soils, upslope from the stream bed, as the channel adjusts to the increase in flow. The stream bed is very complex in terms of erosion, sediment is transported, eroded and deposited on the stream bed. With global warming there is a fear that the size and shape of riverbeds will change due to increased flood magnitude and this shows that the stream bed is left mostly unchanged in size and shape. Dry stream beds are also subject to becoming underground water pockets and flooding by heavy rains and water rising from the ground and may sometimes be part of the rejuvenation of the stream
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Dredging
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Dredging is an excavation activity usually carried out underwater, in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is used to keep waterways navigable. It is also used as a way to replenish sand on some public beaches, fishing dredges are used as a technique for catching certain species of edible clams and crabs. Capital, dredging carried out to create a new harbor, berth or waterway, preparatory, work and excavation for future bridges, piers or docks/wharves, often connected with foundation work. This is often carried out with a trailing suction hopper dredge, most dredging is for this purpose, and it may also be done to maintain the holding capacity of reservoirs or lakes. Land reclamation, dredging to mine sand, clay or rock from the seabed and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. The material may also be used for flood or erosion control, beach nourishment, mining sand offshore and placing on a beach to replace sand eroded by storms or wave action. This is done to enhance the recreational and protective function of the beaches and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. Harvesting materials, dredging sediment for elements like gold, diamonds or other valuable trace substances, seabed mining, a possible future use, recovering natural metal ore nodules from the seas abyssal plains. Construction materials, dredging sand and gravels from offshore licensed areas for use in construction industry, very specialist industry focused in NW Europe using specialized trailing suction hopper dredgers self discharging dry cargo ashore. Anti-eutrophication, Dredging is an option for the remediation of eutrophied water bodies. Contaminant remediation, to areas affected by chemical spills, storm water surges. Disposal becomes a large factor in these operations. Removing trash and debris, often done in combination with maintenance dredging, flood prevention, this can help to increase channel depth and therefore increase a channels capacity for carrying water. This tradition has now more or less obsolete and the tools used to do this have also changed significantly. Oyster dredging or harvesting, in Louisiana and other states with salt water estuaries that can sustain bottom oyster beds. A heavy metal rectangular scoop device is towed astern of a boat with a chain bridle attached to a cable. The device is periodically hauled aboard and the oysters in it are sorted and bagged for shipment to a processing facility
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Drilling and blasting
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Drilling and Blasting is the controlled use of explosives and other methods such as gas pressure blasting pyrotechnics, to break rock for excavation. It is practiced most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction, the result of rock blasting is often known as a rock cut. Drilling and Blasting currently utilizes many different varieties of explosives with different compositions, for instance, an early 20th-century blasting manual compared the effects of black powder to that of a wedge, and dynamite to that of a hammer. The most commonly used explosives in mining today are ANFO based blends due to lower cost than dynamite, before the advent of tunnel boring machines, drilling and blasting was the only economical way of excavating long tunnels through hard rock, where digging is not possible. Even today, the method is used in the construction of tunnels. The decision whether to construct a tunnel using a TBM or using a drill and this means that shorter tunnels tend to be less economical to construct with a TBM and are therefore usually constructed by drill and blast. Managing ground conditions can also have a significant effect on the choice with different methods suited to different hazards in the ground. The use of explosives in mining goes back to the year 1627, the innovation spread quickly throughout Europe and the Americas. In 1990,2.1 million tonnes of explosives were consumed in the United States. Australia had the highest explosives consumption that year at 500 million tonnes, as the name suggests, drilling and blasting works as follows, A number of holes are drilled into the rock, which are then filled with explosives. Detonating the explosive causes the rock to collapse, rubble is removed and the new tunnel surface is reinforced. Repeating these steps until desired excavation is complete, during operation, blasting mats may be used to contain the blast, suppress dust and noise, for fly rock prevention and sometimes to direct the blast. As a tunnel or excavation progresses the roof and side walls of need to be supported to stop the falling into the excavation. Demolition Building implosion Persson, Per-Anders, Roger Holmberg, Jaimin Lee, notes Air Curtain Fences Blast Popular Mechanics, August 1954, pp. 96–97, the delicate controlled blast in 1954 to connect the two reservoirs at a Canadian Niagara Falls power station. This is a survey of techniques used in the early 20th century
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Environmentalism
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While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologism combines the ideology of social ecology and environmentalism. ‘Ecologism’ is more used in continental European languages while ‘environmentalism’ is more commonly used in English. For this reason, concepts such as an ethic, environmental ethics, biodiversity, ecology. The exact measures and outcomes of this balance is controversial and there are different ways for environmental concerns to be expressed in practice. Environmentalism and environmental concerns are represented by the color green. Environmentalism denotes a movement that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying, activism. The word was first coined in 1922, an environmentalist is a person who may speak out about our natural environment and the sustainable management of its resources through changes in public policy or individual behavior. In various ways, environmentalists and environmental organizations seek to give the world a stronger voice in human affairs. In general terms, environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources, in its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered around ecology, health, and human rights. A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, for example, in Europe, King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke had become a problem. The fuel was so common in England that this earliest of names for it was acquired because it could be carted away from some shores by the wheelbarrow. Earlier in the Middle East, the Caliph Abu Bakr in the 630s commanded his army to Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, at the advent of steam and electricity the muse of history holds her nose and shuts her eyes. The origins of the movement lay in the response to increasing levels of smoke pollution in the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution. An Alkali inspector and four sub-inspectors were appointed to curb this pollution, typically the highest priority went to water and air pollution. The Coal Smoke Abatement Society was formed in 1898 making it one of the oldest environmental NGOs and it was founded by artist Sir William Blake Richmond, frustrated with the pall cast by coal smoke. Although there were pieces of legislation, the Public Health Act 1875 required all furnaces and fireplaces to consume their own smoke. It also provided for sanctions against factories that emitted large amounts of black smoke, financial incentives were offered to householders to replace open coal fires with alternatives, or for those who preferred, to burn coke instead which produces minimal smoke. Smoke control areas were introduced in some towns and cities in which only smokeless fuels could be burnt, the act formed an important impetus to modern environmentalism, and caused a rethinking of the dangers of environmental degradation to peoples quality of life
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Riparian zone
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A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth, Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by hydrophilic plants. In some regions the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, the word riparian is derived from Latin ripa, meaning river bank. Riparian zones may be natural or engineered for soil stabilization or restoration and these zones are important natural biofilters, protecting aquatic environments from excessive sedimentation, polluted surface runoff and erosion. They supply shelter and food for aquatic animals and shade that limits stream temperature change. When riparian zones are damaged by construction, agriculture or silviculture, biological restoration can take place, usually by human intervention in erosion control and revegetation. If the area adjacent to a watercourse has standing water or saturated soil for as long as a season, because of their prominent role in supporting a diversity of species, riparian zones are often the subject of national protection in a Biodiversity Action Plan. These are also known as a Plant or Vegetation Waste Buffer, research shows that riparian zones are instrumental in water quality improvement for both surface runoff and water flowing into streams through subsurface or groundwater flow. Particularly, the attenuation of nitrate or denitrification of the nitrates from fertilizer in this zone is important. The use of wetland riparian zones shows a high rate of removal of nitrate entering a stream. The meandering curves of a river, combined with vegetation and root systems, slow the flow of water, sediment is trapped, reducing suspended solids to create less turbid water, replenish soils, and build stream banks. Pollutants are filtered from surface runoff, enhancing water quality via biofiltration, the riparian zones also provide wildlife habitat, increased biodiversity, and wildlife corridors, enabling aquatic and riparian organisms to move along river systems avoiding isolated communities. Riparian vegetation can also forage for wildlife and livestock. They provide native landscape irrigation by extending seasonal or perennial flows of water, nutrients from terrestrial vegetation are transferred to aquatic food webs. The vegetation surrounding the stream helps to shade the water, mitigating water temperature changes, the vegetation also contributes wood debris to streams, which is important to maintaining geomorphology. From a social aspect, riparian zones contribute to nearby property values through amenity and views, space is created for riparian sports such as fishing, swimming and launching for vessels and paddlecraft. The protection of zones is often a consideration in logging operations. The undisturbed soil, soil cover, and vegetation provide shade, plant litter, and woody material, factors such as soil types and root structures, climatic conditions and vegetative cover determine the effectiveness of riparian buffering
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Aquatic ecosystem
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An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem in a body of water. Communities of organisms that are dependent on other and on their environment live in aquatic ecosystems. The two main types of ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems. Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earths surface and contain approximately 97% of the planets water and they generate 32% of the worlds net primary production. They are distinguished from freshwater ecosystems by the presence of dissolved compounds, especially salts, approximately 85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium and chlorine. Seawater has a salinity of 35 parts per thousand of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems, marine ecosystems can be divided into many zones depending upon water depth and shoreline features. The oceanic zone is the vast open part of the ocean where animals such as whales, sharks, the benthic zone consists of substrates below water where many invertebrates live. The intertidal zone is the area between high and low tides, in this figure it is termed the littoral zone, other near-shore zones can include estuaries, salt marshes, coral reefs, lagoons and mangrove swamps. In the deep water, hydrothermal vents may occur where chemosynthetic sulfur bacteria form the base of the food web, classes of organisms found in marine ecosystems include brown algae, dinoflagellates, corals, cephalopods, echinoderms, and sharks. Fishes caught in marine ecosystems are the biggest source of commercial foods obtained from wild populations, environmental problems concerning marine ecosystems include unsustainable exploitation of marine resources, marine pollution, climate change, and building on coastal areas. Freshwater ecosystems cover 0. 78% of the Earths surface and inhabit 0. 009% of its total water and they generate nearly 3% of its net primary production. Freshwater ecosystems contain 41% of the known fish species. There are three types of freshwater ecosystems, Lentic, slow moving water, including pools, ponds. Lotic, faster moving water, for example streams and rivers, wetlands, areas where the soil is saturated or inundated for at least part of the time. Lake ecosystems can be divided into zones, one common system divides lakes into three zones. The first, the zone, is the shallow zone near the shore. This is where rooted wetland plants occur, the offshore is divided into two further zones, an open water zone and a deep water zone
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Flood
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A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry. The European Union Floods Directive defines a flood as a covering by water of land not normally covered by water, in the sense of flowing water, the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods can also occur in rivers when the flow exceeds the capacity of the river channel. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are in the flood plains of rivers. Some floods develop slowly, while others such as floods, can develop in just a few minutes. Additionally, floods can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or very large, the word flood comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic languages. Deluge myths are stories of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution. Floods can happen on flat or low-lying areas when water is supplied by rainfall or snowmelt more rapidly than it can infiltrate or run off. The excess accumulates in place, sometimes to hazardous depths, surface soil can become saturated, which effectively stops infiltration, where the water table is shallow, such as a floodplain, or from intense rain from one or a series of storms. Infiltration also is slow to negligible through frozen ground, rock, concrete, paving, areal flooding begins in flat areas like floodplains and in local depressions not connected to a stream channel, because the velocity of overland flow depends on the surface slope. Endorheic basins may experience flooding during periods when precipitation exceeds evaporation. Floods occur in all types of river and stream channels, from the smallest ephemeral streams in humid zones to normally-dry channels in arid climates to the worlds largest rivers. When overland flow occurs on tilled fields, it can result in a flood where sediments are picked up by run off. Localized flooding may be caused or exacerbated by drainage obstructions such as landslides, ice, debris, slow-rising floods most commonly occur in large rivers with large catchment areas. The increase in flow may be the result of sustained rainfall, rapid snow melt, monsoons, the cause may be localized convective precipitation or sudden release from an upstream impoundment created behind a dam, landslide, or glacier. In one instance, a flood killed eight people enjoying the water on a Sunday afternoon at a popular waterfall in a narrow canyon. Without any observed rainfall, the rate increased from about 50 to 1,500 cubic feet per second in just one minute. Two larger floods occurred at the site within a week
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Habitat conservation
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It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology. For much of history, nature had been seen as a resource, one that could be controlled by the government and used for personal. The idea was that only existed to feed animals and animals only existed to feed humans. The land itself had limited value only extending to the resources it could provide such as minerals, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries social views started to change and scientific conservation principles were first practically applied to the forests of British India. This was the first case of conservation management of forests in the world. Rather than focusing on the economic or material benefits associated with nature, humans began to appreciate the value of nature itself, however, land development from anthropogenic economic growth often causes a decline in the ecological integrity of nearby natural habitat. For instance, this was an issue in the rocky mountains of the USA. However, there is economic value in conserving natural habitats. Financial profit can be made from tourist revenue, particularly in the tropics where species diversity is high, the cost of repairing damaged ecosystems is considered to be much higher than the cost of conserving natural ecosystems. Measuring the worth of conserving different habitat areas is often criticized as being too utilitarian from a point of view. Habitat conservation is important in maintaining biodiversity, a part of global food security. There is evidence to support a trend of accelerating erosion of the resources of agricultural plants. An increase in similarity of agricultural plants and animals means an increased risk of food loss from major epidemics. Wild species of plants have been found to be more resistant to disease. A combination of seed banking and habitat conservation has been proposed to plant diversity for food security purposes. Events leading to habitat loss include climate change, catastrophic events such as volcanic explosions. Natural climate change, events have previously been the cause of many widespread, for example, some of the mass extinction events generally referred to as the Big Five have coincided with large scale such as the Earth entering an ice age, or alternate warming events. Other events in the big five also have their roots in natural causes, such as volcanic explosions and meteor collisions
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Hydroelectricity
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Hydroelectricity is electricity produced from hydropower. In 2015 hydropower generated 16. 6% of the total electricity and 70% of all renewable electricity. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 33 percent of global hydropower in 2013, China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 920 TWh of production in 2013, representing 16.9 percent of domestic electricity use. The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a source of renewable electricity. The hydro station consumes no water, unlike coal or gas plants, the average cost of electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U. S. cents per kilowatt-hour. With a dam and reservoir it is also a source of electricity since the amount produced by the station can be changed up or down very quickly to adapt to changing energy demands. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste, Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and perform other tasks. In the mid-1770s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published Architecture Hydraulique which described vertical-, by the late 19th century, the electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with hydraulics. The growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well, in 1878 the worlds first hydroelectric power scheme was developed at Cragside in Northumberland, England by William George Armstrong. It was used to power an arc lamp in his art gallery. The old Schoelkopf Power Station No.1 near Niagara Falls in the U. S. side began to produce electricity in 1881. The first Edison hydroelectric power station, the Vulcan Street Plant, began operating September 30,1882, in Appleton, Wisconsin, by 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the U. S. and Canada. By 1889 there were 200 in the U. S. alone, at the beginning of the 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in mountains near metropolitan areas. Grenoble, France held the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism with over one million visitors, by 1920 as 40% of the power produced in the United States was hydroelectric, the Federal Power Act was enacted into law. The Act created the Federal Power Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land, as the power stations became larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes to include flood control, irrigation and navigation. Federal funding became necessary for development and federally owned corporations, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. Hydroelectric power stations continued to become larger throughout the 20th century, Hydropower was referred to as white coal for its power and plenty. Hoover Dams initial 1,345 MW power station was the worlds largest hydroelectric station in 1936
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Irrigation
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Irrigation is the method in which a controlled amount of water is supplied to plants at regular intervals for agriculture. It is used to assist in the growing of crops, maintenance of landscapes. Additionally, irrigation also has a few uses in crop production. In contrast, agriculture that only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed or dry land farming. Irrigation systems are used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area, Irrigation has been a central feature of agriculture for over 5,000 years and is the product of many cultures. Historically, it was the basis for economies and societies across the globe, archaeological investigation has found evidence of irrigation where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support crops for rainfed agriculture. Ancient Egyptians practiced Basin irrigation using the flooding of the Nile to inundate land plots which had surrounded by dykes. The flood water was held until the sediment had settled before the surplus was returned to the watercourse. The Ancient Nubians developed a form of irrigation by using a device called a sakia. Irrigation began in Nubia some time between the third and second millennium BCE and it largely depended upon the flood waters that would flow through the Nile River and other rivers in what is now the Sudan. In sub-Saharan Africa irrigation reached the Niger River region cultures and civilizations by the first or second millennium BCE and was based on wet season flooding, terrace irrigation is evidenced in pre-Columbian America, early Syria, India, and China. These canals are the earliest record of irrigation in the New World, traces of a canal possibly dating from the 5th millennium BCE were found under the 4th millennium canal. Large scale agriculture was practiced and a network of canals was used for the purpose of irrigation. Ancient Persia as far back as the 6th millennium BCE, where barley was grown in areas where the rainfall was insufficient to support such a crop. The Qanats, developed in ancient Persia in about 800 BCE, are among the oldest known irrigation methods still in use today and they are now found in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The system comprises a network of wells and gently sloping tunnels driven into the sides of cliffs. The noria, a wheel with clay pots around the rim powered by the flow of the stream, was first brought into use at about this time
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National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
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The National Wild and Scenic River is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States. The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, among other things, the commission recommended that the nation protect wild rivers and scenic rivers from development that would substantially change their wild or scenic nature. The act was sponsored by Sen. Frank Church and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 2,1968, a river or river section may be designated by the U. S. Congress or the Secretary of the Interior. In 1968, as part of the act, eight rivers were designated as National Wild. As of July 2011,203 rivers, totaling 12,598 miles of river in 38 states and Puerto Rico, have wild and scenic status. By comparison, more than 75,000 large dams across the country have modified at least 600,000 miles, or about 17%, of American rivers. Selected rivers in the United States are preserved for possessing outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural, Rivers, or sections of rivers, so designated are preserved in their free-flowing condition and are not dammed or otherwise impeded. National wild and scenic designation essentially vetoes the licensing of new projects on or directly affecting the river. Designation as a wild and scenic river is not the same as a national park designation, however, wild and scenic designation protects the free-flowing nature of rivers in non-federal areas, something the Wilderness Act and other federal designations cannot do. Designation does not alter property rights, federally administered National Wild and Scenic rivers are managed by one or more of the four principal land-managing agencies of the federal government. Of the 156 National Wild and Scenic Rivers, the most are managed by the U. S. Forest Service, thirty-eight are managed under the Bureau of Land Managements National Landscape Conservation System while the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages several rivers in Alaska. State-managed wild and scenic rivers are subject to the same protections as federally administered rivers and these state rivers are added to the National System by the Secretary of the Interior following an application by the governor of the state the river flows through. Wild and scenic rivers are assigned one or more classifications, wild, scenic and these classifications are based on the developmental character of the river on the date of designation. Wild rivers are the most remote and undeveloped while recreational rivers often have access points, roads, railroads. A rivers classification is not related to the value that made it worthy of designation, for instance, recreation may not be an outstanding value on a river with a recreational classification nor scenery on a river classified as scenic. Notably, wild and scenic rivers receive the standard of protection regardless of classification. Nashua River Wild and Scenic River Study Act – proposed a study of the Nashua River in Massachusetts for possible inclusion in the system, list of National Wild and Scenic Rivers Protected areas of the United States National Wild and Scenic Rivers System Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
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Environmental stewardship
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Environmental stewardship refers to responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. Aldo Leopold championed environmental stewardship based on a land ethic dealing with mans relation to land and to the animals, resilience refers to the ability of a system to absorb disturbance and still maintain its basic function and structure. There are 3 types of environmental stewards, doers, donors, doers go out and does help the cause by taking action. For example, the doers in an oil spill would be the volunteers that go along the beach, a donor is the person that financially helps the cause. They can do anything from donating their money, to hosting events to raise funds. They work on a basis to steer governmental agencies, scientists, stakeholder groups. Together these 3 groups make up environmental stewards and with the keep the ecosystem running healthily. Anybody can be an environmental steward by being aware and knowledgeable of the world around them, without these groups it would be hard to get any sort of sustainability in our increasingly industrially based world. Environmental protection Environmental stewardship Evangelical environmentalism Stewardship Stewardship
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Packraft
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Packraft and trail boat are colloquial terms for a small, portable inflatable boat designed for use in all bodies of water, including technical whitewater and ocean bays and fjords. A packraft is designed to be enough to be carried for extended distances. Modern packrafts vary from inexpensive vinyl boats lacking durability to sturdy craft costing over US $1,000, most weigh less than nine pounds and usually carry a single passenger. The most popular propulsion systems involve a kayak paddle that breaks down into two to five pieces, most often they are paddled from a sitting position, although kneeling can be advantageous in some situations. However, Dick Griffith is documented to have used a packraft to descend Copper Canyons Urique River in 1952 before introducing them to the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic adventure race in 1982, packrafts are now common equipment in that race. A variety of companies have made durable packrafts in the past including Sherpa, Curtis, furthermore, aviator emergency rafts have been used for packrafting purposes in a variety of applications. Pioneering use of packrafts generally consisted of using boats intended as toys or lake craft in moving water while carrying gear or passengers. The discomfort of these non-durable boats led to the invention and marketing of the modern packraft, Alaska is generally considered the birthplace of packrafting as long distance, non-motorized, landscape travel across untracked wilderness necessitates a small, portable boat for water crossings. Dick Griffith, Roman Dial, the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, Sheri Tingey, and Erin McKittrick, and her husband Bretwood Higman all are, or have been, based in Alaska. In the U. S. outside Alaska, Forrest McCarthy, Nathan Shoutis, and Ryan Jordan have advanced backcountry packrafting in Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Utah, packrafting has become popular in Norway and elsewhere in Europe. Packrafts have also used in Mexico, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Patagonia. Typically the boats are carried to cross and float rivers, streams and this classical use has been modified by most packraft owners to shorter day trips that mix trail hiking and river and creek floats or lake paddles. In Europe packrafts are used together with train travel, most of these hike and paddle applications are in gentler water of Class II or less. However, low-flow steep creeks rated to Class V and other whitewater runs that were considered suitable only for kayaks. The addition of spray decks and thigh straps allow more control of the craft. Eskimo rolling in packrafts is now done routinely, packrafts are increasingly popular among fishers and hunters as well as travelers who wish to carry a lightweight craft on airplanes. A typical cold water set-up including packraft with thigh straps and spray deck, safety lines, paddle, suitable clothing, inflation bag, helmet, backpack, while they can be inflated by mouth or electric pumps, most contemporary users carry light weight inflation bags. A packraft/trail boat is intended for use in open bodies of water, a packraft can be carried for extended periods, along with food, water, shelter, and other supplies that would enable the individual to traverse long distances through difficult terrain
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Air mattress
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An air mattress is an inflatable mattress/sleeping pad. Due to its buoyancy, it is often used as a water toy/flotation device. The deflated mattress can be rolled up or folded and carried or stored easily, making them a popular choice for camping trips. They are inflated either orally by blowing into a valve, or with a manual foot-powered or more commonly inflated via an electric pump, some are even automatically inflating just by opening the valve. The three main categories for use of air mattresses are camping, temporary home use and full-time permanent use, some air mattresses are specifically designed to perform both functions while others are specifically designed for one purpose alone. Other air mattresses are designed in shapes with wheel well cutouts specifically intended for use in such as pickup trucks or SUVs. Better quality air chambers, that are designed for permanent use in the home, are constructed of vulcanized rubber and these chamber are then installed into a cloth shell or tick. Permanent air beds will look almost like conventional beds with the exception of having a hose or hoses coming out of the head of the bed, the firmness can be adjusted up or down, with the simple push of a button, on the remote. The European Union has made efforts to prevent the use of vinyl materials in toys. Larger, more elaborate air mattresses have come on the market in recent years that are intended for guest use or as permanent beds in the bedroom, most permanent air beds use easy-to-find conventional sheets and bedding. California King sheets and bedding may be difficult to find as this size was originally conceived for the waterbed industry. Raised guest or temporary beds are raised off the ground to keep users away from the floor. Though raised air beds are off the ground, they are not designed for use, as the base of the bed is an air chamber. Air mattresses can also improve the quality of life for people who suffer with back pain, having the ability to adjust the firmness of a mattress to accommodate different body shapes, sizes, and weights, can be a factor in the healing process. Air mattresses are used to protect bedridden people from pressure sores. Additionally, air mattresses manufactured without the use of materials that may release VOCs or other compounds from the manufacturing process are available. The term air mattress may also refer to an inflatable swimming pool or beach toy. Also called a lilo, pool air mat, air mat, pool lounge, or float mat, the Li-Lo trademark for a rubberised material products was registered in UK on 19 Apr 1944 and in the USA on 25 Sep 1947 by P. B
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Paddling
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Paddling with regard to watercraft is the act of manually propelling a boat using a paddle. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is used to steer the vessel. The paddle is not connected to the boat, canoeing is the activity of paddling a canoe for leisure, navigation or exploration. In America the term refers exclusively to using one or more single blades or paddles to propel a canoe, in the United Kingdom and some other countries in Europe however, canoeing is also used to refer to kayaking and Canadian canoeing is used then to distinguish canoeing from kayaking. There are sub-varieties of canoeing, such as touring and whitewater or wildwater canoeing, outrigger canoeing, travelling whitewater in a whitewater raft can involve using either paddles, or a pair of oars, or both. Outrigger canoe racing is a team paddling sport which uses the outrigger canoe, in his lifetime, according to the Guinness Book of World Records Verlen Kruger paddled the most miles of anyone in the sport. Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water, kayaking is differentiated from canoeing by the fact kayakers use a double bladed paddle and sit in a seat with their legs extended out in front of them. Canoeists will either sit on a bench seat or kneel directly on the bottom of the boat with two knees or one knee in the high kneel posture. The kayak may be either sit-in or sit-on-top, sit-in kayaks provide more protection from water and the elements, and are popular for day trips and touring. Sit-on-top kayaks are growing in popularity for fishing and surfing, a dragon boat is a long and narrow human powered boat used in the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing which originated in China. For racing events, dragon boats are not rigged with full decorative Chinese dragon heads, the decorative boats are used in ceremonial events. They do howevever use smaller and lighter dragon heads and tails and they are not normally used during practice. Rafting or whitewater rafting uses a raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water and this is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid-1970s. Stand-up paddleboards, are steered with a singled bladed paddle, originating in Hawaii to help navigate the waves, the sport has grown to include flat water lakes, easy rivers, and spring runs. Traditional paddleboarding is done kneeling on a board and paddling with the hands
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