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As a rough measure it is said that in a square mile of suitable suburbia there can exist 200 raccoons. As with deer, they can actually benefit in part from the actions of mankind. In both their cases from the greater lack of predators they would otherwise face, and with raccoons in all the free food easily found in trash cans, etc.
If mankind were to vanish, speculated the population of such suburban raccoons would decline by a factor of ten, only one in ten would survive without the abundance of food and necessity to spend more time foraging for it, as otherwise naturally inclined.
Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park and vicinity are similarly influenced. They have adapted well to man invading their traditional range of the Estes Park valley and surrounding mountains. As with deer, and even more so, they can be seen at times sauntering about town. Or within the Park in groups large or small, bemused as they slowly graze in watching the nearby line of SUVS and their discouraged tourists, cameras in hand.
But the 'stewards' of RMNP have recently seen fit to install many miles of high metal fences within the supposed wilderness confines of this park, to give some of the meadow vegetation a chance to recover. Also to conduct private hunting parties within the Park to shoot many of these elk. In either case because there are simply too many elk for the land to sustain, and this because such natural predators as grizzly bear and wolf having previously been exterminated by man. In this Park officially designated 95% wilderness, the NPS and RMNP refuse to allow the natural predators which belong there, and the most ecologically sound solution to any elk or deer problem. One big reason being the political discontent of those wanting a home in the mountains, but unwilling to share the land with all those others who have at least as equal a right to be there, if not more.
Estes Park hardly qualifies as urban, save in microcosm. But as with any community of humans it has an influence far beyond town limits. For one thing, it serves as one of the major staging areas for the 3,000,000 visitors RMNP hosts each year. RMNP encompasses 265,770 acres, but is bisected not only by Trail Ridge Road and several others, but also about 350 miles of trails in various directions. Anyone familiar with the life and preferences of other animals will understand they have various views and tolerances of mankind. The hummingbird, if unwilling to be a pet, is perfectly content to share its happy company with those willing to feed them. The mountain lion, who still calls RMNP home, is seldom seen by humans, in avoiding their company. For those with such sensibilities every trail and road serves as an unwelcome point of contact, with it spreading out in diminishment in distance from. But one effect of all these trails, other than of course the enjoyment of tourists, is to effectively make the wilderness of RMNP a series of far smaller islands defined by road and trail on their periphery. Crossing from one island to another, always cause for caution and concern.
The pika, natural to the alpine environments of RMNP, has had to adjust as well in the last several hundred years. RMNP was only officially established in 1917, with but 30,000 annual visitors at that time. But even before then the pika had been forced to gradually seek higher elevations due the warming climate. Something which has only accelerated with time, to the extent now that their continued survival into the future is in question, as one can at last only go so high. They are influenced by roads and trails as well, but their greater threat lies in the actions of mankind far beyond the confines of RMNP.
Only a small portion of this planet might be technically defined as urban, but those concentrations of humans demand a far greater extent of space in the form of farms and ranches, fisheries, etc., which supply them. Additionally in the consequences of resources used, such as petroleum, minerals, forests, etc. If looked at closely one will see that mankind has a huge and not always benign effect upon this planet and all who call it home. Or that in even supposedly rural areas there are precious few places which do not bear the mark of mankind upon or near it, and their presence.
If as wonderful as we like to think we are, then such a creature in all its abilities should seek to live in harmony and be a benefit to all others.
I believe I heard something about this on the news. If the same issue, then occurring because these homeowners live in Commerce City, right at the edge of the unincorporated county line, with less than five blocks in distance this fracking operation in progress. As the article mentions, there was no prior notice as to what would happen.
In 2005, then Vice President Dick Cheny was able to institute an amendment to an energy bill termed the Halliburton Loophole by critics. It exempts fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act and allows companies to keep secret the types of chemicals forced into the ground.
There is a lot of water involved in the fracking process, with that issuing from the ground later pumped back in, or in places such as Pennsylvania where this not geologically feasible, left in large pond-like holding tanks. These have at times leaked into the surrounding ground and ground water. That involved can be salts (bromides, chlorides), radionuclides like strontium, then BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene), being organic compounds potentially injurious to human health.
These residents are probably on city water, so safe in that regard. But still susceptible to air pollution from this operation. Also from any possible contamination of the area from water used and the chemicals laced within it. In the past banks have been reluctant to back home mortgages within three miles of a fracking well. Aside from a possible loss in their property values, damage to the underlying geology might potentially damage the foundation and structure of their homes. The state of New York suspects that fracking operations there may have been responsible for earthquakes in the area.
The state of New York suspects that fracking operations there may have been responsible for earthquakes in the area.
Nah, that was just one of them yar co-incidences! How could earthquakes be related to an innocent, completely safe practice like fracking. The safety of fracking is about as believable as ocean front property in Arizona.
I believe I heard something about this on the news. If the same issue, then occurring because these homeowners live in Commerce City, right at the edge of the unincorporated county line, with less than five blocks in distance this fracking operation in progress. As the article mentions, there was no prior notice as to what would happen.
In 2005, then Vice President Dick Cheny was able to institute an amendment to an energy bill termed the Halliburton Loophole by critics. It exempts fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act and allows companies to keep secret the types of chemicals forced into the ground.
There is a lot of water involved in the fracking process, with that issuing from the ground later pumped back in, or in places such as Pennsylvania where this not geologically feasible, left in large pond-like holding tanks. These have at times leaked into the surrounding ground and ground water. That involved can be salts (bromides, chlorides), radionuclides like strontium, then BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene), being organic compounds potentially injurious to human health.
These residents are probably on city water, so safe in that regard. But still susceptible to air pollution from this operation. Also from any possible contamination of the area from water used and the chemicals laced within it. In the past banks have been reluctant to back home mortgages within three miles of a fracking well. Aside from a possible loss in their property values, damage to the underlying geology might potentially damage the foundation and structure of their homes. The state of New York suspects that fracking operations there may have been responsible for earthquakes in the area.
Property values have gone way up around where I live and it's frack central.
The first company that started in my area I always suspected of being a pump and dump company. Once Shell bought them out, it's been a world of difference. Wells are sealed with multiple layers of steel and concrete and water is recycled for re use.
After doing my own research on the geology involved, at the end of the day, this fracking in my area anyways, will never do anything that would harm a house foundation.
It's the same with ground water. The wells are so far down and beyond so many layers, it's not an issue.
The state of New York suspects that fracking operations there may have been responsible for earthquakes in the area.
Nah, that was just one of them yar co-incidences! How could earthquakes be related to an innocent, completely safe practice like fracking. The safety of fracking is about as believable as ocean front property in Arizona.
Earthquakes happen all the time, everywhere. That's never changed. It's like paranoia over global warming, when in reality the earth has always warmed and cooled. Nothing new.
Earthquakes happen all the time, everywhere. That's never changed. It's like paranoia over global warming, when in reality the earth has always warmed and cooled. Nothing new.
There's plenty of evidence for global warming and the human role in it. In fact, recently one of the few legit scientists who was anti-global warming switched sides.
You need to Google fracking. The evidence is increasing. And, in fact, one fracking company in England has pretty much admitted that their fracking has caused earthquakes.
I grew up in central Minnesota, many hundreds of miles from any oil wells. Our farm was homesteaded in 1871 and the well my brother still uses was drilled in the 1920s and drilled deeper to 366' in the 1940s.
We have always been able to light the water faucets on fire in the mornings after they had not been used for several hours. There was also a thin copper tube that ran nearly to the bottom of the well specifically to vent the methane gas. This tube could be lit on fire any time of the day or night. Back in the 40s my grandfather tried to collect the methane to try to use it for something, but not enough was produced to have any practical use.
Just this weekend, we showed some of the younger nieces & nephews & grandkids how we could have flames coming out the kitchen faucet. Oh, & most of the methane is mixed in with the water. When you run a glass of water from the tap, it comes out cloudy white and as fizzy as soda pop. Within a few seconds the water is clear & the fizzing stops.
Quote:
Originally Posted by captain_hug99
But the problem with Fracking is that it creates problem with the general water supply. There are loads of people that live near fracking operations that are cancer clusters. The fracking mixture leaks into the ground water and then is pumped up into drinking water. There were reports of people being able to light their tap water on fire! Then companies aren't cleaning up the water like they are supposed to. It is scary all the way around.
I do believe in gathering our natural resources, but fracking scares me.
“Unless you have actually seen a fish kill, it’s one of the most devastating things that you can imagine,” says Verna Presley, a retired teacher who lives on the creek. “Because you don’t think of the sound of a stream until it’s dead and it’s just the eeriest silence that you can imagine. Everything right down to the insects was killed …
Dunkard Creek snakes along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border and eventually empties into the Monongahela River, which flows north to Pittsburgh. The creek was long considered one of the most diverse streams in the Monongahela watershed. Known for its muskellunge fishing, it also supported an unusually rich population of freshwater mussels.' [1]
An interesting and detailed article.
In the interest of objectivity I'll note at the outset that the exact cause of the devastation at Dunkard Creek in Pennsylvania has yet to be definitely determined. This in part the many old mines in the region which in no way help water quality.
But the suspicion fracking to blame well founded for a number of reasons. The elevated levels of TDS and chlorides in the creek indicated oil and gas drilling wastewater. Nor any coincidence that the fracking company Consul was busy pumping large amounts of fracking wastewater indirectly into the creek, with complaints of residents from the traffic and racket of all their trucks doing so.
The result of this Golden Algae, which as in example here can be extremely toxic to all other forms of life in water bodies. More normally something that will confine itself to warmer places such as Texas, where a lot of damage has been done, biologist note not so much a surprise that it should be found in Pennsylvania, but that such a salt loving organism should find it a suitable place to thrive. The reasons that it did seemingly two: warmer overall temperatures than in decades past, in conjunction with creek water with introduced chlorides now more resembling sea water.
If not as prone to Golden Algae as locals further south, Colorado still experiences it.[2] In fact algae of various types are a growing problem in the rivers of Colorado, even in the high country. The cause is mankind, if not always fracking.
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Commerce City
