Tag Archive | "alaska"
Snowmobiles Are For Sissies
With the festive season well and truly upon us, we at Environmental Graffiti thought it would be a merry idea to spruce up the occasion with a post on the joys of riding in a sled pulled by reindeer. Everyone knows of the flying beasts that star in the Santa Claus myth, but what is the reality of this form of transport for the true-life Dashers, Dancers, Donners, Blitzens and Rudolphs – and what of its history?
Continue reading...Geological Faults that Tear the Earth Apart
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
An earthquake shaking the very foundations you live on would be jeopardy enough for most people to endure, but if upon stepping outside your home you were also to find massive fissures riddling the earth, cathedral-sized alarm bells would start ringing. Cracks appearing in the ground during major seismic events is picture book stuff, but let's see how they look for real, while considering the forces that cause them – and the effects they have.
Continue reading...Volcanoes Vs. Lightning [Pics]
Thursday, April 23, 2009
![Volcanoes Vs. Lightning [Pics]](http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/41588/2091090260104181437S600x600Q85.jpg)
At Environmental Graffiti, we're a bit partial towards all things volcanic. Little surprise then, that the idea of volcanoes combined with another extreme and volatile natural phenomenon – lightning – really got us rubbing our hands together. Prepare for fire and brimstone clashes of epic proportions as two of Mother Earth's most powerful forces go head to head – and we marvel at the mystery of volcanic lightning.
Continue reading...The Crab Fishermen Of Alaska
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
High seas beset by towering waves, swell churning up hazardous freezing waters, and heavy machinery tied to treacherous equipment. Reasons enough why Alaskan crab fishing ranks as the deadliest job in the America – if not the world. Even such descriptions do little justice to the extremity of the conditions confronted by the fishermen out on the storm-ridden Bering Sea during the cruel Arctic winter.
Continue reading...10 Landscapes of Smoke and Mirrors
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mirages have long left us spellbound. Their power to play tricks on our minds endlessly fascinates, while the image of an exhausted traveller in a desert being fooled into seeing an oasis in the distance is part of popular folklore. Modern science has made the way these bewildering optical phenomena work less hazy, but mirages continue to captivate the imagination – and no more so than Fata Morgana, that most bizarre of superior mirages.
Continue reading...Volcanoes Unleash Havoc in Chile and Alaska
Monday, July 14, 2008
Thousands live in daily terror of the snow-capped Llaima volcano in Melipeuco, Chile. The ski industry thrives on the surrounding slopes, one of the most famous summer skiing destinations, yet the volcano is one of the most volatile in South America. Just before dawn last Thursday a jet of hot pyroclastic rock was spewed 1,300 feet into the air, only a week after lava had flowed down one of its sides.
Continue reading...Dakeekathlrimjingia Point Just Rolls Off The Tounge, Doesn’t It?
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Alaska, one of the few places on the North American continent where names predating the arrival of European settlers are still in common use, is updating its registry of place names. Image from Rick Clark on Flickr This will no doubt shed more light on the living history of [...]
Continue reading...The 1,700 feet Tsunami that Struck Alaska
Friday, March 14, 2008
On the night of July 7th, 1958 the world’s largest Tsunami struck Lituya bay, located about 250 miles west of Juneau. It was 1,700 feet or 520 meters, almost twice the height of the Eiffel Tower. The Tsunami happened immediately after a magnitude 8.3 earthquake caused an enormous [...]
Continue reading...The Iditarod Is Brutal to Dogs
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A few days ago we wrote an article about how global warming was affecting the annual Iditarod dog sled race. A musher stays in his sled while his dogs drag an unconscious or dead sled dog One of our readers left a very detailed and interesting response to the [...]
Continue reading...Ice – Not Just Cold Stuff
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Polar bears have a hard time of it in regards to climate change, firstly there is the concern that the reduction of sea ice would lead to them not being able to hunt sufficiently to survive. Now another issue has been raised,
Continue reading...
Friday, December 25, 2009
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