Mount Saint Helens

Paper Summary:

There are approximately 500 active volcanoes world wide and a couple dozen of those erupt every year. Humans have learned to live around volcanoes, for the most part. They have been avoided, feared and even worshiped for millennia. However, that by no means guarantees that humans and the environments that humans depend on, will not come into harm's way. The paper shows that as the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 proves, even with advanced warning and strict security measures, nature can take its toll. The paper describes the aftermath of the explosion, where about 60 people and countless plants and animals died and it would be almost two decades before the surrounding area returned to a stable and comparative ecosystem. The paper shows that if two decades sounds like a long time, one need only keep in mind that scientists were actually pleasantly surprised with the rate of recovery.

From the Paper:

"It would be a while before the people could breathe freely after this natural disaster. It would be even longer before the world healed itself. Contrary to what one might expect, conservation efforts to help nature along were often doomed to failure. No duplicated ecosystem could replace a lost one. However, scientists eventually learned that the ecosystem was self-correcting. Some things had survived the lava, like small fungi too small to be thoroughly trapped and destroyed. Small animals often survived as well. Over time, when left to its own devices, it seemed that nature worked to preserve itself intact. For example, insects that conservations might think would be harmful killed many surviving trees, but the fallen trees provided prime shelter and a budding environment for other survivors."

More papers on Mount Saint Helens:

• Comparison Essay # 35090 : "Volcanic Mountains"
• Descriptive Essay # 124139 : "Mount St. Helens Eruption"
• Essay # 62979 : "Mount St. Helens"

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