Abstract This paper explains that the Great Lakes Basin offers an abundance of ecological points to support ecotourism; moreover, if ecotourism becomes an important economic and social factor, it will have a positive affect on some of the ecological concerns of the region. The author points out that the tourism industry in the Great Lakes Basin is stagnated and the most appealing method to this revitalizing program is ecotourism, which would bring tourism to the area to generate both income to continue conservation efforts and interest in conserving the Great Lakes Basin's ecosystem and historic sites. The paper states that the first thrust of developing an ecotourism program is to survey Canadians and visitors to determine their interest in eco-travel and to evaluate potential financial benefits and to create an agency to manage ecotourism efforts in the Great Lakes Basin. Tables, charts, maps and illustrations.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Sustainability, Community Interest, Marketing and Mapping
Exotic Biologicals of Interest to Tourism and Ecotourism
Tourism Policies: Legal Issues Affecting Tourism Development in the Area
Tourism Statistics
Canoeing, Kayaking and Sailing
Power Boating
Recreational Fishing
Swimming
Most Popular Sports
Recommendations for Short, Medium and Long Terms
Ontario Tourism Forecast
Short-Term Recommendation
Medium- Term Recommendation
Long- Term Recommendation
Assorted Maps Useful for Planning Ecotourism
From the Paper "In addition to the scientific ecotourism potential in this species migration (and the list above is a very small part of it), there is the land-based cultural aspect, particularly sustainable if exploited because "the history of exploration, colonization, settlement, and commercial development of the Great Lakes by European settlers spans almost four centuries. Throughout this period, non-indigenous aquatic animal and plant species have been introduced both intentionally and accidentally." Here, cultural history also enters the picture because, for medicinal purposes, early settlers imported non-native plants, such as bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) as well as importing favored edibles, such as watercress (Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum), which thrived in the new environment, pushing out older native species."
Abstract This paper studies the Great Basin Spadefoot species and looks at where they can be found in the world. The writer discusses conditions and habitat for the Great Basin Spadefoot and describes their eating and living habits. The writer describes features of the species, including hibernation, reproduction, danger of extinction and various aspects of the spadefoot life. In this article, the writer discusses research and studies that have taken place regarding the Great Basin Spadefoot including mention of a large-scale collapse of an entire community of frog species and growth experiments. The writer makes use of the writings and studies of biologists and other experts to provide this insight into the spadefoot world.
From the Paper "Within the United States, the Great Basin Spadefoot lacks special state or federal status. They occur throughout the Columbia Basin and are locally common in many areas and within Washington state, there have been no declines documented. Spadefoots apparently can tolerate some habitat alteration, which often persists in irrigated agricultural lands. Moreover, it is believed that they may have actually increased in abundance due to the prevalence of breeding sites provided in some areas by irrigation water, however no systematic surveys have been conducted to document such patterns."
Abstract This paper looks into reasons behind the United States's interest in the Caribbean basin, concluding that it is mainly due to its strategic position and America's fear of it being used as a base for future attacks against the country. This paper covers U.S. foreign policy in the region over four periods: the Protectorate Era from 1898-1933; the Good Neighbor Policy from 1933-1953; the Cold War period from 1953-1990; and the post-Cold War era or the present time. It also looks at what changes have occurred in the Caribbean Basin in the last 20 years of relation and intervention by the U.S.
From the Paper "Policy changes towards the Caribbean from Carter to Reagan were dramatic. Carter was interested in promoting economic development in the region, but later shifted his focus on national security. On the other hand, Reagan utilized a more traditional approach in the opposite direction. Carter placed highest priority on multilateral approaches to security issues and respected the sovereignty of small nations. Reagan was, on the other hand, confrontational towards Grenada, so that in October 1983, he joined six Caribbean nations in invading that island in order to restore democracy to its government. He was sensitive to criticism towards his anti-Communist strategy, which led him to fashion the Caribbean Basic Initiative to promote democracy."
Abstract This essay is a study of the island of Jamaica. It gives an historical overview of its discovery. It details Jamaica's social, political, and economic situation and describes the main factors that effect its situation. This paper also examines the adjacent Caribbean islands and their present day situations. It gives an historical overview of the discovery of the Caribbean and the part the British and Japanese have played in the Caribbean's history.
From the Paper "Early in the sixteenth century, Spaniards landed on, and claimed, the island of Jamaica. Previously inhabited only by Arawak Indians, the island, located along the ocean route connecting the Old World to the New World, soon became a way station for Spanish galleons and a marketplace for slaves and goods from many countries. Along with the Spaniards, it was home to British citizens as well as multinational buccaneers and entrepreneurs.
"According to Daniel J. Seyler, in his contribution to Countries of the World, "Jamaica's story is one of independence that began in the seventeenth century with the Maroons, runaway slaves who resisted the British colonizers by carrying out hit-and run attacks from the interior. Their 7,000 descendants in the Cockpit Country have symbolized the fervent, sometimes belligerent, love of freedom that is ingrained in the Jamaican people as a result of both their British tutelage and their history of slavery. Independence came quietly, however, without a revolutionary struggle, apparently reflecting the lasting imprint of the British parliamentary legacy on Jamaican society" (Seyler 1991)."
Abstract The Mekong River Basin is one of the ten longest rivers existing in the world and has a significant impact upon the nature, environment and societal aspects, as well as the economical aspects of the Indo-China Peninsula. This paper evaluates the present geographical conditions of the region and concludes that the biodiversity of the region needs to be guarded if the area is to continue serving the many communities around it.
Paper Outline:
Introduction
Context: Physical Geological Information
Present Environmental Condition
Cultural Significance of the Mekong River Basin Region
Economic Significance of the Mekong River Basin Summary and Conclusion
From the Paper "It is important that the destruction of local spawning grounds or dry season refuges be avoided, that local changes in the quality and quantity of water available be unchanged as storage in dams and abstraction for irrigations and that the construction of barriers such as dams, weirs and diversions be avoided as well. Deforestation and loss of riparian vegetative cover are cited as problems in the area. Many of the areas surrounding the river have instituted conservations zones, gear restrictions and seasonal restrictions in an effort to save the biodiversity of the Mekong River Basin."
Abstract This paper presents an examination of the water issues of the western United States. It explores the history of water need and supply in both the upper basin and the lower basin states and then discusses what the impact of the Colorado Compact has had on those states. It concludes by discussing the need for future monitoring of the water flow and allotments.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
History
Colorado
Colorado River Compact
Law of the River
The Future
Conclusion
From the Paper "As the years began to pass the upper basin states began to disagree about the allocations of the 7.5 million acre feet they had been using as a group. An easy way to examine this era of the water supply development is to imagine a family in which there are seven children. Instead of handing each child a piece of cake the parents put a cake down and leave the room and say, "Go ahead and share that cake". If they repeat this process daily or weekly it will not be long before some of the siblings begin believing that other siblings are getting more than an equal share of the cake. They will think it is unfair that they have to depend on the others sense of fairness to be sure they too get a large enough piece. This is what happened in the situation with the upper basin states and the Colorado River supply. The states were expected to work among themselves and divide up the provided 7.5 million acre feet and they began to have disagreements about who was using how much of that total water supply. States that began to grow more quickly in population and water need than other states felt they had a right to more of the water while the states that were experiencing slower growth patterns had concerns that they would not be able to promote growth if the other states used most of the water supply."
Abstract The writer illuminates some of the issues that are causing damage to the rainforest of Brazil while giving a history of the region. The paper argues that the impoverished farmers have no choice but to enact farming policies that are slowly killing the surrounding lands, thus putting the ecosystem in peril.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Poisons From Promise
Eventualities
Conclusion
From the Paper "The Amazon may come to resemble many of the world's river basins that have drainage networks that have been channelized and cut off from the floodplains, agricultural lands that have been "reclaimed" from wetlands, and large loads of fertilizers and anthropogenic chemicals in the surface water. In the Amazon the most likely change is an increase in intensive agriculture. High-phosphate fertilizers are already used to reclaim abandoned pastures. The use of fertilizers in areas near the streams could add nutrients and increase productivity in local surface water. The use of fertilizers and pesticides on the floodplains of white-water rivers, the best agricultural land in the basin, would add chemicals directly into those ecosystems."
Abstract Twenty thousand years ago, mile-thick glacial ice sheets that extended from Canada to the Ohio River covered Michigan and most of northern North America. It took more than 12,000 years for the ice to melt, leaving Michigan a glacially scarred landscape with the Great Lakes. This paper focuses on the ancient Michigan basin area and presents a brief geological history of the area. It discusses how the mammals that lived during the Ice Age, such as mammoths, horses, camels and saber-toothed tigers adapted to their environment over the years, with some eventually becoming extinct.
From the Paper "The sperm whale represents a prehistoric carnivore that still exists today and Michigan boasts one of the largest fossils from a prehistoric sperm whale. Even during prehistoric times, the Great Lakes as we know them now were larger and connected to the Atlantic Ocean. This may be one reason why the sperm whale survived. Today, they are found far from land in very deep waters, which probably had been there environment during the Pleistocene Epoch."
Abstract Precambrian rocks underlie Texas, which are more than 600 million years old. The deformed ancient volcanic and intrusive igneous rocks and sedimentary rocks were formed early in the Earth's history. They are now exposed in the Llano Uplift and in a few small areas in Trans-Pecos Texas.
Abstract This paper discusses that a combination of natural and industrial causes are at fault for the destruction of the ecosystem surrounding the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth largest inland body of fresh water. The author addresses issues of pollution, weather, and water quality from a geological/environmental science perspective.
An examination of the water policies of both the U.S. and Mexico in the Rio Grande region of the Southwestern United States, the Rio Grande/ Rio Bravo River Basins.
Abstract This paper examines the political, social, and economic concerns placed on the limited and precious water resources in the Rio Grande area. The paper discusses the concerns of both agriculturalists and city planners as each bid for the limited resources of water. It deals with different policy concerns and debates in the upper and lower basins.
From the Paper "These coalitions recognize the fact that policies concerning the river basin and its inhabitants are often made by lawmakers in the National Capitals and not by those who understand the local issues and concerns. Interest groups such as these are currently working to increase intra-basin collaboration both on watershed and basin wide levels, and to create a complex water management strategy to help raise public awareness of issues as well as influence policy makers for strategy enactment."
Abstract This paper examines issues of inter-ethnic coexistence in the Ukraine and in particular the Donbass Basin by illustrating that history matters in terms of ethnic composition and political preferences. It attempts to reconstruct the historical picture of the major ethnic groups living in Donbass in order to examine what social, political and cultural experiences they have gained during the centuries of their habitation in the area of modern Ukraine. It looks at the process through which the ethnic make-up of the area was determined, focusing on the delineation of particular groups? histories and traces the evolution of the minority issue under Soviet rule, as a factor that influenced the levels of their self-assertiveness which obviously matters under the new political conditions. It also analyzes major questions of inter-ethnic co-existence and cultural autonomy, on the level of state politics and mass public perception.
From the Paper "When looking at the development of any young independent states, among the matters of special concern is the problem of the relationship between integration processes and the in-depth development of particular ethnic groups and regions. In staking out its claim of sovereignty and at the same time insisting on getting its own way, the multi-ethnic national state places itself in an embarrassing realm of double standards and therefore often becomes susceptible to quite a distressing level of internal torment. And yet some of the governments in question endeavor to implement liberal approaches, founded on the principle of preserving a balance between the prerogatives of the state and the priorities of the regions; and between the Nation's codes and the interests of the various ethnic groups in the population."
Abstract This paper briefly describes the archaeological find of Elizabeth Wayland Barber and her team of fellow archaeologists along the rim of the Tarim Basin, also known as the 'Silk Road'. The paper then critically reviews Barber's book about the find, "The Mummies of Urmuchai" and the conclusions Barber drew, based on the evidence she gathered, about the geographical origins and practices of the mummies of Urmachai.
From the Paper "The Chinese archeologists who uncovered the gravesite at Cherchen were at first unaware of what they had found. These graves contained extremely tall, apparently Caucasian bodies that were later dated as over 3,500 years old, despite the fact that they were so well preserved. This preservation was not entirely by design, although the corpses were painted with yellow lines that were intended to have preservative qualities. The extraordinary preservation was also accomplished by luck and happenstance-the graves had been cut into a salt bed that speeded the process of desiccation, or preservation by packing in salt."
Abstract The paper describes the finding of mummified bodies near Loulan, on the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin in China. The writer explains that originally the mummies were thought to be connected to Chinese history, however, they had many features of western people and are now thought to be from central Europe. The paper explains that some of Urumchi's mummies date almost 4,000 years old and that they are preserved more beautifully than Egyptian mummies. The writer concludes by explaining that the main theme of Barber's book is to explain that the mummies, even though found in Chinese territory, really belong to the west.
From the Paper "The mummies were found to be buried in the desert area and probably in winter season due to which it froze or got very cold and dried out before they could start rotting. When the summer season started, the bodies were already changed into the form of mummies. As the bodies were already dried, the summer's heat could cause any harm of deformation.
"These bodies were placed in coffins lacking any bottom which facilitate air to circulate well this allow the bodies to dry out completely, only few of them, found in nearby locality, were most probably buried in summer season, turned them into skeletons. The highly salty desert accelerated the drying out process, as the salt absorbs the moisture.
"The Urumchi mummies include Cherchen Man, his wife, two other women, and a baby girl wrapped in a beautiful brown cloth tied with red and blue ribbons. The infant was buried with a nursing bottle made from a sheep's udder and his both eyes were covered with a blue stones.
"Mummies found in Qawrighul, a little away form the place where Urmchi mummies were found includes the Beauty of Loulan and a few other mummies, among them was an eight-year-old boy covered with a patterned woolen cloth but his both eyes were covered with bone pegs. The cloth covering the Loulan body seems to be considerably less colorful may be the time factor, might faded its beauty, but even then its impressive in its patterns and weaves, it is knitted."
Abstract This research reviews the water security issue in the Jordan River Valley, with a focus on the effect of this issue on the economic development of Southern Lebanon. The water security issue has developed along w
From the Paper "WATER SECURITY IN THE JORDAN RIVER BASIN: WATER & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN LEBANON
This research reviews the water security issue in the Jordan River Valley, with a focus on the effect of this issue on the economic development of Southern Lebanon. The water security issue has developed along with the rise of Israeli since the creation of the modern Israeli state in 1948. Thus, this research reviews the development of the issue from this early period.
In the mid-1950s, Lebanon was a prosperous and thriving nation in the Middle East. The French Mandate had been terminated, and, following the end of the Second World War, Lebanon had become and independent democracy; albeit one with its own unique political structure, which effectively ..."
