Abstract
This paper examines and analyzes pollution in the Pacific Ocean over the last ten years, and identifies the various sources for the worsening pollution.

Abstract
The writer gives examples of damage done to the country of Ecuador as a result of heavy rains. El Nino battered Ecuador harder than almost any other country. The paper also cites long-term effects of the damage, such as crop destruction and loss of property. The paper then looks at ways in which the country is learning to predict future storms, thereby allowing for preparation.

From the Paper
"The Bermeo family had been driven from their small home and farm, looking for dry ground, unable to get into the overcrowded refugee camps. They had to swim to safety after a food swept through their valley and buried their farm in mud. Their pigs and chicks drowned and the smallest children were saved by climbing into a high tree until a neighbor with a boat rescued them. They said they were afraid of the passing cars and trucks, but more afraid of the water."

Tags:storm, damage, weather, destruction, ocean

Abstract
The paper provides many interesting facts about the planet's oceans: the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Antarctic. The paper explains how the Earth's oceans are divided into various regions depending on the biological and physical conditions of the area in which they are located and also explores why the water in the ocean is blue. The paper also notes that the oceans still hold as many mysteries today as they did for the first brave explorers who ventured out into the expansive waters.

From the Paper
"The Earth's oceans are divided into various regions depending on the biological and physical conditions of the area in which it is located. The pelagic zone includes all open ocean regions and is further divided based on light abundance and depth. The photic zone is the area from two-hundred meters down and is the region where photosynthesis most often takes place. It contains the most biodiversity of the ocean. The pelagic part of the photic zone is called the epipelagic and the pelagic part of the aphotic zone is further divided into areas that succeed each other vertically. The uppermost region is the mesopelagic zone and the lowermost is the thermocline of 10 degrees Celsius. Along the top of the abyssal plain is the abyssal pelagic with its lower limits lying at approximately 6,000 meters. The lowest zone, which falls into the oceanic trenches, is the hadalpelagic; it is the deepest of the ocean zones and spans from 6,000 meters to 10,000 meters (Ocean, 2007)."

Tags:water, land, seas

Abstract
The paper discusses the factors that govern the present and likely future dynamics affecting the Asia-Pacific region. The paper relates the history of America's relationship with Japan, the rise of China, the North Korean military threat, the global war on terror, piracy and the potential melting of the Arctic ocean. The paper considers a range of policy options that will ensure the Asia-Pacific security framework is maintained. The paper includes several maps and an interview with a professor.

Outline:
Historical Perspective
The China Factor
The North Korean Conundrum
The Global War on Terror
Piracy and SLOC Security
The Polar Great Game
A Concert of Democracies
Policy Options for U.S.-Japan Security Alliance in the Asia Pacific

From the Paper
"America has shared a bittersweet relationship with Japan since the colonial days. "In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry aboard the battleship Mississippi arrived in Uraga, Edo Bay, demanding the opening of trade." The symbolism of the incident was not lost on the Japanese who had taken note of the carving up of China into 'Spheres of Influence' by the colonial powers and decided to sign a Treaty of Peace and Amity with the United States and then with other Western powers. Thus, an uneasy peace prevailed which continued until the U.S. declared an economic boycott of Japan in the 1930s to protect its interests in China "leading to Pearl harbor" . Japan's defeat in the Second World War led to its reinvention in the American mold with a pacifist constitution, 'Made in America' with strict stipulations on its adherence. According to the basic principles of that constitution, Japan fore swore resort to war, gave up the right to have armed forces and agreed to follow the tenets of peaceful existence in exchange for a security guarantee by the United States."

Tags:China, piracy, North, Korea, Russia, Taiwan, oil, Arctic, ocean

Abstract
In this article, the writer introduces, discusses and analyzes the topic of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Specifically the writer discusses how the expedition came to be and looks at what findings with which the explorers returned. The writer explains that Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery traveled across America to the Pacific Ocean between 1804 and 1806, and then returned east to report their findings. The writer notes that it was one of the greatest exploratory expeditions in American history, and it resulted in a much greater understanding of the lands "out west."

From the Paper
"He chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead the expedition, and asked Congress for the money to fund it ($2500). They chose 40 men to accompany them, trained them throughout the winter of 1803, and set off from St. Louis, Missouri in May 1804.
"Toussaint Charbonneau and his young wife, Sacagawea joined the expedition in North Dakota at the Mandan Indian settlement. Lewis & Clark hired Charbonneau, a French fur trapper, to act as a guide for the next leg of their journey, and he brought his wife and young son along. Sacagawea was a young Shoshone girl, who provided much help during the expedition."

Tags:Pacific, nation, Indians, land

Abstract
In this article, the writer explains that the islands of New Zealand lie at a subduction zone between the Pacific plate and the Indian-Australian plate. This location on the unstable edge of the tectonic plates, part of the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire", has resulted in an active geological history and present. Surrounded on all sides by undersea ridges and trenches, faults crisscross both islands. The writer discusses that these major Pacific fault lines account for volcanic activity, frequent earthquakes, glaciers and a mountain range that stretches almost uninterrupted from Milford Sound at the bottom of the South Island to Cape Reinga at the uppermost tip of the North Island. This paper includes descriptions of the most dramatic examples of geothermal activity around the country.

From the Paper
"Earthquakes are another manifestation of the collision of the Pacific tectonic plate and the Indian-Australian tectonic plate. On average, 14,000 earthquakes are seismographically recorded in the New Zealand area each year. Of these, 100 to 150 are large enough to be felt. Since 1855, there have been fourteen earthquakes recorded that registered over 7.0 on the Richter scale. According to The Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences web site, to the south of New Zealand the Australian plate is being forced under the Pacific plate. Under the South Island, the two plates push past each other sideways, and east of the North Island the Pacific plate is being forced under the Australian plate.
"In Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, earthquakes thrust land upward more than five feet in 1848 and 1855, creating a peninsula out of an island. The area lies directly across on of the most active fault lines on the North Island. In 1931 an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale struck Hawkes Bay, destroying almost the entire town of Napier and causing damage along most of the coast. Two hundred fifty-eight people were killed and tens of thousands were left homeless."

Tags:New Zealand, geology, volcano, geothermal, earthquake, subduction zone

Abstract
This paper explains that the invention of the steam engine, which led to the steamboat and the steam locomotive, began mankind's technological leap forward that continues today. The author points out that, secondary to the invention of the steamboat was the locomotive steam engine, which allowed direct transportation from cities on the Atlantic Ocean to cities on the Pacific Ocean without having to traverse the Cape of Good Hope in the extreme southern hemisphere, making it more affordable to ship goods and farm products. The paper relates that public transportation was not available in the United States until after the Civil War; its availability was responsible for the creation of the suburbs.

Table of Contents
Transportation Prior to the 19th Century
The Steamboat
The Steam Wagon
Conclusion

From the Paper
"How did the invention of the steam engine change the face of American history? The United States was rich in rivers, most especially the Mississippi Rivers that connected the Great Lakes (eventually connected by the Hudson River through the Erie Canal from Chicago to Louisiana. The Louisiana Purchase would have been a poor bargain if it did not include access through the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Until the steamboat became practical, large river barges were poled by hand and smaller boats such were paddled. Both methods were highly labor intensive and slow. Sailboats were not practical outside of the oceans and Great Lakes. Even then, the vessels were dependent on prevailing winds (or lack thereof)."

Tags:steamboat, steam-locomotive, direct, public, power

Abstract
This paper stated that President Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition to do what other explores had failed. The paper describes in detail the actual journey. The paper discusses that Lewis and Clark succeeded in many areas: Opened the U.S. from the Missouri River north to the Pacific Ocean, mapped and described the areas in detail (invaluable to later settlers), discovered many previously unknown species of fauna and established contact the Indians.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Preparations
Up the Missouri
Toward the Pacific
The Return Trip
Importance of the Expedition
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The group traveled in two canoes of a type called pirogues and a 55 foot keelboat, propelled by sail and oars. All summer, they traveled up the Missouri. The days were often hot and muggy and then freezing cold. Mosquitoes tormented them and rain squalls drenched the men and boats. Sand bars slowed their progress. Seldom did the expedition make more than fourteen miles a day. There were some disciplinary problems and two desertions. The only man to die on the expedition succumbed to appendicitis during this time. "

Tags:Missouri, River, exploration

Abstract
This paper looks at "Manifest Destiny" , a reference to the inevitable expansion of the territorial boundaries of the United States westward to the Pacific Ocean and beyond. It discusses how the concept of "Manifest Destiny" was frequently used by American expansionists to justify the U.S. annexation of Texas, Oregon, New Mexico, California, and later U.S. involvement in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Philippines. It provides an examination of the factors that influenced the expansion of the country westward during the 1840s and 1850s, followed by a summary of the research in the conclusion.

Outline
Introduction
Background and Overview
Immigration
Slavery
Improvements in Transportation
Innovations in Agriculture
Availability of Native American Land and Resources
California Gold Rush -- 1848

From the Paper
"In the 40 years before the Civil War, the rate of urban growth was not confined to the East, but it was the most dramatic there; in fact, by 1860, more than a third of the people living in the Northeast were urban residents, compared with only 14 percent of westerners and 7 percent of southerners. "Although the majority of northerners still lived on farms or in small farm towns, the region was clearly urbanizing" (Nash & Jeffrey 2001:335). As a result, tens of thousands of people headed North seeking work in major metropolitan areas in factories of all sizes. At this point, cities of all sizes grew. "The population of New York and Philadelphia doubled and tripled.""

Tags:oregon, revolution, slavery, texas, trail, westward, gold, rush

Abstract
This paper explains that Drake is best remembered for battling the Spanish and being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. The author points out that Drake, called El Draque, meaning "the dragon", by the Spanish, is best known for his piracy of Spanish settlements and ships and his role in defeating the Spanish Armada. The paper describes Drake's adventure through the Strait of Magellan and into the Pacific Ocean to claim areas of North America, called Nova Albion, for Queen Elizabeth; the area included most of Washington, all of Oregon, and a sliver of California.

From the Paper
"Sir Francis Drake was Vice Admiral of the English fleet fighting the Spanish Armada. During the Battle of Gravelines, on July 29, 1588 the Armada was defeated by an English naval force under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake off the coast of Gravelines, France. Prior to the battle, Drake is said to have been playing a game of bowls. On being warned of the approach of the Spanish fleet, Drake reportedly remarked that there was plenty of time to finish the game and still beat the Spaniards. The English later defeated the Spanish on August 4 off Dorset with a fleet under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake. The final battle between the English and the Spanish was off the coast of Flanders and resulted in Spanish retreat."

Tags:armada, spain, magellen, circumnavigate, piracy