Geography Of Alaska Essay

Drilling in Alaska will not help stop the oil crisis. Many colonial Americans weren’t concerned about protecting natural resources because they thought they had a lot but they also knew that they needed to preserve the oil. Should the United States drill for oil in Alaska’s wilderness? America shouldn’t drill in Alaska because of the environment wilderness, protecting environment, and economics.

As we first enter the upper peninsula in Lankton’s text we come to understand how different this part of the world was from the rest of the “world below”. As travelers started moving into the region they became amazed by how unique the land truly was “ Those who traveled through or settled on the Keweenaw Peninsula or Isle Royale were almost universally struck by its remoteness and by how greatly it differed from other places they had lived”(8). As people first start moving into the upper Peninsula they start to understand that along with its beauty and contrast comes a strong and fierce environment. With its long winter 's, deep waters, and unbearable pests it made it extremely difficult for people from the “world below” to move into the region “In 1855, the last supply ship of the year bound for Ontonagon has to cut its voyage short to escape oncoming winter”(12). Not only did the winter 's hold up travel but the severe storms in Lake Superior often lead to death. The

There are many states in North America. Formally known as the United States of America. From New York to California, you could find millions of different types of people, and cultures from around the world. But how about a state that is so isolated from them all, that many people forget it was even added as the 49th state to the country? The lone state of Alaska is to the north west of the major states and if laid on top of the other states, would cover about two-thirds of the land. And for a state that is so large, it is surely simply thought of as the coldest state. Alaska is much more then that, and has a lot of history behind just a land of snow and mountains.

The landscape of the West was one without trees and other natural markings, water was scarce, and unpredictable weather changes often made life on the frontier difficult. Emigrants were often ignorant of the climate and made the voyage anyway, as seen in document C. The journey west was made by wagon. Food shortages and disease often plagued the emigrants. Also the unpredictable climate cause more hardships. The emigrants chose areas that they thought had the best land. The settlements were concentrated mostly along the coast because the middle was dessertious, as seen in document a. As a result of this picking and choosing of lands, families were often isolated, where the nearest family was often miles away. The natural environment determined what type of people settled in which places. Families looking to settle permanently and plant roots settled on the land best fit for farming. Young and adventurous emigrants looking to make a quick profit from speculating the land or mining it settled and developed quick cities.

In A Woman Who Went to Alaska, it takes a differnt perspective of teh Klondike gold rush as to focusing on

The gold was never found and the passage through America was given up in hopes of staying alive. Because the Chesapeake settlers were too interested in gold, they did not settle down and get ready for the harsh winters to come; leaving them unprotected to the fierce winter. The New England settlers were settles and ready, but they did loose a few men to the bitter cold, however not as many as the Chesapeake settlers did.

Some of the natural resources on the map are trees and water. Problems the settlers faced while settling were the animals, weather and the Native Americans. A lot of the animals and Native Americans were unfriendly in this area. The weather in this area is rainy and that can be hard when you're trying to build a town. Those are all the reasons why geography made it difficult.

In 1845 North-America started moving west, it appropriated Texas, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Arizona Between 1845 and 1848, and Alaska in 1867 (Burnsted, 193-95). Americans had a dream of creating a democratic utopia in the west and thanks to technology that improved travel conditions such as roads, railroads, and steamboats the expansion to the west was possible. These methods of transportation and the telegraph helped people exchange economic growth and move further away from watery locations, but it was the establishment of railroads that

Another way of attaining territory is to buy it. Russian Alaska is vast untamed wilderness was ridiculed as a dreary waste of glaciers, ice, white bears, and walruses.” But U.S. Secretary of State William H.

Alaska was not only an icebox. But it had a repository of resources. Before Russia sold the Alaska to the United States, a fur production was based there. Americans thought that William Seward bought a useless Iceland from Russia but this was not the case. In the 1957, caused by resources development, oil, coal, natural gas, copper, and full of rich natural resources and marine resources got developed. In the 1880s, a gold mine has been found and the Gold Rush began to take place. Klondike gold strike in 1896, recognized Alaska as a valuable addition to the United States. (Wikipedia, 2015)

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Chapter One, “The Alaska Interior,” (pages 5 – 8). Villard, 1996.

The abundance of inexpensive land in the Northwest Territory gave opportunities to make a living for many people who came. However, life in the Northwest was daily challenging to live in back then, as a settler came in to settle down in those lands, they had to fight against Native Americans as well as with the environment. However, eventually as more and more settlers came into the land, towns and cities developed from trading posts as transportation improved and populations increased. Indians and settlers faced harsh winters as they continued to live neck and neck with each other, each was a threat to the other in the fight for survival. With all the much needed supplies in the East, being hard to get to, it had also became a challenge to the settlers, being as they were hard to get to, only the most determined would have had any chance of success.

One of the factors that changed Alaska is once we struck oil, and became one of the biggest sources of oil in the country. My dad says that oil wealth has changed Alaska by putting us on the map. The other ways he said Alaska society has changed over the years is the population and the politico greed. Many factors increased the population, like when we struck oil, which created more jobs and opportunities for many people. My dad says in recent years Alaska has become too political to the point where politics has taken over the state. For example, our Permanent Fund Dividend is slowly decreasing annually; he fears that soon enough our PFD will disappear. Another example is limited fishing in Alaska, which is caused by the fact that commercial fishers are more important. The most significant event that happened in Alaska while my dad has lived here was the death of Ted Stevens, which occurred August 9,

"Climate change is a change in the statistical properties of the climate system that persists for several decades or longer" (Montgomery, 2015). Climate change (or global warming) can be caused by a natural progress such as sun 's radiations and volcanoes, or it can be caused by human 's actions such as land use, deforestation, and pollution. (Hardy, 2003).This phenomenon not only affects the environment, but it also affects human lives. Alaska is the largest state in the United States. It includes lands on both sides of the Arctic Circle. Sixteen national wildlife refuges are home to a great variety of flora and fauna. In the past 60 years. The Alaska 's environment changed drastically; the climate is warming up as twice as much in comparison to all the other states. This essay will discuss firstly the climate change in the Alaskan environment. Then it will highlight the changes in the ocean and costs, the effects that global warming is having on Alaska 's natives and the melting permafrost. It will then finally address who is responsible for this effects and some measures that can be taken.

Summary: Looking for Alaska is the story of a young boy named Miles Halter who leaves his hometown in Florida in order to attend Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama for his junior year. This boy loves reading biographies and especially memorizing last words of famous people. At Culver Creek, he meets new friends such as Chip his roommate also called Colonel, Takumi and Alaska a beautiful young girl with whom he will fall in love but cannot have since she already has a boyfriend named Jake. Unfortunately, under their influence, Miles starts smoking and drinking alcohol. One night after having drank a lot of alcohol, Alaska and Miles start to kiss but do not go further because Alaska