Volcano Eruptions Effecting Geography

The eruptions of several volcanos of Eyjafjallajökull that exist in Eyjafjallajökull which is part of Iceland. This eruption has a lot to do with the impact of geography including location, economics, physical geography, politics, and movement of people.

It is first important to understand where Eyjafjallajökull exists. It is located in Iceland which is part of Northern Europe near a glacier. This is located then in south part of the region. Up until this point I had never heard of this city. Due to this eruption of volcano and the latest news, it made me interested in where this was located. Therefore I learned more about geography and locations in other places around the world. Also this location effects the people living near this volcano. The location of houses near this volcano is not safe and therefore has displaced people across the region. Nearly 500 farmers and families living in the areas of Fljótshlíð, Eyjafjöll, and Landeyjar were forced to relocate. They are therefore not allowed to return home till after a committee agrees that it is safe for the people to return.

This volcano eruption also has impacted the economy in numerous ways. For example it has ruined homes and farmer's lands. This volcano has not only wiped out farmer's source of income but will therefore hurt the economy with the loss of revenue. Secondly it also has forced visitors visiting Europe to pay bigger hotel bills. The airport was closed down due to the effects of volcano. Therefore no new visitors can leave or enter the country. This has stopped the traveling of people and only forced the visitors staying there to spend more money on hotels. I also think that the people living near the volcano had to pay money to either relocate to a safer area or had to check into hotels until it is safer for them to return home. Lastly a major hit has taken place in the economy. With airports shut down airports are losing tons of money a day without flights leaving and entering the country.

Next these volcano eruptions are destroying landscape and physical geography. For example all the natural surroundings and farmer's lands are being burnt to ashes by the hot lava. Upon reading on this topic, I learned that the lava is composed of substances called alkali olivine basalt. These lava flows are changing the landscape of the area. Not only is it changing landscapes but also polluting the water. This also effects drinking water for the people and livestock. Farmers were warned not to let their livestock drink from rivers where the water could be contaminated with lava.

This also effects politics. For example there are many different leaders rising to the throne to help take action against this problem. Not only does this create an imbalance of power among leaders and different people to help clean up this volcano eruption and how to get the airports to reopen. Also this creates a problem between the environmentalist and the political leaders. Not only this but other countries are getting involved in this problem which could strengthen foreign affairs.

This also effects movement of people. For example the movement of people between different countries has stopped due to the shut down of the airports. Also people were asked to relocate their homes for those who lived near the volcano. This also sent many people to other parts of the country if not temporarily but also permanently. People may permanently have to move away from the volcano because their farms or homes were destroyed.

This volcano eruptions have therefore impacted many different parts of geography. Although this a serious problem we must all take precautions and find ways to help the people in need at this time.

Mission Work in the World

For this blog I looked onto the LCMS church website. This agency provides lots of great service opportunities among spreading the love of Christ Jesus. This agency works not only with fellow congregation members but also with other churches around the world. This agency also gathers, trains, and equips leaders to go to these different churches around the world. Not only does it do this but this agency spreads the Gospel and helps other churches grow and sustain church members.

These organizations not only provide college students and other church missionaries with financial aid but also resources needed to be equipped for the job. For example this agency also asks anyone, including college graduates, to pray for their missions and the people who are helping spread the Gospel. A neat feature included on this website is the option to search for opportunities in different regions. For example opportunities range from careers, short term missions, disaster relief, and educating other cultures in other countries. These all provide great opportunities for college graduates to get involved. For specific ways to get involved in a certain country I would encourage college graduates to look in their mission search engine for ways to help other cultures.

There is so many ways for people to help other people in need. This not only provides opportunities for service but also globalization. For example when you travel to other countries, whether for pleasure or missions, you learn about other cultures first-hand. Not only do you spread your culture to the people living in the country you visit but then you bring the counties' culture you visited back home. This provides great ways to get involved in learning other cultures and to help the spread of globalization.

Eating a Variety of Food Throughout the World

If you take a look at different places around the world one will notice a variety of food and diets. This can be due to the fact that their diets correlate with their atmosphere and surroundings. I know when we go on vacations we all get excited about the new foods or the local foods that exist in the area. Our day is planned based upon the meals and foods we will eat. This tells you that not only does food vary from city to city but also excites people about traveling.

Upon my travel to Hawaii, I tried sushi for the first time. I think that this is the strangest food I have ever eaten because it is hard to wrap my mind around eating uncooked fish. Plus not to mention you are ingesting seaweed which grows in the ocean. After the initial shock of the experience, I really enjoyed sushi.

Despite how nervous I was about trying it, this experience has taught be to try new things and to be more excepting of other culture's foods. I think that this open mind is a good thing to have in the future with the world becoming globally united. Regional diets will become more widespread and this will also be a result of the new technology and transportation system.

Warren Buffett

I found this article to be very interesting about Warren Buffet in the recent news.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2010-03-25-buffett23_CV_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

This article explains how Warren Buffets thinks that transportation of goods for production should transition to traveling by railways rather than by trucks on the highway. Reasons for this include trains would not have deal with road congestion and possible delays like road construction.

I think this would be a good plan because the railroads would be more consistently useable unlike the deteriorating road surfaces. Buffett's plans for investments have pulled through during the recent economy loss. After reading these articles I feel that Warren Buffett is a smart business man who is not afraid of making risky decisions when he feels that area is a good investment.

Blog #8

Tornados have fasicnated me for as long as I can remember. I respect the people who are putting themselves in harms way to actually study tornados to help us better understand their formation and patterns - which is what is happening in this video. I am disturbed by those people who go around just to be entertained by the storms - they get all giddy and excited when they are actually going to see something big and don't seem to be thinking about those affected by these powerful storms.

My closest encounter with one was in the summer of 2001. I was playing baseball, and the lightening kept getting worse. Our parents kept wondering when they were going to stop the game, and finally they did. I had riden my bicylce to the ball park, so one of my teammates dad's threw my bike in his truck and they dropped me off at home, and just then the tonado siren sounded. There was much destruction around the area when that storm produced a tornado that touched down. One home around a mile east of Seward was totally destroyed, leaving only the basement. My brother and I helped with the Salvation Army's distribution of food to the victims and clean-up crews.

Now that I'm in my wheelchair, I am probably much more frightened of tornados, because I know my abiblity to take cover anywhere is not always going to be possible. I hope people realize that warnings and watches should be taken seriously and not just looked upon as an opportunity for entertainment. Respectful fascination is okay, but the respect has to be there, or someone could get seriously injured.

Blog #7: Formation of the Grand Canyon

There are many different ideas of how the Grand Canyon was formed. There are theories from evolutionary geologists; the old-earth creationists; and the young-earth creationists. This topic is of great interest to me, and I would like to highlight the view points of the youth-earth creationists, because I found their theories to be most in line with scripture.

The Grand Canyon is about three hundred miles long, a mile deep, and varies in width from four to twelve miles across. This is a big geological structure which makes it very obvious to all of us that it took a great event/process to create such a beautiful place.

According to evolutionary geologist and even old-earth creationists, the Grand Canyon began forming about 17 million years ago. Although scientists say that they aren't for sure how the Grand Canyon was formed, they believe that there were several steps in creating the Grand Canyon. The biggest factor mentioned in creating the Grand Canyon, even if it is located in a desert, was through erosion both by water and wind.

Young-earth creation scientists believe that the layers of rock in the Grand Canyon were created about five thousand years ago by the world wide flood which Noah, his family and animals representing all the "kinds" survived in the ark. If we consider the current rates of erosion, it would take about 71,000 years to erode the amount of Grand Canyon that is missing as of today. That would leave over 70 million years worth of eroded material unaccounted for. The big question basically ends up being is did it form slowly over millions of years with a little water or quickly with a lot of water.

This quote from a page from the Answers in Genesis website http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v18/i2/grand_canyon.asp explains the geological formation of the Grand Canyon from a creatinist and catastrophist view:

Creationist geologist Dr Steven Austin says:
'The crystalline-basement rocks exposed deep within the Canyon (schist, granite, and gneiss) represent some of earth's oldest rocks, probably from early in Creation Week. Tilted, deeply buried strata (the "Grand Canyon Supergroup") show evidence of catastrophic-marine sedimentation and tectonics associated with the formation of an ocean basin midway through Creation Week, and may include ocean deposits from the post-Creation, but pre-Flood world. The Canyon's characteristic horizontally stratified layers (the "Paleozoic Strata") are up to 4,000 feet thick [1,200 metres] and are understood to be broad sedimentary deposits in northern Arizona dating from the early part of Noah's Flood. Remnants of strata overlying the rim of Grand Canyon (the "Mesozoic Strata") are associated with a widespread erosion surface.'2

Dr Austin says that these features suggest tectonics, sedimentation, and erosion during the last half of the Flood year as the Colorado Plateau was lifted more than a mile above sea level.

'The catastrophic erosion of Grand Canyon (probably a result of drainage of lakes) was associated with river-terrace gravels, lake sediments, landslide deposits, and lava flows of the post-Flood period,' he says.3

Rather than being easily explained by evolutionists, the formation of the Grand Canyon is a problem for evolutionists, but fits well into the framework of the Bible.

I believe that the creation days in Genesis were 24 hour days, and, therefore find myself in agreement with the young-earth creationist on the formation of the Grand Canyon. Here are links to more Answers in Genesis articles about the Grand Canyon that may be of interest:

The Case of the 'Missing' Geologic Time:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i3/time.asp

Grand Canyon Limestone-Fast or Slow Deposits:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i3/limestone.asp

Grand Canyon: Startling Evidence for Noah's Flood (foot prints and sand 'dunes' in Grand Canyon sandstone):
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v15/i1/flood.asp

Blog #6

One thing I found insightful in this video was how it talked about Dubai and how it is one of the fastest growing cities. The most interesting fact I found was not from the standpoint of the growing construction sites but how 180 different cultures get along happily within this city.

I think that this city can be a great model to the rest of SW Asia's culture. With the whole Gaza strip issue it can be seen that many cultures cannot get along. How can this then be that the people of Dubai can get along so well while Gaza cannot?

Another great idea that this clip can bring to other cultures in this area was the statement that Dubai is a "revolution not with guns or bombs but with ideas." This can be a great model to other states who are fighting over land with bombs but should instead talk about their feelings.

According to our textbook it stated that Dubai was created because of oil. This shows the power of oil reserves in the country. Our textbook talked about how the countries who not have the oil resources and income raise their economy through means of tourism. However Dubai will grow rapidly with a sound economy because not only was it built with oil resources but will also attract tourists to the area.

Dubai is also helping cultures by employing people from Bangladesh,India, and Pakistan to work at construction sites in Dubai. This will help supply cultures with money to live happy lives and to support large families.