HudsonRiverValleyEnvironmentalProblems-The.pptVIP

Hudson River Valley: Environmental Problems Causes and Responses Discovering Resources The Hudson River Valley’s attractive natural features were valued, but taken advantage of to its degradation An estimated 90 percent of New York was densely forested when the first European settlers arrived Forests were cleared to make way for agriculture and towns and to fuel industries such as tanning, paper, and charcoal Using and Abusing The area is valuable to industrialization The Hudson River provided Abundant water supply Fast currents for powering machinery Easy means of waste disposal This resulted in massive deforestation, the introduction of invasive species, and the burning of forest land to clear the way for agriculture Cause:Lumber Man-forced removal of trees - seen with the industrial revolution quickened the pace and scale of resource consumption - without sufficient reforestation can result in damage to the habitat Woodlands were used firewood to produce the steam that powered factories and steamboats White pine forests were cut for the shipbuilding industry Pine was cut for charcoal for iron foundries Hemlocks were stripped of bark to supply tanneries Whole forests in the Catskills were destroyed to meet the demands for leather The Pratt tannery, at Schohariekill, consumed 6000 cords of bark a year (15 cords = 75 trees) Cause:Blast Furnaces Blast furnaces are large devices used for smelting to produce industrial metals, like iron, where fuel and ore are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace and air is blown into the bottom of the chamber The chemical reactions that take place in the blast furnace due to the intense heating process can cause hazardous chemicals to be released into the soil near blast furnace industries in 1827 the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring began operating a charcoal-fueled blast furnace bordering the foundry complex, but managers stopped operating the furnace by 1844 due to environmental pollution to surrounding forest