Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Not All Ski Slopes Are Environmentally Equal, Study Concludes

This article speaks about studies that have been done recently on ski slopes. It has been concluded that cleared ski runs cause less damage to our ecosystem than graded slopes because on cleared runs, seed banks and small shrubs are left on the slope. Also the top layers of the soil are left intact. This supports plant growth and vegetation, which in turn supports wildlife. On graded slopes everything is bulldozed over which removes topsoil and vegetation. This significantly damages our ecosystem. The article also states that the only reason that there are graded slopes is because they open a couple of weeks earlier than cleared runs.
This article is very important because not many people realize that the slopes that they are skiing on could be damaging the environment. Also, it is teaching people that they could be helping the environment if they wait few weeks later normal for the skiing season to start.
I though that this article was very interesting. It taught me a lot; I never thought of ski slopes as not being environmentally friendly. This article was easy to understand and there was not one point in it where I was bored. I would even be interested to learn more about this topic from reading this article.

Bhanoo, Sindya N. "Not All Ski Slopes Are Environmentally Equal, Study Concludes." New York Times 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 13 Jan. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/science/12slopes.html?ref=science>.

4 comments:

  1. I think this article is very informative to anyone who loves skiing or does it as a sport or hobby. It makes you think about all the ski slopes and how all the trees and vegetation is removed from that area so cheap ski resorts can be made for people who love skiing. It really makes me feel bad about how so many people come to these ski resorts and how the people who own them make so much money off of them even though it is a hazard to the environment. I think the author could have mentioned a way to preserve vegetation on these slopes or tell us about some slopes that are just naturally meant for skiing and don't damage the environment. I thought this article was mind opening, and has taught me a lot about the connection between ski slopes and the environment.

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  2. Allison Cane January 14, 2010
    Chemistry article review


    Rory’s article Not All Ski Slopes Are Environmentally Equal, Study Concludes, was very interesting. One thing that Rory did well was she kept the review at a god length so that it was easy for the reader to understand. Another thing that Rory did well was she did not use huge words that are unknown so the reader could understand what she was trying to say. Lastly something that Rory did well was she gave good details so the reader could fully comprehend what the article was about. One thing that Rory could have done to improve her article review was describing a certain study or ski run where the conclusions have been concluded. Also she could have described ways that people are stopping the harmful ski runs from damaging our ecosystem. One thing that I learned from Rory’s article review was that cleared ski runs cause less damage to our ecosystem than graded slopes because on cleared runs, seed banks and small shrubs are left on the slope.

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  3. I read Rory’s article titled, “Not All Ski Slopes Are Environmentally Equal, Study Concludes.” I thought this was a very interesting article and I enjoyed reading it. It was very informative. I never realized that ski sloped were damaging the environment in any way. I knew that the trees were cut down, but I didn’t actually realize that other things contributed towards this.
    One thing I would recommend Rory to notice is to include a bit more information in her article, and to explain what exactly is being damaged.
    I learned not only that Ski Slopes are not environmentally equal, but I also learned that if I wait a few weeks to go skiing, I could help the environment.

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  4. Firstly, Rory did a good job explaining the damage that graded slopes do to our ecosystem. I never knew that they were capable of doing such damage environmentally. Also I like how Rory stated the distinction between graded and clear slopes. I didn't know ski slopes were a problem that people can take part in to fix.
    Although Rory told us about the negative affects that graded ski slopes have on our environment, she could've stated some facts about cleared ski slopes. That might be something that Rory might want to think about for the future. Rory also might have wanted to talk about what people can do to help the situation.
    I enjoyed this article quite a bit. I hadn't known that anything related to skiing would have to do with the environment.

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