Environmental studies and Forestry

The following post has two assignments namely;

1.Environmental studies and Forestry

Respond to the following posting: The 2017 hurricane season started off extremely quiet, until August 25. Several named storms began circling around the Atlantic Ocean and eventually made their way into the Gulf of Mexico. Emergency Operating Centers from Florida to Texas were on high alert as Hurricane Harvey made its way to the United States Gulf Coast. He decided to make landfall in the areas around Houston. Hurricane Harvey landed as a category 4 storm with sustained winds of 130 mph, releasing over 50 inches of rainfall, affecting over 13 million people, damaging/destroying over 35,000 homes, over 1 million cars and the lives of 82 people (Huber, Klinger, O’Hara, 2017). Three days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, immense flooding was occurring in most areas of Houston. Many residents of the area were concerned of the two reservoirs that are in the northwest areas of Houston would fail. These two reservoirs, the Barker and Addicks reservoirs were built by the federal government in the 1940’s for the purpose of collecting excess rainwater and sparing Houston from flooding (Collier, Satija, 2017). However, after the storm had stalled and released so much rainfall, many residents in Houston were afraid of the reservoirs breaking. August 28, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Harris County Flood Control and the City of Houston made the hard decision to begin releasing water from the reservoir as it was filled. They released the water, knowing that nearby homes would be affected (Lemault, 2017). In the watershed areas of the Barker and Addicks reservoirs, there are 93 subdivisions. This was not an easy decision for those in charge. Either they control the flooding, or risk the reservoirs breaching. The released water filled up a nearby bayou, Buffalo Bayou, flooding homes that were not in danger of flooding from the hurricane. Due to this matter, many homes and businesses have filed lawsuits against the City of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control. They are seeking compensation for repair costs for their property, decrease in property value, loss of income both personal and business (PR, 2017). These cases are very similar in nature to those of Hurricane Katrina victims, in that many homes and businesses that were flooded and/or destroyed were in ruin due to levee failures. This is a similar case in which people were affected due to mitigation efforts that were put to extreme tests by circumstances that were unavoidable. The release of these waters could end up costing billions of dollars in compensation for flooding victims

2. LACMA MUSEUM

1. How does the museum building relate to its surroundings? Is it similar, different, larger, smaller than the environment around it? 2. What is the exterior interior like? Is it decorated? Can you tell what style of architecture it is? How does it relate to what you see inside? 3. What is the entrance lobby to the museum like? How does it shape the beginning of your museum visit? 4. Who is attending the museum? What is the general atmosphere like? 5. How are the galleries organized? Why do you think the galleries and exhibitions look the way they do? (Think about wall color, lighting, interior arrangement etc).