As is well known, tourism also has its downsides, which can be observed in Yellowstone National Park, where a body of water was probably destroyed by tourists.
Munich – There are many unique places in the world that can cast a spell over you. Yellowstone National Park in the USA is one of them for many travelers. Among other things, it is known for its hot springs and geysers, which regularly emit jets of hot water. The US national parks are real tourist magnets – in 2021 alone, the national park was able to attract more than four million visitors, reports the daily News. But they become a problem for the park, because the people leave behind garbage that affects the delicate ecosystem in Yellowstone. One attraction, the Morning Glory Pool, is under acute threat and may even have been destroyed.
Location | Yellowstone National Park |
Sightseeing | Morning glory pool |
problem | Garbage pollution from tourists |
Debris has fatal impact on Yellowstone National Park: Morning Glory Pool is losing its color
Apparently tourists have been throwing their rubbish in the Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone National Park for decades, reports the travel portal travelbook.com. In the meantime, all the waste has turned into a catastrophe for the water body.
The Morning Glory Pool was best known for its blue color – which even gave the water its name, as its color is reminiscent of the Morning Glory flower. The portal informs that the special coloring of the water was caused by bacteria that develop at an average temperature of over 70 degrees Celsius nationalparkstraveler.org. Air that heats up inside the earth and is led into the water via air shafts is responsible for the high temperature. However, there is now so much rubbish in the water that these air shafts are clogged and the water is therefore getting colder. The color of the Morning Glory Pool therefore changes.
This color change is reinforced by other organisms that thrive in the water at the lower temperatures. These new bacteria tend to be yellow to orange and gradually displace the original, blue bacteria.
Natural wonders in Yellowstone National Park likely destroyed – tourists are to blame
However, the problem is far from new. According to the travel portal, contamination with rubbish was said to have been so severe as early as the 1950s that the Morning Glory Pool was decried as a rubbish bin. In the 1970s there were even efforts to drain the body of water in order to free it from rubbish and thus restore its original appearance, but the project was unsuccessful.
According to the tourism website visittheusa.de Visitors hope that when there is an eruption, the waste will be expelled and the water body will recover. But scientists from the Volcano Observatory fear the Morning Glory Pool will likely never return to the same color as it once did.
Effects of tourism not only felt in Yellowstone National Park
Last year, the national park was not only affected by the garbage, severe flooding in Yellowstone led to extremely dangerous conditions, even people had to be brought to safety.
Tourists not only affect nature, but also residents of popular vacation spots. Red zones have therefore already been set up in some regions of Italy to stop mass tourism. (kiba)
#Natural #Yellowstone #Park #destroyed