From dogonews
By Daksha Morjaria on October 14, 2018
Yellowstone Park officials were thrilled when the Ear Spring geyser suddenly came to life on September 15, 2018. Visitors fortunate enough to be in the area, watched in awe as the hot pool’s largest eruption since 1957, caused sprays of steaming 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degree Celsius), water to leap as high as 30 feet (9 meters) in the air. However, the joy turned to shock when employees discovered that in addition to the expected rocks and dirt, the geyser had also ejected human-generated trash.
The carefully cataloged items include almost 100 coins, a cinder block, aluminum cans, plastic cups, cigarette butts, a rubber heel insert, old metal signs, a plastic straw, and even a vintage baby pacifier from the 1930s! Park officials say regardless of whether the foreign objects ended up in the geyser accidentally or were thrown in deliberately, they are harmful to the hot spring.
Yellowstone supervisory park ranger Rebecca Roland told CBS News, “You might think that if you toss something in a hot spring or in a geyser that it disappears, but it doesn’t disappear. It stays in that and what normally happens is you can actually plug up a feature and kill the feature. And that’s happened in many places in the park.” Park officials caution tourists to be more careful: “The next time Ear Spring erupts we hope it’s nothing but natural rocks and water.”
Established in 1872, Yellowstone, which spans an area of almost 3,500 square miles, was the first national park in the world. While most of it is in Wyoming, the park’s boundaries also extend into parts of Montana and Idaho. The wilderness recreation area is known for its diverse wildlife, dramatic canyons, alpine rivers, lush forests, and, most importantly, the world’s largest number of hot springs and geysers.
The impressive gushers, which draw thousands of visitors to the park annually, can be attributed to Yellowstone’s location above a volcanic hot spot. As surface water seeps underground, it comes in contact with the hot magma, which causes the liquid to boil. The resulting pressure forces a superheated column of steam and water to the surface, through a plumbing system made of fractures, fissures, porous spaces and cavities. While most geysers don’t erupt on a regular schedule, Yellowstone’s Old Faithful has been spewing out columns of scalding water, up to 184 feet high, every 35 to 120 minutes since 2000. Even more impressive is that each natural fountain “show” lasts between one and a half to 5 minutes!
Saldino Science 
I think that this is important to us because it can teach us to respect nature. Even if you think what you did is harmless, it may build up into a lot more. Some of the items were from many years ago, and if people were doing it in the 1930’s, it’s obvious that they haven’t stopped. The park is known for it’s forest, rivers, and geysers. If we keep damaging them, than what will be left?
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I think this article is important because it shows what happens if you are not aware of your surroundings by not respecting your environment. In the article people threw trash in the geyser because they thought they would get rid of it, but trash always shows up later if it has not biodegraded. Years later, the trash eventually showed up from the geyser. The trash could not disintegrate and people probably thought it would. The means that you should not throw trash that is not biodegradable on nature because it ruins the nature around you. If people had been aware of their surroundings the geyser would be clean and the trash would be recycled and the park would have had only erupted natural things like water and rocks. This is why you should respect your surroundings and nourish the nature around you!
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I think this is important to us because it teaches us the disadvantages of littering. One piece of trash can have a big affect on the environment. We have been teaching generations to not litter but that hasn’t done any effect. If we continue this, we may not have a place to live in the future. Nature is important and it gives a lot to us. It even gives us some of our essential needs. The most we can do to pay back is to not litter and keep as nice as we can.
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I think this article is very important because you can learn many new things from it. More people in the world will learn to respect nature and to take care of the world. This topic is also very important. It is the world we live in and we should be able to take care of it and everyone in it. We have been taught by so many people not to litter and to take care of the world and yet people don’t pay attention. This article will help many.
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I think this is a really good article. I learned a lot of new facts.This is a very important article because people in the worlds need to learn to take car of the world around them. This is the world we live in and we should respect it and talk care of it. This article should be read by many people so the understand what happens and they can change it.
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I don’t get why or how anyone would throw trash in such an amazing place. WHy would anyone do that and ruin the fun for anyone? This is a great article, as it shows how we humans have ruined some pieces of nature and how we need to fix this.
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