WARREN COUNTYNEW YORK

AN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIAGNOSIS

by Eesha Vijayakumar5th grade, Susan O’Dell Taylor School

Abstract The aims of my study are to find the properties of Warren County and analyze its environmental health. To conduct this study, I used search term and read the websites of government offices such as the Department of Environmental Conservation and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The results of my study are that 1. I learned about the environment of Warren County and that it is in good shape. 2. I learned about how I should help the environment in Warren County and that they need to be more careful about the pollution because there are a lot of animals there that they need to protect.3. I learned about what problems are going on in the environment and that there are very few problems that Warren County needs to fix. Based on my research I think Warren County takes very good care of their environment.

MAPS

Methods It is important to study counties and their environment because it will teach people about the problems that are going

on in the counties and how to stop them. There are 62 counties in New York State and some ways that they are

different are that they all have a different population and a different area. Warren County has a population of 65,707

people and it has an area of 932 square miles, while New York County has a population of 1,619,090 people and an

area of 34 square miles. The parts of my county are habitats, industries, water and soil, energy, and waste. Industries

interact by helping each other out. Some industries like hunting industries depend on habitats to hunt. Industries like

electricity need energy and resources to make electricity. Researchers can ask “Do all of the people use renewable  

energy?” or “What percent of the people use non-renewable energy?” to understand the environmental health of the

county. All types of information are available like information on habitats, industries, water, soil,and energy.

Researchers can find all this information online on different websites like google.com. Some difficulties that researchers

can face are finding something useful for a different topic but not the topic you are working on and entering in a search

term that the website couldn’t find.

About EcoEd & Mentors

Rensselaer's EcoEd Research Group involves faculty and students in the development and delivery of creative, interdisciplinary environmental education to K-12 students. The goal is to extend the broad impact of humanities and social science research on environmental problems through translation into hands-on exercises through which young students develop capacity to deal effectively with environmental problems, and with complex problems in general - integrating many types of knowledge.

In EcoEd’s Upper Elementary School Research Program, young students are assigned an RPI student mentor, and with them move through a nine-week exploration of a research topic, culminating in a substantial written report and formal oral presentation.

Timeline 1 billion years ago: Adirondack Mountains formed9000 years ago: Lake Champlain formed1600’s: Mohawk, Iroquois , Algonquin Native Americans inhabited Warren County

Background Warren County’s area is 932 squared miles. 869 square miles of Warren County is land and 62.4 square miles is water. 66% of Warren County is urban and 34% is rural. The population density is 76 people per square mile. Warren County is located south of Essex County, west of Washington County, north of Saratoga County, and east of Hamilton County. It is located in the eastern part of New York. The population of Warren County is 65,583 people. It’s county seat is Queensbury. Warren County was founded in 1813.

Parts of a county: HabitatsA habitat is a place where there is active animals and plants. A habitat in Warren County is mountains. A main mountain range there is the Adirondack Mountains. The biggest mountain is Gore Mountain. There are so many animals that could live on the mountains like birds, bisons, bears, alpacas, and so many more! Animals could also live in the state parks. Animals that could live there could be small birds and ducks. There is also a lot of lakes in Warren County so that could be a habitat for fish. Forests could be a good habitat for animals too. The animals that could live there are deer, squirrels, insects, and many more animals could live in forests. Farms are also habitats to farm animals like cows, sheep, and pigs. In the Adirondacks, pollution could affect the animals and their habitats. There are a lot of hotels and places like the Great Escape Lodge that could cause air pollution which could also cause harm to the animals.

Parts of a county: IndustriesHealth Care and Social Assistance is important because if you get sick you can go to the doctor. Administrative and Support and Waste Management Remediation Services are important because without Waste Management, nobody would be there to make sure that there isn’t a lot of landfills. Food Services are important because you need food to survive. Construction industries are important because that industry builds shelters and without shelters we wouldn’t have anywhere to live. Educational Services are important because without education nobody would know anything. Without education all these industries wouldn’t exist and everything would go wrong. There would be no doctors, there would be waste everywhere, there would be no food, and no shelters. People wouldn’t be able to survive. Agriculture, Fishing, Forestry, and Hunting industries could face challenges when construction industries cut down all the forests for building places. Construction could also face problems when they run out of space for their buildings because we are not recycling and all the landfills are taking up all the space. Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation industries could face challenges when they can’t find actors or artists. Manufacturing could face problems if they run out of materials to use. Food industries can face problems if the crops are dried up because of a drought.

Parts of a county: Water & Soil The rivers in my county are Hudson River and Schroon River. The watersheds are the Upper Hudson River Watershed and Lake Champlain Watershed. The most important watershed in Warren County is the Upper Hudson Watershed because it is the bigger watershed so if it is in danger then the pollution that is in the Upper Hudson Watershed will spread all over New York State. Some of the lakes are Brant Lake, Schroon Lake, and Lake George. The streams are high quality. High quality means that it is in very good shape. Some streams are called English Brook, East Brook, and West Brook. The water is usually not too polluted. Pollution, littering, and acid rain could harm the bodies of water.There is acid rain being produced because of the air pollution. People use pesticides and chemicals to fertilize their crops and plants and when it rains those pesticides wash out into the bodies of water and pollute the water.

Parts of a county: EnergyThe energy in Warren County is good. About 27% of the energy in Warren County is renewable energy. They have a wind farm called the Adirondack Wind Energy Park. Wind energy is a type of renewable energy. Renewable energy is a type of energy that can be used again. Warren County also has non-renewable energy like coal, oil, and gas. This is bad because non-renewable energy is energy that can’t be used again so if you use it once then you can never use it again. Non-renewable energy means more landfills because you have to throw the energy source away if it is non-renewable. Warren County uses renewable resources.

Parts of a county: WasteSome small transfer stations in Warren County are Bolton Transfer Station which is located on Bolton, NY and Chester Transfer Station which is located on Chestertown, NY. The landfills in Warren County are called Lake George C&D Debris Landfill and Thurman C&D Debris Landfill. Warren County accepts Cereal Boxes, Newspaper, and Foil in their recycling. Warren County doesn’t accept Milk Cartons, Buckets, and Toys in their recycling. Cell phones can be recycled by the business Town of Stony Creek Electronics Recycling Drop-Off Location in Stony Creek, NY. Scraps of metal can be recycled by the business Eastside Metals and Recycling in Fort Ann, NY. To help the waste in Warren County people could make more Waste Management industries.

Recommendations It is important to study the environmental health of counties because it can tell you how to deal with the environmental problems going on in the counties. The key features in Warren County are the Adirondack Mountains. Lake George is also a key feature. The environmental health of Warren County is good because there is more good water quality than poor water quality. Another reason that my county’s environmental health is good is because the air quality there is getting better. The Envirothon competition helps the health of Warren County because it teaches high school students about environmental health. I think the residents that live in Warren County should be worried about the climate change because it could be a big problem in the future if it keeps on getting intense. To help reduce climate change people could stop polluting so that the atmosphere could stop getting more exposed to the sun. If it gets colder the animals that hibernate won’t be able to find their food if it is still cold. If it gets warmer then the plants will dry up and the animals won’t be able to eat the plants. If the water gets warmer then the fish won’t be as happy in their habitat. People should learn about Warren County so that they can help it.

Environmental Health Indicator

WATERSHED HEALTH

Watershed name: Upper Hudson River

What percentage of rivers have

poor water quality?

What percentage of lakes

have poor water quality?

Overall percentage with poor

water quality?

5% 46% 51%

What percentage of rivers have

good water quality?

What percentage of lakes

has good water quality?

Overall percentage with good

water quality?

46% 7% 53%

Caption: More good water quality is found here.

Environmental Health Indicator AIR QUALITY

Unhealthy air days for

general population in 2012.

Unhealthy air days for

people with asthma in 2012

Since 2003, has air quality

for asthmatics improved or

gotten worse?

YOUR COUNTY N/A N/A N/A

RENNSSELAER COUNTY

0 0 Better

ESSEX COUNTY

0

4 Better

NEW YORK COUNTY

0

2 Better

Caption: There wasn’t much data available for Warren County

Environmental Health Indicator

ENERGY

What region is your county located in?

Type of Energy % of County Energy Composition

Renewable 27%

Hydroelectric 25%

Nuclear 15%

Oil 3%

Gas 21%

Coal 13%

Explain what this type of energy means for your region.

-Is it healthy or unhealthy? Why? It is healthy because 67% is good and 37% is bad.

-Will we be able to use this same mixture for another 100 years? How about 1,000 years? No, we can’t use non-

renewable energy forever.

How much pollution does this energy mix cause? Not much.

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