LibGuides: If We Live in the Present, Why Should We Care about the Past?: Q3. How do people today solve problems created in the past?

Q3. How do people today solve problems created in the past?

How Do People Today Solve Problems Created in the Past?

Many people today are working together to resolve problems created in the past in order to make their communities better. Study the resources below about the Hudson River. Then write an explanation with evidence that answers the question, "How do people today solve problems created in the past?"

1. Watch and read the slide show

A Living River

2. Read this article on the Hudson River

The Living River

The Hudson River begins with fresh spring water at Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondack Mountains. The Hudson River gets very curvy in the middle as it winds along its course. At the end of the Hudson River is the mouth. The mouth of the river is in New York Harbor and connects the Hudson to the Atlantic Ocean.

The water in Lake Tear of the Clouds is fresh and pure. As the fresh water flows downstream, it picks up dirt and minerals.

Pollution also enters the Hudson River as it flows downstream. In the past people have dumped garbage, mining and factory waste like paint and chemicals, human and animal waste into the river. The idea was that it would all get washed away into the Atlantic Ocean never to come back. Instead this pollution hurt habitats, animals and the people who depended on them.

The Hudson River now has laws to protect it from too much pollution. There are groups of concerned people who study and work to protect the Hudson River, its animals, and its habitats. The Clearwater Sloop, The Environmental Protection Agency, and The River Keeper are a few of these groups.

Citizens of the Hudson Valley, as well as visitors, are also doing their part to solve Hudson River pollution.They now reduce, reuse, recycle and compost waste instead of dumping it into the water.

With this support The Hudson River is truly becoming a living river again.