Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park
　Yosemite National Park is a historic and adventurous place to be! It’s first visitors were in 1855, and the park sees 3 million people per year. Abraham Lincoln actually signed a the Yosemite Grant in 1864 to help conserve the park. Yosemite is located in California with 1,189 square miles of pure wilderness beauty. This park is any outdoors persons dream park! There are so many things to do! You can go back packing, biking, bird watching, fishing, hiking, horse back riding, picnicking, rock climbing, swimming, rafting, skiing, and ice skating.
Yosemite national park is also known for having natural rock falls. Many things cause rock falls, like glaciation, weathering, and erosions. Rock falls are a very dangerous thing that can’t be prevented or predicted. Over the past 150 years Yosemite Nation Park have recorded at least 600 rock falls. The death toll at the park averages at 10-12 deaths per year. Mostly these deaths are from drowning or falling but rarely from rock fall. Fifteen people have died due to rock falls at Yosemite in the past 150 years.
Scientists just recently started making actual data recordings of the rock fall in 2009 by laser scanning, computer modeling, and monitoring of the cliffs. With hopes to one day be able to predict rock falls. The first recorded rock fall just happened to be the biggest in 2 decades. If scientists could prevent rock falls they could be able to save lives by getting everyone to safety before it happens.
http://research.eerc.berkeley.edu/projects/seismicrockfall/docs/ModestoBee_689397.html