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It results in the creation of most caves visited each year by millions of tourists around the globe, including the Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
If it wasn’t for this underground geological phenomenon Carlsbad wouldn’t even exist.
It is responsible for the entire city’s water supply and aquifers.
The name comes from a region formerly called Kars in what is now Slovenia.
But karst is predominantly identified as a landscape.
It’s not a rock or specific feature.
Karst landscapes form from dissolved bedrock comprised of mostly limestone, and occasionally gypsum, but always soluble rock.
That rock is eaten away by slightly acidic water, fueled by carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and in the soil when rain falls to the ground, creating a weak carbonic acid.
The acid is not dangerous to humans, it exists in the ground we interact with every day.
Through thousands of years the limestone is slowly eroded — about one inch for every thousand years — forming complex networks of caves and underground passages.
When the water reaches bedrock, it finds cracks in the land, dissolving the earth and enlarging the openings.
From there, two types of sinkholes can form.
A collapse sinkhole can form as a cavity appears below the earth and the top layer of rock falls in.
This can cause problems for above-ground activity, such as highways and other types infrastructure.
The other kind of karst sinkhole can bring the most life-sustaining resource bubbling to the surface.
When a solution sinkhole is created, the limestone is eroded from the surface downward into the ground, forming a bowl and creating aquifers where water gathers in the subsequent cavity.
While many ancient cultures throughout time have revered caves as spiritually significant and important to mythology, the modern-day importance of karst can be summed up in one word.
Karst-formed aquifers and caves that filter and contain underground water supplies are highly sensitive to contamination.
This is because of the complexity and number of passages, which can make it difficult and almost impossible, to find the source of contamination and stop it from spreading.
George Veni, president of International Union of Speleology and executive director of National Cave and Karst Research Institute in Carlsbad, said public and industry leaders should be aware of the locations and sensitivities of karst formations ahead of development, to avoid ruining water supplies.
Understanding the formations, sometimes miles underground, can also help communities plan for the future and know exactly how much water will be available in the decades to come.
Locally, that means being able to understand where the water supplied by the Capitan Aquifer comes from – and how much is left.
“I’m concerned about our understanding of the Capitan,” said Veni.
The potential problem centers on water security. In a desert region, water is scarce and becoming scarcer.
A 2005 report from the New Mexico Environment department predicts rainfall in the state will decrease rapidly throughout the rest of the century.
Rain fuels the Capitan aquifer via a karst network, and could easily dry up without enough rain.
The nature of karst makes the water supply highly vulnerable to contaminants.
Pollutants from industrial activities such as oil drilling can leach into the karst, and can be carried up to three miles in a single day.
Rather than work to stop the contamination from spreading, Veni said contamination needs to be prevented in the first place.
This means greater regulations for activities near karstic regions, and higher scrutiny when approving oil wells.
He said many answers remain tucked into the mysterious underground formations.
But none of them will ever make it to the surface if karst is not respected, understood and preserved.
In the case of Carlsbad, karst aquifers caused underground springs to form along and underneath the Pecos River, supplying the southeast corner of New Mexico with the drinking water needed to sustain a community.
“The reason we are here in Carlsbad is karst,” Veni said.
Veni said most people go about their day on the surface of Carlsbad, unaware of the essential role karst plays in their lives.
Most of the karst formations in the United States are east of the Mississippi River, Veni said, but there are pockets in the west.
He said many karst features in the country might be too small for inclusion in most mapping, but NCKRI is hoping to change that.
The institute is part of an international project based in Germany to remap all the karst in the world.
The four-year project, including a team of international research groups, aims to include karstic areas that are more fragmented compared to the enormous swaths in Russia and China.
Veni said the project will look to include smaller karstic areas with bigger social importance.
Before, mapping activity would only include areas that were at least 65 percent karst, while the state of New Mexico is about 20 percent.
But the smaller karst regions in the state pose more importance to people than vast expanses in the Siberian wilderness where few people reside.
Other countries are taking note of the importance of karst and its preservation, he said.
In Brazil, although the country is only about five percent karst, miners or any developers in karst areas must adhere to heightened government regulations.
"I decided to do it because no one else would, not the media or the newspapers," the creator told BuzzFeed News.
A calendar showing the alarming number of cases of violence against women that happened in Argentina last month has gone viral on Twitter.
"I feel pretty bad doing this, but it's the only way to show this horror."
Ramiro, a 17-year-old from Buenos Aires, Argentina, created the calendar in early April in reaction to what he felt was a refusal by others to acknowledge Argentina's high femicide rates.
-Aggregated Karina, Claudia and María Estela, victims I did not know."
"I decided to do it because no one else would, not the media or the newspapers," Ramiro told BuzzFeed News.
- Added Paulina and Cristina, victims from Tuesday."
"They just have reported like three or four cases" he said. "The local media only cares about the girls who are from Buenos Aires."
.@juancalde_ Actualizado: -Agregadas María Esther y Alejandra Marcela, víctimas del 19 y del 20 respectivamente.
The calendar includes the hashtag #NiUnaMenos, the Argentinian feminist movement which has been campaigning for an end to gender-based violence. The names included on the calendar are color coded by cases — missing (desaparecida), murdered (asesinada), abused (abusada), and murdered and abused (asesinada y abusada).
-Added Tamara, case I didn't know."
-Corrected the color for Marina."
Ramiro said he set up google alerts to help him accurately connect dates and cases.
Actualizado: -Agregadas Tamara y Carmen -25 FEMICIDIOS EN 25 DÍAS DE ABRIL, vergüenza me da tener que decir eso.
-25 FEMALES IN 25 DAYS OF APRIL, shame I have to say that."
Throughout April, people shared Ramiro's calendar, expressing their horror at the numbers.
"People reacted with concern," Ramiro said. "Concern because no one appears to care about those femicides."
Ramiro said that he may make another calendar for May, but he hopes, "that this stops at the point where an update would not be needed anymore."
Todos tenemos hermanas, o hijas, o amigas, o sobrinas, nietas, novias, conocidas.... BASTA por diosss !
"We all have sisters, or daughters, or friends, or nieces, granddaughters, girlfriends, acquaintances... ENOUGH for God's sake"
An estimated 220 cases of femicide took place Argentina last year.
The so-called "Arab Spring" continues to transition into a "Christian Winter," including in those nations undergoing democratic change, such as Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis dominated the elections—unsurprisingly so, considering the Obama administration has actually been training Islamists for elections.
Arab regimes not overthrown by the "Arab Spring" are under mounting international pressure; these include the secular Assad regime of Syria, where Christians, who comprise some 10% of the population, are fearful of the future, having seen the effects of democracy in neighboring nations such as Iraq, where, since the fall of the Saddam regime, Christians have been all but decimated.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that "Christians are being refused refugee status [in the U.S.] and face persecution and many times certain death for their religious beliefs under Sharia, while whole Muslim communities are entering the U.S. by the tens of thousands per month despite the fact that they face no religious persecution."
Categorized by theme, November's batch of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed according to theme and in alphabetical order by country, not necessarily severity.
Ethiopia: More than 500 Muslim students assisted by Muslim police burned down a church, while screaming "Allahu Akbar" (and thus clearly positing their attack in an Islamic framework); the church was built on land used by Christians for more than 60 years, but now a court has ruled that it was built "without a permit."
Indonesia: Hundreds of "hard-line" Muslims rallied to decry the "arrogance" of a beleaguered church that, though kept shuttered by authorities, has been ordered open by the Supreme Court. Church members have been forced to hold services on the sidewalk, even as Indonesia's leading Muslim clerics warned Christians that it would be "wise and sensible" for the church to yield to "the feelings of the local believers, specifically Muslims."
Iran: The nation's minister of intelligence said that house churches in his country are a threat to Iranian youth, and acknowledged a new series of efforts to fight the growth of the house church movement in Iran.
Nigeria: Islamic militants shouting "Allahu Akbar" carried out coordinated attacks on churches and police stations, including opening fire on a congregation of "mostly women and children," killing dozens. The attacks occurred in a region where hundreds of people were earlier killed during violence that erupted after President Jonathan, a Christian, beat his closet Muslim rival in April elections.
Turkey: The ancient Aghia Sophia church has been turned into a mosque. Playing an important role in ecumenical history, the church was first transformed into a mosque in 1331 by the jihadist Ottoman state. As a sign of secularization, however, in 1920 it was turned into a museum. Its transformation again into a mosque is a reflection of Turkey's re-Islamization.
Afghanis around the world are being threatened for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity. One exile, who changed his name after fleeing Afghanistan in 2007 when an Islamic court issued an arrest warrant for his conversion, is still receiving threats: "They [Afghan officials] were very angry and saying that they will hit me by knife and kill me." Even in distant Norway last September, an Afghan convert to Christianity was scalded with boiling water and acid at a refugee processing center: "If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you," his attackers told him.
Algeria: Five Christians were jailed for "worshiping in an unregistered location." International Christian Concern (ICC), an advocacy group investigating the case, states that the five Christians are charged with "proselytizing," "unauthorized worship," and "insulting Islam."
Iran: Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, who caught the attention of the world after being imprisoned and awaiting execution for leaving Islam, remains behind bars as officials continue to come up with excuses to force him to renounce Christianity, the latest being that "everyone is [born] a Muslim." A Christian couple "who had been snatched and illegally-detained" by authorities for eight months without any formal charges, were finally released, beaten again, and have since fled the country. While imprisoned, they were "ridiculed and debased" for their Christian faith.
Kashmir: Muslim police arrested and beat seven converts from Islam in an attempt to obtain a confession against the priest who baptized them. After the grand mufti alleged that Muslim youths were alternatively being "lured" and "forced" to convert by an Anglican priest "in exchange for money," the priest was arrested in a "humiliating" manner. Recently released, his life is now "in serious danger."
Kenya: A gang of Muslims stabbed and beat with iron rods a 25-year-old Somali refugee, breaking his teeth; he was then stripped naked, covered with dirt, and left unconscious near a church. Although he was raised Christian since age 7, he was attacked on the "assumption that as a Somali he was born into Islam and was therefore an apostate deserving of death."
Nigeria: The Muslim militant group, Boko Haram, executed two children of an ex-terrorist and "murderer" because he converted to Christianity. When still a terrorist, he "was poised to slit the throat of a Christian victim" when "he was suddenly struck with the weight of the evil he was about to commit." After finding he converted to Christianity, "Boko Haram members invaded his home, kidnapped his two children and informed him that they were going to execute them in retribution for his disloyalty to Islam. Clutching his phone, the man heard the sound of the guns that murdered his children."
Egypt: After a Christian inadvertently killed a Muslim in a quarrel begun by the latter, thousands of Muslims rose in violence, "collectively punishing" the Copts of the village. Two Christians "not party to the altercation" were killed; others were stabbed and critically wounded. As usual, "after killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian-owned homes and businesses." Even so, "Muslims insist they have not yet avenged" the death of their co-religionist, and there are fears of "a wholesale massacre of Copts." Many Christians have fled their homes or are in hiding.
Kenya: Suspected Islamic extremists, apparently angered at the use of wine during communion—Islam forbids alcohol—threw a grenade near a church compound killing two, including an 8-year-old girl, and critically wounding three others. The pastor of another congregation received a message threatening him either to flee the region "within 48 hours or you see bomb blast taking your life and we know your house, Christians will see war. Don't take it so lightly. We are for your neck."
Nigeria: In the latest round of violence, soon after mosque prayers were heard, hundreds of armed Muslims invaded Christian villages, "like a swarm of bees," killing, looting, and destroying virtually everything in sight; at the end of their four-hour rampage, some 150 people had been killed—at least 130 of them Christians. Another 45 Christians were also killed by another set of "Allahu Akbar!" shouting Muslims who burned, looted, and killed. Hundreds of people are still missing; the attacks have included the bombing of at least ten church buildings. Nearly all the Christians in the area have fled the region.
Pakistan: A 25 year-old Christian was shot dead by "an unidentified gunman in what his family believes was a radical Muslim group's targeting of a Christian." According to the son, "We firmly believe that my father was killed because of his preaching of the Bible, because there is no other reason." He began to receive threats "after voicing his desire to start a welfare organization for the poor Christians" of the region.
Egypt: Following October's Maspero massacre, when the military killed dozens of Christians, some run over intentionally by armored vehicles, Egypt's military prosecutor detained 34 Christians, including teens under 16, on charges of "inciting violence, carrying arms and insulting the armed forces"; many of the detainees were not even at the scene and were just collected from the streets for "being a Christian." Three are under 16 years of age, including one who, after having an operation to extract a bullet from his jaw, was chained to his hospital bed. Hundreds of Christians also came under attack from Muslims throwing stones and bottles, after the Christians protested against the violence at Maspero: "Supporters of an Islamist candidate for upcoming parliamentary election joined in the attack on the Copts." Meanwhile, a senior leader of the Salafi party, which came in second after the Muslim Brotherhood in recent elections, blamed Christians for their own massacre, calling "Allah's curse on them." Muslim Brotherhood leaders asserted that only "drunks, druggies, and adulterers" are against the implementation of Sharia—a clear reference to Egypt's Christians.
Pakistan: A new U.S. government commission report indicates that Pakistani school textbooks foster intolerance of Christians, Hindus, and all non-Muslims, while most teachers view religious minorities as "enemies of Islam." "Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful," notes the report. Accordingly, in an attempted land-grab, Muslim police and cohorts of a retired military official, beat two Christian women with "batons and punches," inflicting a serious wound to one of the women's eyes after the women spoke up in defense of their land, and shot at Christians who came to help the women. "In the last few years Muslims have made several attempts to seize the land from the Christians, usually succeeding because Christians are a marginalized minority." Likewise, under a "false charge of theft," a Christian couple was arrested and severely beaten by police; the pregnant wife was "kicked and punched" even as her interrogators threatened "to kill her unborn fetus." A policeman offered to remove the theft charges if the husband would only "renounce Christianity and convert to Islam."
Remove the tops and scope out the inside of the strawberry. Fill with melted chocolate and place the top back on. Chill for 5 minutes. Dip the strawberries in white chocolate and add sprinkles immediately. Enjoy!
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Press a package of pre-made cookie dough into a springform pan. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each one. Pour into springform pan. *optional* drop half teaspoonfuls of cookie dough on top of the cheesecake batter. Bake for 1 hour, cool completely, then refrigerate overnight. Enjoy!
In one large bowl, melt the dark chocolate. Keep warm and set aside.
In two bowls, melt the white chocolate, one bag per bowl. Add blue food gel to one bowl and purple food gel to another until you get the desired color. Keep warm and set aside while you prepare your baking sheet.
Line the baking sheet, pour the dark chocolate, use a spatula to spread out to desired thickness. Pour the blue dyed chocolate over the dark chocolate, then the purple dyed chocolate. Use a knife or skewer and swirl the chocolate around until you get the desired look. Sprinkle with star sprinkles. Set chocolate for at least 2 hours. Break apart and enjoy!
1. In a plastic bag, crush the graham crackers finely with the back of a large pot or pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine graham crackers, combine confectioner’s sugar, salt, and melted butter, stirring until the mixture is the texture of wet sand. Dump the graham cracker mixture into a 9x9 baking dish lined with parchment paper. Press the mixture down with your hands to create an even layer. Freeze for 10 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on top of the graham cracker crust. Freeze for one hour.
5. In a medium bowl, microwave the chocolate in 20-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Dip the cheesecake cubes in the chocolate, dripping off excess, and set them on a tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining cubes. Freeze for 15 minutes, then serve!
2. Using a knife, separate the cream from the cookies, and place them in two separate bowls.
3. Crush cookies in a blender or a food processor until fine. Set aside.
4. In a pot over low heat, combine egg yolks, half & half, sugar, and cornstarch. Turn the heat up to medium-high, whisking constantly to prevent any lumps.
5. Once the mixture starts to thicken, add in half of the cookie cream, stirring until smooth.
6. Transfer the cream mixture into a bowl, covering the top with plastic wrap and pressing the wrap down onto the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill.