The brown tree snake
Thought to be a stowaway on a U.S. military transport near the end of World War II, the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) came to Guam and killed virtually all of the native bird population on an island that has no native species of snake; this snake has no natural predators on the island. While slightly venomous, the brown tree snake is relatively harmless to human beings. Although some studies have suggested a high density of the brown tree snake, residents rarely see these nocturnal snakes. Prodigious climbers, the snakes cause frequent blackouts by shorting across lines and transformers. The Guam Customs & Quarantine Agency is training detector dogs to seek out Brown Tree Snakes throughout inland Guam in an effort to further mitigate and reduce their escalating population.
They are also sometimes the blamed perpetrator when there are black outs or power outages, it is commonly joked that it is caused by this snake, which is the brown tree snake.
Merizo
U.S. military installations
* Apra Harbor (Eng Apra Harbor) – one of the largest port between Hawaii and the Philippines. Can handle the largest ships of the U.S. fleet, especially aircraft carrier.
* Airport Andersen (Eng Andersen Air Force Base) – a big airport, designed to build heavy bombowców B-52.
Arrival
Climate
The climate is characterized as tropical marine. The weather is generally hot and very humid with little seasonal temperature variation. The mean high temperature is 86 °F (30 °C) and mean low is 76 °F (24 °C) with an average annual rainfall of 96 inches (2,180 mm). The dry season runs from December through June. The remaining months constitute the rainy season. The months of January and February are considered the coolest months of the year with night time temperatures in the mid to low 70’s and generally lower humidity levels. The highest risk of typhoons is during October and November. They can occur, however, year-around.
An average of three tropical storms and one typhoon pass within 180 nautical miles (330 km) of Guam each year. The most intense typhoon to pass over Guam recently was Super Typhoon Pongsona, with sustained winds of 125 miles per hour, which slammed Guam on December 8, 2002, leaving massive destruction. Since Super Typhoon Pamela in 1976 wooden structures have been largely replaced by concrete structures.During the 1980s wooden utility poles began to be replaced by typhoon-resistant concrete and steel poles. After the local Government enforced stricter construction codes, many home and business owners built their structures out of reinforced concrete with installed typhoon shutters.
Geography
Guam lies between 13.2°N and 13.7°N and between 144.6°E and 145.0°E, and has an area of 209 square miles (541 km²), making it the 32nd largest island of the United States. It is the southernmost island in the Mariana island chain and is the largest island in Micronesia. This island chain was created by the colliding Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates. The Marianas Trench, a deep subduction zone, lies beside the island chain to the east. Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in the Oceans, is southwest of Guam at 35,797 feet (10,911 m) deep. The highest point in Guam is Mount Lamlam, which is 1,332 feet (406 m). The island of Guam is 30 miles (48 km) long and 4 mi (6 km) to 12 mi (19 km) wide. The island experiences occasional earthquakes due to it being on the western edge of the Pacific Plate and near the Philippine Plate. In recent years, earthquakes with epicenters near Guam have had magnitudes ranging from 5.0 to 8.7. Unlike the Anatahan volcano in the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam is not volcanically active. However, due to its proximity to Anatahan, vog does occasionally affect Guam.
The northern part of the island is a forested coralline limestone plateau while the south contains volcanic peaks covered in forest and grassland. A coral reef surrounds most of the island, except in areas where bays exist that provide access to small rivers and streams that run down from the hills into the Pacific Ocean and Philippine Sea. The island’s population is most dense in the northern and central regions.
When to Go
Go to Guam whenever the boss gives you time off. The temperature hovers around a balmy 27°C (81°F) all year, so don’t worry about the weather. If it’s a little more humid between July and November, at least you’re never far from a cooling dip in the ocean. The only time you should really avoid Guam is during Japanese holiday seasons: Christmas, Golden Week (the last week of April and the first week of May), and Obon, in August.
Hagåtña
Hagåtña ,formerly Agana and in Spanish Agaña, is the capital of the American island territory of Guam. It is the island’s second smallest village in both area and population. From the 18th through mid 20th century, it was Guam’s population center. Today, it remains one of the island’s major commercial districts in addition to being the seat of government.
Guam
Guam , officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the Western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is one of five U.S. territories with established civilian government.[1] The island’s capital is Hagåtña (formerly Agana). Guam is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands.
The Chamorros, Guam’s indigenous inhabitants, first populated the island approximately 6,000 years ago.[citation needed] The island has a long history of European colonialism beginning in 1668 with the arrival of Spanish settlers including Padre San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. The island was taken over from Spain by the United States during the Spanish American War in 1898. As the largest island in Micronesia and the only American-held island in the region before World War II, Guam was occupied by the Japanese between December 1941 and July 1944. Today, Guam’s economy is mainly supported by tourism (primarily from Japan) and U.S. military bases
