Innis, Michelle. "Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
In this article titled “Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment” the New York Times author Michelle Innis discusses the developing dangers of climate change and its effect on the Great Barrier Reef located near Australia. Recently the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies reported that the reef had suffered the worst coral bleaching and die-off ever recorded, with stretches of its northern reaches dead after the coral was bathed in warm summer waters. This is not good news to the Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy’s plan to prevent environmental danger to the Reef until 2050. A concerned Ian Chubb who was formerly Australia’s chief scientist reacted strongly to this growing concern, “The major impacts on the reef will most likely result from the long-term release of substantial quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere...This year saw the most significant coral bleaching event ever recorded for the reef”. After this growing concern of the reefs health, The United Nations stepped in and asked for an updated report and for evidence of the plan’s effectiveness. Reef 2050 (name of the project) responded that they plan to halt the nitrogen runoff from farms and fine sediment that leaches into the ocean to improve the water quality and allow the reef to better withstand the impacts of climate change and shocks from severe weather like cyclones. If Reef 2050 doesn't act quickly on these growing complications of climate change, the Great Barrier Reef might be ruined forever.
Climate Change to many people pose as the largest threat to humankind as well as the planet itself. Growing amounts of greenhouse gases are said to be destroying our ecosystem and is increasing the heat of the planet. Earth’s hottest years have been the last 6 years, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2015 set records as the hottest years earth has ever experienced. These very hot years lead to ice melting on the north and south pole of the planet, increasing water levels can lead to flooding and serious weather storms. Thankfully, some projects have popped up in order to prevent such a thing happening as well as protecting earth’s greatest locations. Projects like Reef 2050 strive to keep the Great Barrier Reef heathy from any unwanted dangers, but the recent discovery of the worst coral bleaching and die off ever recorded in the Reef has many scientists and ecologists scared and questioning Reef 2050’s effectiveness. Hopefully Reef 2050 can put some plans together in order to prevent something like this happening again.
This article opened my eyes to the dilemma of Climate Change happening in the Great Barrier Reef as well as all around the world. The article does a great job at explaining the threats the Great Barrier Reef has and might have in the future. However, the article could have done a better job at explaining what Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy’s plan to prevent environmental danger to the Reef until 2050 really was and what were their main goals, Instead, the article just mentions the project with little to no background on how it was set up. In order for me to understand what it Reef 2050 was, I had to search up the project and read more about it on a separate article. If the article explained what the project was, the reader would have gained extra knowledge about the cause instead of just not being completely aware of what the project was.
posted for A. Saralegui
Ellie Parson
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Biology
4 December 2016
Citation for Article: Link
Innis, Michelle. "Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.
Citation for Review: Link
Saralegui, Andres. "Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment." Rev. of The New York Times. Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment n.d.: n. pag. The New York Times. 1 Dec. 2016. Web.
Comment:
Andres Saralegui's review on the article “Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment” was exceptional in many aspects. The article he reviewed focussed on the hardships the Great Barrier Reef was facing due to climate change and how the world is focused on fixing it. Although some of the damage done to the reef is generally known, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization might be underestimating the price of aiding the natural landmark. One part Andres wrote about in his review that positively affected the reader was the detail he used. By including specific years as numerical data, he allowed the reader to picture the severity of the climate humans face currently. The warmest years on this planet are relevant data to this occurring issue. Another attribute was that he had noticed there was an insufficient amount of information for him to understand Reef 2050 and mentioned this in his critique. As a result Andres researched further into it. This shows that he could have an interest in the topic, since he cared enough to find more information. Passionate writers can be more motivated about what they are writing, and it can show in the quality of their work positively. Lastly, Andres did a great job relating the issue of the Great Barrier Reef to other parts of the world. He wrote “These very hot years lead to ice melting on the north and south pole of the planet, increasing water levels can lead to flooding and serious weather storms” (Saralegui, 1). By pointing out other valid issues in the world that have to do with climate change, he is able to highlight the significance of the Great Barrier Reef’s tragedy.
Even though he excelled in some parts of his review, in other parts Andres fell behind. For the first quote he partially did not cite correctly. At the end of the quote before the period but after the last quotation mark, he should have included the correct text citation for a quote. For example, if he were to quote a part of the article written by Michelle Innis, he could use “(Innis, 2)” after that quotation to show the author and the page it was found on. To better his review, it would have been gratifying to see examples of explanations the article supposedly gave about the conflict the Great Barrier Reef was experiencing in his critique. He complimented the article, but did not give a specific quote or mention a certain part that he was referring to. This may not be an error as much as an inconvenience, but it could have improved his review greatly.
From this article, I gained the knowledge that even as the Great Barrier Reef is suffering, there are actions being taken to help it persevere. In terms of how effective those actions will be, the answers could be varied. This review interested me, do to the fact that such mass damage is being placed on nature and even so, people are considering constructing a coal mine close to 200 miles away from where the reef is located. Articles such as the once Andres reviewed are on the internet for people to access, and still people are placing the Barrier Reef in danger. Whether they know it or not, the mines could pose a threat to the reef’s health, and the reef should be valued. I have gained a respect for nature in my life, and hope others will find it in themselves to realize the worth of the natural world around them.
Bailey Barton
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Biology
February 8, 2017
Article Citation: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/world/australia/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront
Innis, Michelle. "Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
Review Citation:
Saralegui, Andres. "Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment." Rev. of The New York Times. Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Climate Change, Chemicals and Sediment n.d.: n. pag. The New York Times. 1 Dec. 2016. Web.
Andres Saralegui wrote a current event on the Great Barrier Reef and how recent climate change has threatened its existence. This article was intriguing to me because as a child I developed an interest and studied the Great Barrier Reef. “Recently the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies reported that the reef had suffered the worst coral bleaching and die-off ever recorded, with stretches of its northern reaches dead after the coral was bathed in warm summer waters,”. The author of the review was straight to the point and made an excellent summary including the most eye opening statement which was the fact about the reef’s recent tragedy. After stating what set the tone for the rest of the review, the author informs the reader of the growing complications that later surfaced when the Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy revealed that their ongoing plan to prevent danger to the reef has not worked. Lastly, I enjoyed the paragraph which was somewhat separated from the Barrier Reef and focused on Climate change as an issue in itself and who else it affects.
The article was very informative however small errors are shown, one being in the first paragraph. The author added quotes from the scientist Ian Chubb but failed to give proper citations. Andres introduced the Ian Chubb nicely and instead of the quote, a solution is paraphrasing it so the citations would not be an issue, or just adding a citation after quoting.
Andres also mentions his trouble understanding and gaining information on the project put in motion to save the reef. I had the same concern as him and wanted to know more, so my last critic would be to dedicate a paragraph to what new information was found on this new website to gain more knowledge on the project.
I enjoyed reading this review because I learned more about Climate change in a real scenario. I am not a fictional learner, and need real events to understand the severity of situations so in this case I think that the tragedy of the Great Barrier Reef was an eye opener not only to being aware of events happening worldwide but how affective Climate change can be.