Saturday, March 18, 2017

Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find

Julian Thomet
Mr. Ippolito
Bio IH D135
23 March, 2017

Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/science/great-barrier-reef-coral-climate-change-dieoff.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0>.



Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find
The article “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find” presented us, the readers, with very disturbing information about the state of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Essentially, the article discussed how scientists have found that the reef is dying at a faster rate than anyone expected. The mass dying off, or bleaching, or coral reefs has been happening, on and off, for twenty years now, across the world. This latest mass bleaching of coral reefs is the most damaging that scientists have ever seen. In some parts of the Great Reef, as much as 83% of the coral is dead or dying. Since 1998, every part of the reef, save for 9% has managed to avoid some damage, though the damage has varied greatly. The reason for this bleaching has to do with a rise in the ocean temperature. Although corals thrive in warm water, they are hypersensitive to changes in temperature. Even a fluctuation as small as two to three degrees can have dramatic impacts on the coral’s health. The cause for this change in ocean temperature, rather predictably, is climate change. Scientists studying the coral reefs have known, and warned, about the risks of continuing to burn fossil fuels for years now. Australia is the biggest exporter of coal in the world. It is not clear at this time whether this increase in ocean temperature will cause coral to go completely extinct, but it is assured that mass bleachings, such as the one happening right now, will become much more frequent in future.
This article should concern every human being with an interest in the future of this planet. Although the death of one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world may not be cause for concern, the phenomenon causing it is relevant to everyone. The mass dying of these reefs are just another sign that our actions are causing irreversible damage to our planet. Since the early 1900s, the entire ocean’s temperature has increased by 1.5 degrees fahrenheit, with greater increases in some locations where the reefs are common. On a more local level, the reefs are a huge source of tourism in Australia. The Reefs are one of the greatest tourist attractions in Australia. Furthermore, there are several hundred million people who dependent on fish, who are, in turn, dependent on the reef. If the reefs dies, the fish will die, and at that point, there will be a humanitarian crisis, because several hundred million people will have lost a vital food source. Although Australia has a plan in place, entitled “Reef 2050”, this plan may be too farsighted. There may not be any coral left by 2050.

This article did a fantastic job explaining the death of the Great Coral Reef, and reefs in general, to the layman. The article was not confusing in any way, and the article made it abundantly clear that this issue is relevant. It was also remarkably well written. There were no grammatical errors, giving one the sense professionalism. There is really not much that could be improved about this article. The only thing that could have been improved upon was the conclusion, which ended abruptly with a quote. The quote basically assured the reader that there are more problems to come for corals, but it never discussed what, if any, solutions are available to fix the problems which are laid out in such great detail throughout the rest of the article. The article doesn’t have to provide good news, if there is none to offer, but it would have been nice to know what our options are going forward. Aside from this though, this article is a great summary of this crisis, and I strongly recommend that anyone who wants to learn more about this topic reads it.

9 comments:

  1. Olivia Doyle
    Mr. Ippolito
    Core Biology
    20 March 2017
    Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. .

    This week, I read an outstanding review on the article “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead” by my classmate Julian. It talks about the discovery of the fast progression of the dying of the Great Barrier Reef. In Julian’s summary, he provided specific evidence as to why the reef is dying out. Julian talks about the changes of the temperature of the ocean and how it ties to the burning of fossil fuels that eventually result in global warming. Secondly, Julian provided many examples as to how this affects humanity as a whole, which demonstrates Julian’s thorough understanding of the article as well as encourages the reader to delve further into this topic. He talks about how the fish will die as a result of the bleaching of the reef, which in turn will lead to “a humanitarian crisis, because several hundred million people will have lost a vital food source.” Additionally, Julian mentions how the dying of this coral reef is a reflection of the damage we cause to our planet because of some of our actions. Lastly, Julian’s article was extremely well-written and structured, and he did a fantastic job of varying sentence structure in order to make for a more cohesive flow to his review.
    Julian’s review was very well done and there is little he could do to change it, however, there were some areas for improvement. For one, he should have included quotes from scientists in the article, which would have further enhanced his argument and given us a better idea of professionals’ standpoints on the issue. For example, he could have included the quote “We didn’t expect to see this level of destruction to the Great Barrier Reef for another 30 years,” said Terry P. Hughes. Secondly, the article provided good pictures and an informative graph, which Julian should have mentioned and analyzed in his review. For example, the picture that shows what one of the pieces of coral could look like in a few weeks was shocking to me, and I would have liked for Julian to talk about in his review.
    This article left me very sad about the destruction of such a beautiful and phenomenal natural wonder. It encourages me to want to help in some way, as this is our planet and it is our responsibility to keep it as pristine as it is. Learning about the long-term effects of the bleaching of the coral reef makes me concerned for the future of our planet as well as the issue of global warming. I will definitely look to read more on this topic as the issue progresses.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Olivia Doyle
    Mr. Ippolito
    Core Biology
    20 March 2017
    Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. .

    This week, I read an outstanding review on the article “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead” by my classmate Julian. It talks about the discovery of the fast progression of the dying of the Great Barrier Reef. In Julian’s summary, he provided specific evidence as to why the reef is dying out. Julian talks about the changes of the temperature of the ocean and how it ties to the burning of fossil fuels that eventually result in global warming. Secondly, Julian provided many examples as to how this affects humanity as a whole, which demonstrates Julian’s thorough understanding of the article as well as encourages the reader to delve further into this topic. He talks about how the fish will die as a result of the bleaching of the reef, which in turn will lead to “a humanitarian crisis, because several hundred million people will have lost a vital food source.” Additionally, Julian mentions how the dying of this coral reef is a reflection of the damage we cause to our planet because of some of our actions. Lastly, Julian’s article was extremely well-written and structured, and he did a fantastic job of varying sentence structure in order to make for a more cohesive flow to his review.
    Julian’s review was very well done and there is little he could do to change it, however, there were some areas for improvement. For one, he should have included quotes from scientists in the article, which would have further enhanced his argument and given us a better idea of professionals’ standpoints on the issue. For example, he could have included the quote “We didn’t expect to see this level of destruction to the Great Barrier Reef for another 30 years,” said Terry P. Hughes. Secondly, the article provided good pictures and an informative graph, which Julian should have mentioned and analyzed in his review. For example, the picture that shows what one of the pieces of coral could look like in a few weeks was shocking to me, and I would have liked for Julian to talk about in his review.
    This article left me very sad about the destruction of such a beautiful and phenomenal natural wonder. It encourages me to want to help in some way, as this is our planet and it is our responsibility to keep it as pristine as it is. Learning about the long-term effects of the bleaching of the coral reef makes me concerned for the future of our planet as well as the issue of global warming. I will definitely look to read more on this topic as the issue progresses.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alisa Fominykh
    Mr. Ippolito
    Biology 10H D Odd
    March 21, 2017

    Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. .

    In this current even review my classmate Julian Thomet does a phenomenal job summarizing and analyzing the article written by Damien Cave and Justin Gillis titled “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find”. The article talks about how there has been a significant increase of coral dying in the Great Barrier Reef. Since the year 1998, 74% of coral has died or is dying. This is known as bleaching and is a result of the increase of ocean temperature, which is as much as 1.5 degrees fahrenheit since the beginning of the 20th century. In Julian’s current even review he does a great job explaining how such a small fluctuation in ocean temperature may not seem big to us, but how it impacts the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem along with others. Additionally, he stressed the importance of the Great Barrier Reef being almost completely near death, especially when he specified how this is relevant to the reader. He also, summarized the article in a coherent way which allows for the reader to understand the engaging text.
    Overall, since he did a great job on the current review, only a few critiques could be made. One being, he should have further explained what the plan “Reef 2050” stated, since based on context the reader only comprehends it has to do with the Australian government issuing a plan protect the Great Barrier Reef, however it was never mentioned how they planned to do so. Additionally, Julian should have mentioned if there were any ways in which the Great Barrier Reefs death could be declined or completely ended, since after reading his analysis the reader begins to wonder about that.
    I chose this current even to respond to since environmental issues are an increasing concern in the world that our generation will have to deal with. I was devastated to learn a majority of the Great Barrier Reef is dying since it has always been a place I wished to visit. I had known that the reef was in danger just not to what extent. After reading this article I have become more aware as to how small changes in temperature in the ocean causes such a drastically negative impact on ecosystems and what the extent of the global warming is.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Luke Redman
    Mr. Ippolito
    Biology 10H D Odd
    March 21, 2017

    Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead,
    Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. .


    My classmate, Julian Thomet, did a wonderful and detailed job of summarizing Damien Cave and Justin Gillis’s article,“Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find.” The article discusses the large portions of the Great Reef, which is near the coast of Australia, that are dead and currently dying. The Great Barrier Reef has reduced in size, with 74% of coral dead or dying since 1988. The article explains that the massive amount of dead coral is due to bleaching, which is when the temperature of the ocean water rises, and the ocean’s temperature has risen by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 1900’s. Julian did a great job of conveying the information in an attractive fashion, while still getting into the details. Julian stressed in his review why this is a problem, and why we need to do all we can to save these reefs. He also seemed very passionate about the topic, which made the review even more enjoyable to read. What shocked me the most was the sheer amount of coral that has been lost in the past 30 years. However, Julian could have improved his article in a few ways. He could have included more of the plan that the Australian government is issuing to protect the reefs, which he went over vaguely. He could have also included other ways to stop the death of the Great
    Coral Reef, a question that begins to form in the reader’s mind as they read. Despite these changes, Julian did a fantastic job on his review and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sarah Goodell
    Mr. Ippolito
    Core Bio: Current Event #6
    19 March, 2017

    Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead,
    Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar.
    2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/science/great-barrier-reef-coral-climate-change-dieoff.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

    Julian, a classmate of mine, wrote a review on the article “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find” by Damien Cave and Justin Gillis from The New York Times. Although this is a complicated topic, Julian was able to accurately inform his readers in an understandable way. By doing this, Julian is able to connect to all of his readers and not just the few who are able to understand more complicated texts. In his review, Julian was also able to make this topic relatable to us and explain why we should care about this disaster. He writes, “This article should concern every human being with an interest in the future of this planet...The mass dying of these reefs is just another sign that our actions are causing irreversible damage to our planet.” This is important in understanding Julian’s purpose in writing this review: to inform and persuade his readers to make change. Additionally, Julian had a persuasive tone throughout his review, drawing his audience in and making them want to continue reading. This is important because Julian is seeking to convince his readers to take interest in this topic, influence their views, and inspire them to create change in their lives for the good of the world.
    Although Julian’s review was well-written, he could improve on a few aspects. Firstly, Julian should consider including quotes from the original article. He could try using specific quotes from scientists and researchers that were mentioned. This would help to enhance the credibility of his statements and would act as support for his persuasive claims. Julian also could have talked more about “Reef 2050” and its goals and accomplishments. By talking more about “Reef 2050,” Julian would also have to consider the question, “what can be done to prevent the extinction of these reefs?”. Here, he could have given possible solutions to this issue or even just small improvements that we can make in our daily lives.
    From Julian’s review, I have learned that, as humans, we must be more aware of how our actions affect our planet and our future as humans. This review also challenged me to question how I can change my daily life for the benefit of our planet and our future. I have learned that it is not okay to dismiss the signs of stress that Earth is sending to us. Our planet is telling us that we must take action now, otherwise coral reefs may be gone forever. Coral reefs are already beginning to diminish at a pace more rapid than scientists ever predicted. I chose Julian’s review because I am very interested in this topic and hope that we will eventually be able to end the extinction of coral reefs by ending climate change altogether.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ryan Staunton
    Mr Ippolito
    22 March 2017
    Core Biology IH
    Current Event 6

    My Classmate Julian Thomet, discussed the article “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find” written by Damien Caves, and Justin Gillis. This story was published in the New York times, and discusses the bleaching of the great barrier reef. The first thing that shocked me when reading this, was when Julian stated that only 9% of the reef has managed to avoid some damage. This means that 91% has come in contact with some sort of damage! The second thing that caught my eye, was that Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter. I would think that Australia would have some laws to protect their reef, and try to limit the amount of coal being shipped out. This later brought me to my final interesting fact, was that Australia's only law to protect the reef, would happen in 2050. I thought this was very shocking, because a lot is happening now, and there might not even be reef left in 2050!
    Even though Julian did an excellent job at analysing this document, I feel like he could've expanded upon the facts more. For example, I was very confused with the Reef 2050 law. I wasn't sure what the law would do in 2050. I also thought he could have added current legislation for the reef. Secondly, I thought that he could use more quotes to convey his point better.
    This article definitely expanded my learning on the Great Reef. I have known that the Great Reef was having problems with its help, but I did not know why, or how severe it was. I will definitely be looking into this topic more in the future after reading this passage.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Peter Brennan

    Mr.Ippolito

    Bio Core H

    March 22 2016

    Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.
    .

    In a critique written by one of my classmates, he talked about an article titled "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find.". This document is very important to current views because it puts certain things into perspective. Julian did a very good job in explaining his information, the information also was worded very smoothly so it flowed. This information was quite relevant to the article, and the percentages really put this into a bigger picture. Another thing that was done properly was the context of this information. Statistics were shown about what coral reef percentages looked like in the 90s but now in 2017 you can see a drastic increase in bleaching. This information really made me think about what we are doing to the planet we live on and live off of. Another thing Julian did well was showing what countries were doing to try and combat this, an example being Reef 2050 introduced by the Australian government to slow reef destruction.
    Something Julian could have done better was making the different points flow nicely, I felt that it was a bit choppy and did not flow to my likening. Another thing that I had a problem with was the complexity of the statistics, maybe someone who does not know what 1 or 2 percent can change might not think that the information is important.
    My reasoning for choosing this article is because it stuck out to me. I believe that we should take care of our planet and should be responsible for what we have done to it and fix it best we can. I believe that we are not doing this, temperatures are still rising at an incredible scale and have no seeable cap.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Andrew Howson
    Mr. Ippolito
    Core Biology Honors
    22/3/17

    Cave, Damien, and Justin Gillis. "Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. .

    Julian Thomet wrote a critique on “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find.” by Justin Gillis and Damien Cave. His review was extremely well written and presented the information very succinctly in a way that was easy for the reader to understand. His use of statistics throughout the article demonstrated a great understanding of the article he was reviewing.
    There were few errors in his review. The most prominent of these errors is the fact that he neglected to explain what the Australian “Reef 2050” plan is. He also used very few quotes from the article.
    I found this article very interesting. I had already known that the Great Barrier Reef was in danger of dying, however I did not know that it had escalated to this extent.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bailey Barton
    Mr. Ippolito
    Biology; Current Event 7
    3/30/17

    Thomet, Julian. "Large Sections of Australia." Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 30 Mar. 2017.
    http://bhscorebio.blogspot.com/2017/03/large-sections-of-australias-great-reef.html#comment-form
    I read Julian Thomet’s review on “Large Sections of Australia’s Great Reef Are Now Dead, Scientists Find”. I believe his review was well written and gave the reader a sense of passion within Julian’s words as he speaks about the severity of the coral reef’s recent decay. Julian is able to make the article and the issue very intriguing with statistics showing how apparent the situation is. Julian gave great detail in how this discovery has been backed up with many researchers input, clearly showing how real the situation is and that our planet is dying from our actions.
    One area of improvement that I caught was when Julian briefly added a sentence about the coal industry in Australia, and I didn’t see much detail connecting it to the issue at hand however it is possible for me to have missed him explaining its relevance. The only other area that could be improved on is the lack of quotes from the article. This would be an easily fixed flaw, which isn’t necessarily greatly affecting the review as a whole.
    I chose to read this article because I am interested in educating myself on earth and how we, as humans, are destroying it in some aspects and how we can change our ways to create a better environment.

    ReplyDelete