February 5, 2019
Core Biology
Current Event 2
Pierre-Louis, Kendra. “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/climate/starfish-global-warming.html.
For this week's current event I read Kendra Pierre-Louis’ article “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans.” The main objective of the article was to educate the reader on the effect that global warming is having on marine life, especially starfish in the Pacific Ocean. Pierre-Louis explained that the starfish have been dying by the millions as a result of a wasting disease that was triggered by an ocean heat wave. The warming of the water was credited to a marine heatwave known as, the blob. Pierre Louis said the blob was “exacerbated by human-caused global warming.” After talking about what is causing the disease Pierre Louis began to discuss who discovered the decline of the starfish and how they are trying to stop it. Drew Harvell, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University has been sounding the alarm about the threat that has faced marine life. In an effort to truly understand what caused the starfish to die Dr. Harvell teamed up with the University of California Davis and compiled data, from citizen-scientists and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Using the collected data they compared the changes in the sunflower starfish population with the changes in the ocean temperature during the outbreak. Overall the disease impacted 20 different species of starfish, but the researchers mainly focus on the sunflower starfish. Pierre Louis explained this stating, “It was especially hit hard and because there was good historical data on its population before the epidemic.” After a thorough investigation, the researchers discovered that the deaths of the other starfish directly match the spreading of heat through the ocean. Pierre Louis ended the article talking about what we can do as a society to stop the dying of marine life and talked about other species that are contracting diseases as a result of rising heat. She said, “There are things we can do to help marine life, Dr. Harvell said. We can replant seagrass beds and protect mangroves, for instance. But, ultimately, we need to stop climate change, she said. The world’s oceans have absorbed more than 90 percent of the atmospheric heat humans have caused by releasing greenhouse gases.” Heat has also been implicated as a trigger in the spread of a fungus that is wiping out frog and toad populations around the globe, as well as in coral diseases. In fact, when corals bleach or lose their symbiotic algae because of warming oceans, it’s typically a disease that ultimately kills them.
Pierre Louis’ article has strong and important connections to today's society. The article mainly talked about global warming's effect on marine life. Global warming is a very hot topic right now as just last week we experienced extremely called temperatures as a result of arctic winds. The cold winds from the artic are a direct descendent of global warming. The release of Pierre Louis comes at a perfect time as it gives more insight into the negatives of global warming. It also makes people wonder if the warming of our climate will cause humans to contract diseases. That being said I think this article may have the potential to make people more environmentally friendly slowing down the effects of global warming.
Overall, Pierre Louis wrote a very strong article. She did a great job interviewing and researching experts on the topic of marine life deaths. For example, her conversation with Dr. Harvell an expert on the topic created a sense of credibility to the article. Another thing Pierre Louis did well was include the other species that were being affected by the rising temperatures. In particular, she talked about toads and frogs. One thing I thought the article should not have included was the story about a class in Kansas who raised money for the research. While this is a heartwarming and inspiring story it did not further my understanding of how starfish are getting being impacted by rising temperatures. Next time Pierre-Louis writes an article similar to this one I think she should focus a lot more on how regular people can make a difference in this problem facing our planet.
Chris Aherne
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Bio
2-14-19
Pierre-Louis, Kendra. “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/climate/starfish-global-warming.html.
For this week's current event comment, I decided to read Ben Davis' review on Kendra Pierre-Louis’ article “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans.” Ben did a very good job elaborating on the topic. It can be seen by the extensive first paragraph. Secondly, Ben did an amazing job keeping the reader intrigued. For example, he starts the review by jumping into the effects of global warming on oceanic life. He continuously draws us in with new facts about global warming and the negative effects it is having on the ocean. Lastly, he convey's Louis' point very well. He perfectly summarizes everything she was trying to convey to the reader. He did an amazing and thorough job summarizing this article.
Although he did a great job with many things in this review, he could have improved on a few different things. Firstly, I feel as if he could have put more transitioning in. It was as if he was just listing fact after fact about the article. With a little more transition in the first paragraph this would have been perfect. Secondly, as the review went on, the level of interest gradually decreased. For example, he did a great job drawing the reader into the story at the beginning. But as you keep reading it became dull.
Overall, I learned a great deal from reading Ben's review. It is a very fascinating topic which is still very relevant controversy. I chose to read Ben's review because I see the global warming issue on the news all the time. We also just recently learned about it in Earth Science. This article changed my view on global warming. Specifically, I didn't know just how lethal our carbon footprint is to the aquatic life. This review showed me the devastating affects humans are having on our planet.
Pierre-Louis, Kendra. “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans.”
ReplyDeleteThe New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/climate/starfish-global-warming.html.
In Ben’s review of the article “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans” by Kendra Pierre-Louis, he did many things well. For example, the entire review was very detailed. Especially in the first paragraph, the article was explained in detail, going even so far as to cite the credentials of leading scientist Dr. Drew Harvell. Furthermore, the review was well-supported, and used a great amount of evidence from the article itself. He cited evidence, such as how over 20 species of starfish were impacted by the blob, or how over 90% of human generated greenhouse gasses have been absorbed by the ocean. Moreover, the review had a strong connection of how this article would impact the public, as global warming is a huge topic in political and other conversations. Global warming is also slowly destroying the Earth, making it an important topic that impacts everybody.
However, though the review was strong, there were still some areas it could have improved upon. For example, the first paragraph could have been clearer. Though there was a ton of detail, sometimes there was so much of it was hard to understand fully without reading a second time. This could be fixed by possibly adding fewer facts close together in a paragraph. Additionally, in the first paragraph, it was sometimes difficult to figure out what the main ideas of the article were, since so many ideas were presented. By focusing on or further explaining specifically what would be considered the main ideas, this issue could be easily corrected.
My personal epiphany moment when reading Ben’s review was simply learning about the blob and its effect on the sunflower starfish, as I previously had no idea that the blob even existed. I knew that the oceans were polluted, but was not aware of the extent of which the oceans were heated. I was also unknowing of how many different species were being impacted by this significant change in water temperatures. Knowing this information helps me to be more aware of the effects of global warming and greenhouse gasses on our oceans and marine life.
Will Grant
ReplyDeletePierre-Louis, Kendra. “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans.”
The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Jan. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/climate/starfish-global-warming.html.
Ben does a very good job of reviewing the article “Scientists Single Out a Suspect in Starfish Carnage: Warming Oceans,” by Kendra Pierre-Louis. Ben did three things in particular that impressed me. The first of these being his citing of evidence. Ben got many facts and statements from the article that he cited to and made sure he connected names with quotes. The next thing Ben did well was his explanation of the decline of starfish using his own words, he formulated an explanation to tell the reader what was happening to the starfish and why they are dying in the millions. Another thing he did well was his view on how the article was written. He gave good reasons for liking the article, many of which I agree with.
Although Ben wrote a great review there are two things I have to call him out on. The first of these being his grammar in the second paragraph. This paragraph has two major mistakes from the line where he says, “ Experienced extremely called,” and the line, “ The release of Pierre Louis comes at a good time,” where he missed the word article. These are minor but still important to the structure of the review. The second thing that could be improved is some of the content in the first paragraph. The entire thing doesn’t seem like a review of the article, instead it sounds like a regurgitation of the article itself.
This review was very interesting, as it told me of one of the many other groups being affected by global warming that is not gaining enough attention. It woke me up to the deaths of millions of starfish due to the heat waves from global warming. This has taught me that there are infinite amount of ways the world is being negatively affected by global warming and we need to limit our emissions.