Liv Cappello
AP Biology Current Event
9/24/2015
As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West
by John Schwartz, September 21, 2015
This article discusses the devastation caused by recent forest fires in the west, and the impact of these fires on the land, surrounding communities, and environment. The author describes the fires as a product of factors including lack of government regulation, firefighting policies, and climate change. The 2015 fire season in the west is considered one of the worst in the nation’s history, with more than eight million acres burned nationwide. Because of the sheer volume of fires recorded in the past months, the national Forest Service is struggling to obtain funds to fight and prevent fires, as responding to these disasters is becoming increasingly more expensive. The article emphasizes the importance of extinguishing and preventing wildfires, as the trees in our environment are invaluable, and a planet with fewer trees is less able to fight climate change.
Though fire has been “an essential and cyclical part of forest life” in that they tend to burn with low intensity and often can be beneficial in spreading seeds and clearing underbrush, these incredibly large and destructive fires have disrupted a natural and healthy pattern. The author suggests that wildfires are only part of the damage brought on by climate change: hotter droughts associated with wildfires are causing an increase in tree mortality. Trees in very dense forests have to compete for water, causing stress and eventually weakness and vulnerability of the trees to predators (such as aggressive bark beetles).
Though the severity of the damages produced by wildfires is discussed, the article fails to present detail in the causes and solutions of this increasingly important problem. To gain a complete sense of the impact of climate change on forests, it would have been helpful to include information as it pertains to wildfires and tree mortality earlier in the article. Without detail describing the link between climate change and these fires, it was difficult to fully understand the current situation in the West. It would have helped to know more about why these fires were caused, and how large of a role climate change plays in causing forest fires, and what we can do to prevent fires and help to repair the damages caused by those in the past months. The article however does provide a clear and concise evaluation of the damages of wildfires in the west, which is necessary for understanding the urgency of these ongoing fires.
Overall, I enjoyed reading and analyzing this article — it was well-written, informative, and helped me to gain an understanding of a topic that I had yet to learn about.
Schwartz, John. "As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/22/science/as-fires-grow-a-new-landscape-appears-in-the-west.html?action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0>.
Liv,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your review of “As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West” by John Schwartz. This article is a great choice because this is a very pressing problem in our country that is largely unknown by people in areas that aren’t directly affected. I liked how you included the mention of wildfires being beneficial in some cases by allowing certain plants to spread their seeds and clearing underbrush. I find it interesting that they have determined that these fires have gone past their natural course and are no longer beneficial. I also felt that you did a good job at mentioning the important things that were missing from the article. You found many important questions that the author should have answered and had many of the same problems with understanding the situation in the west as I did after reading your summary. This review was overall very well written and thought out and I thought you did a good job at displaying your thoughts in a descriptive yet concise manner.
I felt that the primary aspect missing from your review was your last paragraph being undescriptive. I would have liked some more detail of why you chose the article and/or this topic. your statements were very broad and some small description of why you enjoyed it would have concluded your review in a better way; your current conclusion feels rushed. The only other comment I have of something I would change is maybe a little more detail in your summary in describing why fighting fires is getting increasingly more expensive and how trees prevent climate change.
Overall I really enjoyed reading your review and was especially interested by the fact that the forest service is running out of funding to fight these fires. I didn't realize they covered all the costs, I thought that would be a cost paid in taxes to firefighters.
I felt that Liv did a great job of summarizing the article. First, I enjoyed how, in the beginning, she clearly lists out what the issue is and why the issue is caused. She does this when she discusses the fires in the West and why they are so prevalent. I also enjoyed how she emphasized that the Forest Service must receive more funding in order to prevent fires, but at the same time must receive even more funding to simply hold off the fires that already exist. The hole that they are digging themselves into is a fascinating topic. Lastly, I enjoyed how she tied in how the fires affect us in the end. She states that the trees are an invaluable resource in fighting climate change, which affects us all in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteThere are some things, however, that could have been improved upon. First, I would have liked further explanation as to why trees are so important fighting climate change. What is it about trees that is better for our environment than fires? Also, although I enjoyed her talking about increased tree mortality from other factors, I would have liked to have seen that tied into the fire discussion. I would like to know if these trees being attacked by bugs are more susceptible to wildfires than trees that are not.
Lastly, I was amazed by the permanent damage caused by wildfires. Although I knew they were damaging in the short term, I never thought that there would be permanent change in an area’s landscape due to a fire. Going forward, I will surely want to visit the West before it changes even more, and I now believe that we should be investing a lot more into fire prevention and fighting.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLiv,
ReplyDeleteYou did a wonderful job on your review, it was very well written and flowed very nicely. What drew me in was the title of the article, As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West. After reading the title I was immediately intrigued to read your review. One fact that I was surprised to learn was that eight million acres were burned nationwide, I did not realize the number was so high. Referencing what the author of the article said, “describes the fires as a product of factors including lack of government regulation, firefighting policies, and climate change,” made the review so much stronger. As well as being an interesting fact, to expand on the facts of the reference it was scary to learn that the firefighters are having a hard time controlling the fires. Finally a third aspects of the review, that I found interesting and learned was that, in dense forests the trees have to compete for water, which in the long run could lead to aggressive bark beetles.
Although the review was very good, and I was able to learn a few new facts, I do have a few suggestions. In order to improve the review, you could add your personal opinion on the topic in the second paragraph. So, instead of, just talking about how the forest fires affects society, talk about how you feel about the fires, and if it affects you or any of your family members. Another suggestion I had was to expand more on the effects of the bark beetles on society, or what will happen to the environment if all the trees succumb to mortality.
Another reason I chose to read this review was I have family in California, where recently one of the big forest fires occurred, and many of my family members were affected. Therefore, I am always interested in educating myself, and possibly change my perspective, to better understand what is going on in the west.
I think Liv did a great job summarizing this article. I really enjoyed how she integrated many quotes from the article, which ultimately made her summary more authentic. I also liked how she clearly explained the severity of the issue and how it is drastically effecting the environment. Lastly, I really liked her own analysis of the article and her own confusion with the author's information. It shows that she is interested in the topic, is caring to learn more, and can ask the right questions that will lead her to the right answer in a clear and concise manner.
ReplyDeleteAlthough her review was easy to read and clear, I have a few suggestions. The main issue that sticks out for me was her description in the last paragraph. I would have liked to see more of her own opinion on the issue because it is affecting many. Maybe if she had any ideas to help the situation would have been a nice addition to tie the whole piece together. Also, she mentions how trees prevent climate change fairly often throughout the review but never fully explains why that is. I would have liked to know more about that and I think it would've added to the legitimacy of the review.
Liv's article stood out to me because I am really interested in the issue going on in California and the many forest fires occurring. I was most interested by the fact that the government is trying to regulate enough revenue to prevent these fires but are failing to do so, creating yet another unnecessary obstacle to face in fighting these fires.
Schwartz, John. "As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. .
You did a fantastic job on this review! I was very impressed with the summary of the article and was able to learn quite a bit through a brief description. It was very interesting to read as well. I also liked the fact that you pointed out what information the author left out and could’ve included. It allowed me to tell that you were really thinking deeply about the article and analyzing the information. Finally, I think that review flowed very nicely and illustrated a great outline of the article. You provided me with a great summary, information on what the author included and missed, and how the author’s writing style was. The separation of these thoughts into paragraphs allowed me to clearly understand your review better!
ReplyDeleteThere are a few things that I would suggest including in your review for the next current event. I feel that you could have added a quote into your summary paragraph, maybe from an expert in the subject. I feel that quotes add a little more legitimacy to reviews, and make the reader feel that the article and author is serious about their writing. I also think that you could have been slightly more descriptive in your reflection fo the author and article overall. I found it to be a little vague and though you gave you ideas consisly, the paragraph was very short.
While reading your article, I was very surprised to see that wildfires can be beneficial. Usually when you think of a forest fire, you think of it destroying the land and the overall ecosystem. I was unaware until I read your review that fires spread seeds. Though this seems like an insignificant fact, I found it interesting.
Citation of article:
Schwartz, John. "As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. .
Schwartz, John. "As Fires Grow, a New Landscape Appears in the West." The New York Times. The
ReplyDeleteNew York Times, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. .
Liv’s report was well-written and easy to follow. She demonstrated a solid understanding of her topic by using diction that pulls the reader in. The urgency of an issue that may be easily overlooked was successfully communicated with this method of writing. Although her choice of article could have been less focused on a specific area in order to better relate to the world, she made insightful points in her critique paragraph to highlight this weakness. It was difficult to distinguish the summary paragraph from the relevance paragraph and if there was a relevance portion it could have been more elaborated on.
The concept of massive fires functioning as “an essential and cyclical part of forest life” seems bizarre to me since humans recognize fire as a hazard. Nonetheless, nobody would have known that forest fires can be useful to the environment if it weren’t for science and curiosity. Continuing to push boundaries and to inquire about as much as we can possibly explore is elemental to the ultimate survival of our race and planet.