Gillis, Justin. "Seas Are Rising at Fastest Rate in Last 28 Centuries." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/science/sea-level-rise-global-warming-climate-change.html?ribbon-ad-idx=3&rref=science&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Science&pgtype=article>.
The changing sea levels are undeniable as many coastal towns around the world are suffering their consequences. This phenomenon is at least in part due to anthropological greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists such as Dr. Kopp and Dr. Rahmstorf affirm that sea levels are guaranteed to rise in the next century. Since the 1800s, global temperatures have risen around 1.8 fahrenheits. Sea levels have been changing naturally for centuries; however, calculations in 2013 from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change estimates that continued rates of emissions will cause a rise in sea levels of 1.7 to 3.2 feet in the next 100 years. The article states that the warming climate is only just beginning to have an effect on the Arctic ice sheets and sea levels in general. Evidence suggests that unless humans curtail our current greenhouse gas emissions, the destruction upon coastal areas will be devastating and occur sooner than governments and people can respond in an effective way.
Rising sea levels have a profound global impact because of the amount of communities that thrive in coastal areas. If a drastic sea level rise of 1.7 to 3.2 feet occurs in the next few decades, these areas will be inhabitable. Although scientists deem that sea level change seems inevitable at this point, such rapid change would not allow governments to consider options to minimize its damage on its citizens. This article provides solid evidence that such areas are in danger, which would especially impact the people in coastal areas and also the people in other areas that rely on the industries in coastal areas that would be severely damaged through rising sea levels.
This article was comprehensive and provided ample scientific evidence for the claims that it made. Considering the debate around anthropological sources of climate change, the scientific evidence provided in this article did a great job at defending its position that greenhouse gas emissions are at least partly related to the rising global temperatures. However, the article could have done a better job in presenting a counterargument and refuting it in order to make the author’s case more solid. Although many scientific studies were cited to make the information seem credible, providing a counterargument would have improved the article. Writing more about some individuals’ doubts about anthropological climate change and rising sea levels and rebutting the claims with evidence would have left a more solid and balanced impression.
Ford Neild February 22nd, 2016
ReplyDeleteCurrent Event 12 Comment
Dear Audrey,
I felt that, overall, you explained the article in very concise manner without skipping over any of the essential details, as many people often do when summarizing. First, you were able to support your claim by inserting statistics and facts from the article, something that many people struggle with in these current events. Prior to reading your summary I would have never guess that rising sea levels could cause so many issues and your statics helped me consider this upsetting possibility. Second, you described the scientist’s viewpoint in a very interesting way that held the reader's attention. Often people do not sound passionate when arguing scientists opinions, but you did a fantastic job of that in this description. One reason you were able to do this is through the use of the quote,”It’s not the tide. It’s not the wind. It’s us. That’s true for most of the coastal floods we now experience.” It helped add a scientist's description that further captured the reader and added a new perspective. Thirdly, your descriptive vocabulary showed real depth of understanding on your part and added additional detail that helped to create a clear image of this previously confusing article.
Though, overall this article was very well written, there is room for improvement yet. Previously, I had commented that your descriptive vocabulary was intelligent and descriptive, however, for many of these words, they were too complex. To fix this, I recommend putting in parentheses the definition of the word. For example, I was not familiar with the phrase,anthropological greenhouse gas emissions. After doing personal research I found that anthropological greenhouse gas emissions are greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by humans. In your relevance paragraph, you consistently mention profound global impact I was disappointed that you did not give specific examples of how rising sea levels could affect people that may not be immediately within range of the encroaching sea. If these were not mentioned in the article, I recommend doing independent research in order to fix this issue.
From your summary I learned a lot. Specifically, I was amazed with how much of an effect a few degrees could have on the ocean. Personally, I often visit the coast in florida to visit my family, so this article concerned me deeply. As previously mentioned, prior to reading this article I would have never guessed that carbon emissions could cause such a potentially globally threatening condition. More importantly this helped me realize a much broader truth: what we do to this planet has a larger impact than the one it has on just us; it affects the entire biosphere.
Gillis, Justin. "Seas Are Rising at Fastest Rate in Last 28 Centuries." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
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Ellie Briskin AP Biology C Even
ReplyDeleteMarch 2, 2016 Current Event 13 Comment
Gillis, Justin. "Seas Are Rising at Fastest Rate in Last 28 Centuries." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. .
Awesome job with this review, Audrey! First off, you summarized everything clearly and seemingly with ease, covering all of the main points of the article without including any extraneous details. Not only that, but you were able to establish a connection to how this topic affects human beings today, something that many people struggle with in these current events; you helped the reader see how a significant rise in sea level could literally make many regions around the world underwater and thus uninhabitable, something that would greatly change the lives of countless people by taking away their places of dwelling. You also accurately noted the causes for the rising sea level- human emissions of greenhouse gasses- and connected all of your points very nicely. Thirdly, your writing style was very easy to read and follow, yet remained extremely informative. This is an extremely hard quality to find in nonfiction writings, which are usually either much oversimplified or much overcomplicated; this hints at a real knack you have for writing intellectual reviews!
Audrey, it's so hard to think of any area which could benefit from improvement! But if anything, you may benefit from some more outside information in general. I’m still not clear on what exactly a greenhouse gas is, and whether or not anything can be done to prevent this daunting rise in sea level, since you cited it to be “inevitable”- and if so, what would that be? Also, I would have liked to hear more about how scientists are able to predict how much the sea level will rise in the coming decades. Secondly, although your writing on its own, Audrey, was great, the professionalism of the article could have been enhanced with the inclusion of one or more quotes. Although this is overall not too significant, the use of quotes would have legitimized your argument and made it stronger.
But on the whole, Audrey, this review was astounding. Your writing and analysis blew me away. It really taught me a lot about the real-life effects of unsustainable human living, a topic I was aware of before but not very knowledgeable about. After reading this, I'll be sure to pay closer attention to greenhouse gas emissions, specifically mine, and look into what I can do to help reverse the negative impact we are having on our planet. Of course, this phenomena also forces me to remember that we must not forget about the affect humans are having on our planet; I feel like people won’t actually realize how serious the issue is until some tangible horror happens, such as this drastic rise in sea level. Overall, I chose this article because of my lack of knowledge of the topic (and because I think you’re incredible, Audrey), and am extremely glad that this is the one I read. Thanks, Audrey, for giving me such a great read!