Yin, Steph. "Searching for the Human Factor in Deadly Avalanches." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Dec. 2016. Web. 02 Jan. 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/science/avalanches-skiing-snowmobiles.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection
Every year, there are many people who die in avalanches; about 30 Americans and 110 in Canada and Europe. Dr. Hendrikx, at Montana State University, wanted to study human behavior to prevent future avalanche accidents because most avalanches are caused by skiers and snowmobilers. Scientists know how weather and terrain contribute to avalanches, and forecasts are about 80% accurate. Human activity, however, is very unpredictable. Dr. Hendrikx said that "about 90% of avalanche victims trigger the avalanche themselves." Although, apparently people in the backcountry understand avalanches, and the avalanches are not due to ignorance. Dr. Hendrikx thinks that what leads to the avalanches is how people make decisions based on peer pressure. To find out more about the behavior, Jerry Johnson and Hendrikx started a project where skiers and snowmobilers around the world record slope movements and answer questions. Some of the results were older people, or people with children would make more conscious decisions. The risk takers were all male groups, or people wanting to go on new slopes. Also, people traveling in a group tend to make poorer choices than people skiing alone. This could be because people want to show off, or people just want to follow to person with authority rather than thinking of the dangers. On the other hand, though, about 99% of people are using the terrain appropriately and even though there has been an increase of engagement in backcountry sports, the accident rate has remained steady. Dr. Hendirx believes that if he continues to study the decision making matrix, he will make a difference in the future.
This research can have a huge affect on society. Avalanches are a big problem around the world, and if more people continue to study the affects of group dynamics, the problem can be fixed, or at least greatly decreased. I was drawn to this article and thought it was interesting, because I ski on mountains that have had avalanches. I did not know that most victims of avalanches caused them themselves.
The article was fairly straight forward and easy to read. The author did a good job of describing why they were conducting the experiment and also explaining the results. For example, the researchers said that people who travel in groups tend to make riskier decisions than people who travel alone. However, if a group has good communication, and a pre-planned route, they will also tend to make safer decisions. One improvement that the author could make is to describe how they got the results in more detail, and also, how they will continue to try and fix the problem of avalanches once they have all the results.
I choose to comment on Emily’s review of “Searching for the Human Factor in Deadly Avalanches.” Overall, her review was very well-written. For starters, I liked how she began the article with a fact on avalanches. This really got my attention. I also liked how she referred a specialist, Dr. Hendrikx. This gave the article more credibility. Finally, I liked how Emily explained the title of the article. She explained that skiers or snowboarders in large groups often travel on unsafe terrain and can in turn cause avalanches.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the article was well-written, there were areas that could have been improved. For example, her explanation on the study conducted by Dr. Hendrikx was confusing at parts. I found myself having to read it over and over in order to figure out what the results of the study were. Another thing she could have improved was that she could talked more about how to get skiers and snowboards to ride safer and in turn how that would prevent avalanches. Although she did talk about avalanches being stopped, she failed to go into specifics on how to do this.
Overall, I found this article and its review extremely interesting. Before reading this, I had no idea that humans were such a large cause of avalanches. In the article, scientists conclude that humans cause about 90% of avalanches which was extremely surprising to me. Reading this article makes me want to learn more about how we can prevent avalanches. I find it fascinating how easily avalanches could be stopped and lives could be saved.
Yin, Steph. "Searching for the Human Factor in Deadly Avalanches." The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Dec. 2016. Web. 02 Jan. 2017.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/science/avalanches-skiing-snowmobiles.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection
I think that Emily did a great job in her review. There are a few aspects of it that I believe we very beneficial to her review. I liked how she started her review with a catch. It really made it intriguing and made me want to read more of the review. I think that she also did a good job incorporating statistics to her review. She says, Every year, there are many people who die in avalanches; about 30 Americans and 110 in Canada and Europe". This gives the reader a good idea of how this is very dangerous. And lastly, I liked how Emily's second paragraph really explained how this could affect the future. It was clear that she really understood the article and that is very important.
Although I thought that she did a great job, there are a few things that she could improve upon. She could have included quotes in her review. This would have allowed her to have a closer link to the article in her summary. And second, I spotted a few grammar mistakes but nothing too major. Those are an easy fix.
Before reading this review, I did not know that there was a possibility of stopping avalanches and saving lives. Therefore, I think that this review was very informative. Emily did a great job!