Luke Freeman
Mr. Ippolito
AP Biology - Review #2
9/13/18
Caron, Christina. “Giant Trap Is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2018,
Christina Caron’s article, published by the New York Times, serves as a great explanation of the methods being tested to solve the ocean debris issue. In it, she describes the primary method: a 2,000 foot trap. Yes, after reading this, one might think that this method would be too simple to be effective, but that is the best part. Twenty million dollars worth of funding for development and research have been sunk into this project from the “Ocean Cleanup”, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fixing this issue. The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, as Caron puts it, is, “a gyre of trash between California and Hawaii, comprises an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of scattered detritus, including at least 87,000 tons of plastic”. If all goes according to plan, by mid-October, this long trap will have been towed 1,400 miles to the garbage patch. Testing has concluded that the current should pull this large trap in a “U” shape through the debris, and with a net hanging ten feet below the surface, it should collect nearly all of the trash. The reader is assured that marine life will not be harmed as they can simply swim underneath. However, Caron does specify that this has not yet been tested on the open ocean, so it is unclear if this will end up being an effective means to “clean half of the garbage patch in just five years”, which is the goal. That being said, many scientists and sponsors of this project are decidedly optimistic, and predict a successful trial run.
This issue of humans poluting the water has been one since the dawn of the modern era. Anything dumped into a waterway likely will end up in the ocean, which then gets picked up in the currents and accumulated, forming this massive garbage patch. For scale and an explanation of the currents effect on this plastic, I have linked a relevant picture computer generated image at the end of this article (see bottom). This island of floating plastic has serious environmental concerns, as marine life often gets ensnared in the plastic or swallows bits and pieces, which is hazardous to their health. A study published in “The Telegraph”, a British newspaper, found that, “more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year by ingestion and entanglement,” which is in part due to the inability of most plastics to biodegrade. Some small fragments of plastic can end up in our seafood. This in turn causes the digestion of unwanted chemicals. Overall, this is a worldwide problem which needs to be solved, and I think this trap method is our best bet.
While reading Caron’s article, I found myself very captivated. Not only does she do an excellent job of setting up the context, she also goes in depth into the techniques and proposed plan of action of the “Ocean Cleanup” project. Her small paragraphs also serve to keep the points of interest quick, and concise, while keeping the article itself moving. Yet, she does miss some key points which is a clear flaw in the article, that being Caron neglects to mention the significance and environmental impact the garbage patch actually has. After reading this article, I had to look up some of the statistics on marine life death, as well as what that means for humans. Other than that, Caron’s article does serve its purpose in explaining the trap technique, but more explanation of the garbage patch itself would have elevated it to the next level.
Garbage Patch Image:
This is a very interesting article choice, as the issue of the plastic pollution in the ocean is a growing and pressing issue. I like how you took the time to explain how plastic gets into the ocean, and how you say "Anything dumped into a waterway likely will end up in the ocean, which then gets picked up in the currents and accumulated". Some people would not understand how plastic pollution became such a large-scale issue, so this explanation is important to clarify that to the reader. I also like your critique of the article, where you point out that Caron does not clearly explain the environmental effects of the garbage patch. This is a good observation, as it is important that the reader fully understands the damages of plastic pollution in the ocean. Finally, I think you as the author of this article did a nice job explaining why the garbage patch is such a large concern, picking up where Caron left off. You did a very good job describing the the environmental impacts of plastic pollution in the garbage patch. An example of a good sentence which stood out to me was "A study published in “The Telegraph”, a British newspaper, found that, “more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year by ingestion and entanglement,” which is in part due to the inability of most plastics to biodegrade. Some small fragments of plastic can end up in our seafood."
ReplyDeleteAlthough this is a well written article overall, there are certain areas that could use improvement. You state in the first paragraph, "The reader is assured that marine life will not be harmed as they can simply swim underneath." In my opinion, that is not completely true. This method of plastic cleanup poses a serious threat to wildlife, as the net is not selective to plastic or marine life. Therefore, I think you should've pointed out this flaw in Caron's article. Another aspect of your writing that I think can be improved is when you state "Overall, this is a worldwide problem which needs to be solved, and I think this trap method is our best bet." While I agree that the garbage trap can be effective in some ways, I also think it has flaws, as I discussed earlier. So, in order to give the reader more insight on this topic, I think you should include some alternate clean-up methods that have been tested or are going to be tested.
Your review of the article, along with the article itself, focuses on a topic that is a very pressing environmental concern of the modern era. Learning more about the plastic pollution in our oceans and its detrimental effects to marine life was definitely enlightening to me. Reading the statistic of one million seabird deaths and 100,000 mammal deaths every year are caused by plastic truly opened by eyes about the insurmountable damage being done to the animals living in our oceans. This is an issue which concerns me greatly on a fundamental level, and I hope that we as a species can come to a conclusion on this issue.
Harry Villanueva
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Mr. Ippolito
9/18/18
Caron, Christina. “Giant Trap Is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/09/09/science/ocean-cleanup-great-pacific-garbage-patch.html
I find this review to be very eye opening as it focuses on an environmental issue that is less talked about, that issue being plastic pollution in the ocean. What I like about this piece is that it clearly displays Luke’s distinct writing voice which aids him in luring the audience through his review. This goes to show that the review is well written and based on an intriguing topic of choice. What I am also drawn to is the amount of detail that Luke indulges in through his review. It is easily noticed that he took the time to put in research to effectively advance the points that he makes in his writing. This is exhibited when he states, “A study published in ‘The Telegraph’, a British newspaper, found that, ‘more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year by ingestion and entanglement,’ which is in part due to the inability of most plastics to biodegrade.” This information was not provided in his article. He overall demonstrates good use of outside source information. Lastly, I enjoyed that the information was generally interesting in that it explained a method of ocean cleaning that involves a giant net to collect plastic.
I personally think that it would have been interesting if Luke proposed his own original idea as to how he thinks that we should be dealing with this problem of plastic pollution. Towards the end of his review, he could have written something along the lines of “I think that we as people could help put an end to plastic pollution by using biodegradable straws… etc.” Another thing to pick at is that in his last paragraph, Luke describes that the author of the article does not address some key points. He says, “she does miss some key points which is a clear flaw in the article, that being Caron neglects to mention the significance and environmental impact the garbage patch actually has.” Although not necessary, It may have made the review slightly more informative if he described what some of the environmental impacts of the garbage that the author missed.
Overall, the review and article both shed light on a topic that is not thought about every day. It was interesting for me as a reader to learn that we are cleaning the ocean by method of using giant nets to filter out plastic. The information presented in these pieces of writing reflects the idea that one small act of pollution can add up. This is seen in that all of the plastic in the ocean ultimately surmounts into one big mass where it gets clumped up.
Citations:
ReplyDeleteCaron, Christina. “Giant Trap Is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/09/09/science/ocean-cleanup-great-pacific-garbage-patch.html
Freeman, Luke. Rev. of “Giant Trap Is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean.” by Christina Caron. The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Sept. 2018,
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2018/09/giant-trap-is-deployed-to-catch-plastic.html
In his review of “Giant Trap Is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean” by Christina Caron, Luke effectively appeals to ethos by frequently citing the information that he is discussing. Luke not only cites information from the article that he was reviewing to build his argument, but also from another outside source. His utilization of multiple resources establishes Luke as a credible author of a review on this subject. Luke also does a sufficient job at revealing worldwide effect of this issue; he not only discusses the effects of pollution on marine life, but also on human life. Including this information builds a strong argument that is more likely to persuade readers that the method of cleansing the oceans that is being discussed is worth the money. Another aspect of Luke’s review that was successful was his further explanation of quotes that he provided. After including a quote from the newspaper, “The Telegraph” that states a statistic about marine deaths due to pollution, Luke offers explanation and analysis of the statistic by including a more specific cause of this and even further builds on his point by discussing how it may affect humans directly.
This already well-built argument could be further improved if Luke began his summary with an introduction to the issue that he was discussing. Before introducing the solution that the article he was reviewing discussed, he should have given a brief overview of the problem. Secondly, Luke’s language in this review was slightly colloquial. For example, the phrases “...this trap method is our best bet”(Freeman 2) and “... elevated to the next level”(Freeman 3) could benefit from more sophisticated terminology.
While reading this review, I was impressed that such a simple method of cleaning the oceans could be so effective. This has made me realize that when we are faced with problems, we sometimes overlook solutions that seem too elementary, when those are the solutions that often work best. This is especially true with issues that are so widespread and seem impossible to solve, such as pollution of our oceans. The bigger the issue is, the more complicated we think the solution will be, but we should learn to take a step back and consider the solutions that we might normally consider to be too simple or sound to easy to work. Using this method of understanding and problem solving may lead people to discover effective solutions to ongoing worldwide problems.