Thursday, January 17, 2019
Clara DeMagalhaes Current Event #13
Sengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-coffee.html
In his article, Somini Sengupta discusses how global warming hinders the growth of coffee in areas where the plant is grown. While searching for rare varieties of coffee in the wild, British botanist Aaron Davis discovered that 60% of the world’s 124 coffee species are at risk of extinction in the wild due to deforestation and climate change. The main issue with this is that wild types of coffee could have genes needed for our manually cultivated varieties to survive in a climate that keeps getting warmer and drier, and those genes won’t be available if those species die out. This is especially important to farmers who depend on coffee to make their living, both to ensure that they thrive financially and so that they can start their day. Though the wild plants can be preserved in seed banks and nationally protected forests, half of them aren’t held in seed banks and a third don’t grow in the protected forests. To find out more about the risks wild coffee plants face, Davis used a barometer in a test. He found that wild arabica, the most vital coffee bean, was highly vulnerable to climate change effects, and if global warming continues, it may become extinct. Losing species like these is not only detrimental to people who need them, but it also means that there is less food, shelter, and diversity in an ecosystem. However, another kind of coffee plant known as stenophylla was found by Davis and is currently being tested on.
Much of the human population depends on coffee in order to function on a day to day basis. If the plant’s existence were to be in danger, then many people’s lives would be severely impacted negatively. On top of that, like the article said, the extinction of any wild coffee species would affect the ecosystem. It would disturb the balance of the region, eliminate diversity, and impact every other species that depends on coffee for food or shelter, which in turn affects every other species. The loss of gene diversity also cuts off potential research opportunities.
One thing that the article did well was that it was simple, concise, and easy to understand. The formatting, order of topics, and non complicated language made it so that the reader did not have to have any previous knowledge on this subject in order to know what was going on. However, one thing that I think the author could have done was include knowledge from other botanists instead of just Davis. This way, the reader could hear what multiple experts think about the subject at hand and understand better how crucial it is. It also makes the information found in the article much more credible.
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Raphael Munchenbach
ReplyDelete18/1/2019
Sengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-coffee.html
One of the review’s greatest strengths is the author’s ability to remain objective and analytic despite discussing a partison issue like global warming. The issue of climate change and global warming is one that has garnered much controversy recently, yet the author has refrained from being impassioned and allowing emotion to seep into the argument; rather it is all fueled by fact. Another strength of the review is that it goes through the points of the article in the summary portion at a very adqeuate pace, while still going over all the important details of the article. This, in turn, minimizes the effort that the reader must put into absorbing the information--it is all packaged in an easily digestible way. The article also manages to link the issue discussed in the artcile to a context beyond just the classroom, and beyond just what the article talks about, which permits the reader to understand how the topic of the article may be applied elsewhere.
The review does fall short in that it lacks a proper introduction or contextualization of the topic, and the reader is just left to pick up the pieces as they read. This is easily fixed by simply adding a few sentences at the start explaining the issue to ensure that all readers have a common knowledge base. Furthermore, the final sentence of the summary paragraph has no follow-up, it would be useful to provide more detail into stenophylla and what sets it apart from other coffee plants.
Coffee plays an important role in the daily lives of many people in developed countries. As such, this creates a link between coffee production and climate change, and highlights a way that daily life may change as a result. I had previously only considered climate change in a more global and catastrophic stage, but this has shed light on how it can affect the mundane and daily as well as create radical and sudden change.
Emily Perry
ReplyDelete1/29/2019
Sengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-coffee.html
I think that Clara did an excellent job at summarizing her article. Her summary is very thorough and highlights the importance of the discoveries. For example, after saying that 60% of coffee species are at risk of extinction, she explained that this is problematic because “wild types of coffee could have genes needed for our manually cultivated varieties to survive in a climate that keeps getting warmer and drier, and those genes won’t be available if those species die out.” This is a very clear explanation that allows her audience to see the importance of the discovery. Clara also did a great job critiquing her article. I like that she was very specific in her description of the article. For example, she described the article as “simple, concise and easy to understand”. Finally, I feel that Clara’s explanation of why this study is significant is the best part of her article. She does a fantastic job at explaining how the extinction of some coffee species would lead to a loss of genetic diversity. I love how she then describes the potential consequences of losing genetic diversity.
Although Clara’s current event review was very good, there are a few minor changes she could make that would make it even better. One is that in her second paragraph, she starts off by saying that many people depend on coffee to get through their day. While this is a good point to add, I think the point that you make next, that “the extinction of any wild coffee species would affect the ecosystem”, is a far stronger point that would fit better in the beginning of the paragraph. Additionally, there are a few edits that she could make to the grammar of her piece that would make it sound more clear and polished. For example, she could change non complicated to uncomplicated. However, all her errors were very, very minor and did not impede my understanding of the current event. Overall, Clara’s current event was really good so it was difficult for me to find things for her to improve on.
One thing that really surprised me is the fact that Clara included from her article: “60% of the world’s 124 coffee species are at risk of extinction”. This is a ridiculously high number which should be a wakeup call to everyone that human activity that leads to deforestation and climate change will have many irreversible consequences very soon. This article has made me more conscious about preserving the environment and has given me a better understanding of how a loss of genetic diversity can have dire consequences.
Michael Grieco
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Event 14 - Comment
January 29th, 2019
Sengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-coffee.html
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2019/01/clara-demagalhaes-current-event-13.html#comment-form
One of the most outstanding aspects of this review is Clara’s ability to give just a factual summary rather than putting her opinion in throughout the entire piece. She criticizes a possible source of bias in the article by saying the author did not have a wide range of sources. This only adds on to the fact that she is able to remain objective. This review also gives a very detailed summary that goes over many of the important points yet doesn’t make it too long. This allows the reader to gain a comprehensive understanding before reading the article itself. And finally, Clara highlights the many important aspects of this topic in general and the impact it can have on humans all over the world, bringing more attention to it.
I do believe that Clara could have included a more formal introduction to global warming instead of jumping straight into the facts. If she had included some external and more general knowledge, this review would be even more useful. Additionally, Clara leaves the last idea in the summary paragraph unfinished. If she had included some extra thoughts on it, this would also improve the review.
This review combined with the article allows me to see how important a role coffee plays all around the world from the manufacturers to consumers. And in reading about how climate change could affect its production, I begin to see how important this issue is and how these affects will be felt around the world.
Szilvia Szabó
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
January 29th, 2019
Sengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-coffee.html
I think Clara did a really good job at emphasizing the weight of this situation. At first,one might not think coffee plants going extinct would be that much of a big deal, but Clara explains their importance in relation to biodiversity. She writes, “...the extinction of any wild coffee species would affect the ecosystem. It would disturb the balance of the region, eliminate diversity, and impact every other species that depends on coffee for food or shelter, which in turn affects every other species.” At first, I wasn’t too captivated by the title of Clara’s article, but Clara did a really good job at making her audience care. Global warming is affecting our earth in many ways and it is always important to stay educated on these issues. Also, I think that Clara did a really good job at summarizing the problem in an easy way to understand. She had really good facts and organization, for example, “While searching for rare varieties of coffee in the wild, British botanist Aaron Davis discovered that 60% of the world’s 124 coffee species are at risk of extinction in the wild due to deforestation and climate change.” After describing the root of the issue, that coffee plants are dying out due to increases in global temperatures, discusses the ramifications of this, environmentally and economically, as she brings up how many farmers will be greatly affected by this.
Overall, I think that Clara did a really good job at presenting relevant facts and information to her audience in a cohesive and efficient way. However, there were some areas that I believe Clara could improve in, although they are minor. I feel like her argument that, “Much of the human population depends on coffee in order to function on a day to day basis. If the plant’s existence were to be in danger, then many people’s lives would be severely impacted negatively,” is not very strong and somewhat exaggerated. I think that the main issue surrounding this problem would be the decrease in biodiversity, so I wish she went into more specifics about that rather than how people addicted to coffee won’t get their fix in the morning. I think it would’ve been nice for Clara to incorporate facts about how the animals and other plants living in the same ecosystems as the dying coffee plants are affected. Additionally, I felt that she could have concluded her writing a bit better. Her last sentence is, “It also makes the information found in the article much more credible.” I think that she could have found a stronger way to conclude this review in a way that synthesized and condensed the main message or perhaps offered the audience a course of action.
Despite these small adjustments Clara could have made, I felt that her writing was still very good and presented in an efficient, educational way. At first I did not think that coffee plants were that significant in the grand scheme of things, but then Clara made some good points about biodiversity. Coffee is a plant that we all are very familiar with, so it is fairly alarming to hear that it could be going extinct. This shows that the tolls of global warming are really gaining momentum. We need to start being more environmentally conscientious before we have to start rationing such a common commodity such as coffee.
Sunday Ladas
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology C-EVEN
17 October 2018
Sengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee
in the Wild.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16
Jan. 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-co
ffee.html
I thought that the beginning of Clara’s summary was very captivating and I thought that the hook gave a good introduction to the topic. I like how she went in depth about the study that was taking place. She explained how the odor and the taste (to other animals) of the fruit plants affected other animals affected and in what countries they were most heavily affected in. I also like how she began her second paragraph with a somewhat rhetorical question. I liked how she followed her question with good analysis and opinion of the study that she was reading about. I also liked how she put in her own facts from prior knowledge about this topic.
In the beginning of the article Clara does a nice job intriguing the reader however, I felt that she could have made her hook a little longer and intrigue the reader more. Although it was intriguing I felt it could have been more captivating. Although the second paragraph was very intriguing and interesting, I felt that she could have related the study to more current day problems. I felt that she explained more facts about the study and stated more facts rather than tying the article/study to a problem in today’s world.
When reading this article I learned a lot of information about how global warming has evolved since the world has begun and how people are finding new information daily. I thought it was very interesting how scientists have found a relation between global warming and coffee. I learned that wild types of coffee could have genes needed for our manually cultivated varieties to survive in a climate that keeps getting warmer and drier, and those genes won’t be available if those species die out.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSengupta, Somini. “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” The New York
ReplyDeleteTimes, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2019,
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/climate/climate-change-coffee.html
For this week’s current event comment, I read Clara’s review on the article, “Global Warming is Helping to Wipe Out Coffee in the Wild.” by Somini Sengupta. This article described how global warming prevents the growth of coffee in areas where the plant is grown. I think that Clara did a great job with her review, one thing that she did especially well on was her summary of the article. In her summary, Clara was not only able to get the reader to understand the main point in the article but she helped the reader understand the scientific terms and the severity of the problem. Another thing I thought Clara did well was that she pointed out the parts of the articles she liked and how she was able to constructively criticize the article. I also think that Clara also did a good job structuring her article because she always kept the reader's attention to a topic that did not appear very captivating.
Although I think Clara did job overall, I feel like there is room for improvement in her review. One thing I think Clara could have done better is that she could have included structured her article differently to include more scientific information. Another thing I think she could have done better is that she could have included quotes from the article or statistics to increase her credibility.
Overall, I think that Clara did a really good job with her review, and I learned a lot after reading it. I was shocked to find out what a big impact global warming has on coffee plants. Now that I am more aware of this problem, I fear for the future where the increase in temperatures as a result of climate change will only cause a worse environment to grow certain plants and this could cause an increase in the price of coffee or no coffee. In the future, I hope more people can be educated about this topic to raise awareness so we can work together to build a better future.