Olivia Conniff
AP Biology
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event 17
2/14/19
Temming, Maria. “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Spread Much Farther than Once Thought.” Science News, 12 Feb. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-extent-simulation.
For my 17th current event, I chose to read the article “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Spread Much Farther than Once Thought” by Maria Temming. The article explains how, even 10 years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are finding out from computer simulations that the spill expanded much farther than they originally thought. At the original time of the spill, satellite images were taken in order to determine which areas needed to be closed for fishing but recently scientists have done additional analysis, “which considered ocean currents, oil evaporation, and other factors to map the spill’s true expanse” (Temming). Scientists realized that the original analysis missed over 30% of the pollution caused by the spill. What happened was that the concentration of some of the oil, while it was still strong enough to harm marine life, it was dilute enough to be missed by satellites.
The included diagram shows the extensive area of oil that was labeled as “invisible and toxic”, clearly indicated how much oil was actually missed.
The fact that toxic substances in the ocean were completely missed and fishing carried on in those areas is extremely detrimental to the marine life of the Gulf of Mexico. This missed oil is just one example of how we, as a society, are becoming complacent with the harm being caused to the ocean and the environment as a whole. Environmental emergencies are taking place all over the world, and while they are covered in the news for a bit, people quickly lose interest and they stop being covered.
I think overall this was a good article, because it was concise and clear, and did not drag on with unnecessary information, however, there are certainly a few ways it could be improved. Temmings did not include any quotes from experts on the subject, which I felt definitely weakened the effectiveness of the article. Also, I wish Temmings included more details on how exactly the oil spill, especially the sections that went undiscovered, affected the marine life of the Gulf of Mexico.
Ellyn Paris 2/24/20
ReplyDeleteAP Biology Current Event 17
Temming, Maria. “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Spread Much Farther than Once Thought.” Science News, 12 Feb. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-extent-simulation.
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/
In her review of Maria Temming’s article, Conniff included a diagram of the oil spill and the areas that were missed in prior calculations. This was very helpful to the reader in understanding the severity of the situation. Visual aids are beneficial in these types of reviews. Additionally, Conniff integrated her quotes very well. The quotes she chose were informative and she included them in her paragraphs without disturbing the flow of the writing. Conniff also mentioned the issues surrounding media coverage in her second paragraph. Media is especially prevalent in our current day society, therefore talking about it and the problems that come along with it when discussing environmental crises was a very good point to raise.
To improve her review, Conniff could consider making her second paragraph longer. The oil spill was a devastating incident whose impact on marine life is atrocious. There is much to say about its prevalence in our current society. Her second paragraph should reflect the importance of the event. Furthermore, when citing her quotes Conniff did not write down the page on which the quote was found. If the reader wished to analyze the quote further, it would be helpful if she added where the quote was found in more detail.
I found this review very interesting, especially since it touches upon a topic that greatly intrigues me. Thanks to this review, I learned that in their calculations of the oil spill, scientists neglected the “invisible” oil that is still very toxic to marine life. Before reading the review, I did not know that the diluted oil made up such a large percentage of the pollution that arose from this oil spill.
Amanda Troy
ReplyDelete2/24/20
AP Biology
Current Event Comment
Temming, Maria. “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Spread Much Farther than Once Thought.” Science
News, 12 Feb. 2020, www.sciencenews.org/article/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-extent-simulation.
https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-spread.html
For this current event, I read Olivia’s review of the article, “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Spread Much Farther than Once Thought” by Maria Temming. First, Olivia notes the main idea of the article. The article discusses how after 10 years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are still finding out from computer simulations that the spill expanded much farther than they originally presumed. Next, Olivia talks about the new analysis done by Scientists regarding the spill. This is important because now Scientists are discovering that the original analysis missed over 30% of the pollution caused by the spill. The concentration of some of the oil was dilute enough to be missed by satellites.This leads to Olivia’s last point, where she talks about how fishing carried on in those areas, which is extremely detrimental to the marine life of the Gulf of Mexico.
I think Olivia did a great job writing a review for this article, but there is room for improvement. For one, I think that Olivia could have included more quotes in order to create a more professional review. I also think Olivia could have touched more on upon the original analysis of the spill.
I chose to comment on this review because I really enjoy learning about the environment and I believe it’s important to be aware of environmental emergencies. Just like Olivia said, environmental emergencies are taking place all over the world, and while they are covered in the news for a bit, people quickly lose interest. I also chose to comment on this review because I like how Olivia included a diagram of the extensive area of oil that was labeled as “invisible and toxic.” This visual representation clearly indicated how much oil was actually missed. Additionally, including this diagram made it easier for the reader to grasp an important concept of the article.