Thursday, January 14, 2021

 Nate Kim

AP Bio, Mr. Ippolito

Current Event 11

1/14/21



Lambert, Jonathan, Susan Milius, Carolyn Gramling, Bruce Bower, Aimee Cunningham, Tina
Hesman Saey, Betsy Mason, Maria Temming, Lisa Grossman, Cassie Martin, Emily
Conover, Bethany Brookshire, et al. “Earth’s Oceans Are Storing Record-Breaking
Amounts of Heat.” Sciencenews.org. N.p., 13 Jan. 2021. Web. 14 Jan. 2021.


In a recent study, researchers found that our oceans absorbed 234 sextillion joules more heat energy in 2020 than the annual average from 1981 to 2010. To put that data point into perspective, Earth’s oceans absorbed about enough heat to boil 1.3 billion kettles of water. Climate scientist Kevin Trenberth informs that tracking ocean temperature is important because warmer water melts more ice off the edges of Greenland and Antarctica, which raises sea levels and supercharges tropical storms. To estimate the total heat energy stored in the upper 2,000 meters of Earth’s oceans, the team of researchers used temperature data from moored sensors, Argo floats, underwater robots and other temperature recording equipment. In an effort to be accurate, a conservative estimate placed the absorbed heat energy at 1 sextillion joules. That’s still 65 million kettles brought to boil, but it’s nowhere near 1.3 billion. Michael Mann, a coauthor of the study, warns that the warmest years on record for the world’s oceans were 2017, 2018 and 2019. If we do not dramatically reduce carbon emissions soon, Mann warns, we won’t have a happy ending. 


The implications of this article are astronomical. The melting of ice is a positive feedback cycle, meaning that the results of one cycle exacerbate the results of the next cycle. Water has an extremely low albedo, meaning that it doesn’t reflect that much sunlight. Ice on the other hand has an albedo anywhere from 10 to 12 times as high. As the oceans absorb more heat, more ice melts meaning that more of Earth’s surface is water instead of ice. When more surface area is water, more heat energy is absorbed by the oceans melting more ice. This cycle continues forever. From the data, we can see that oceans are absorbing more heat energy every year. Combined with the ice-albedo positive feedback cycle, the negative repercussions grow exponentially. In order to remedy this, we must cut down our carbon emissions in order to preserve more ice before it is too late. 


This article was a wakeup call for me. As a sophomore, I took Environmental Science and loved it. I haven’t really kept up to date with recent climate news so this article was a shocker for me. Back in 2018, the trend wasn’t that bad yet. There had only been high temperatures for 2 years in a row. Now, with 4 of the warmest years on record in just 5 years, it is extremely concerning. As an uninformed reader, I wish that the authors of the article described what some of the more technical terms meant. I am not sure what argo floats or under robots do in order to record temperatures. If the author put these terms in layman's terms, the article would be more accessible to a greater demographic. The article has great strengths in its ability to hit home and properly show the direness of the news it presents. The comparison of temperature to kettles brought to boil places an image in the reader's head, giving them a better understanding of how drastic the situation at hand is.


2 comments:

  1. Lambert, Jonathan, Susan Milius, Carolyn Gramling, Bruce Bower, Aimee Cunningham, Tina
    Hesman Saey, Betsy Mason, Maria Temming, Lisa Grossman, Cassie Martin, Emily
    Conover, Bethany Brookshire, et al. “Earth’s Oceans Are Storing Record-Breaking
    Amounts of Heat.” Sciencenews.org. N.p., 13 Jan. 2021. Web. 14 Jan. 2021.
    Kim, Nate. “Bronxville AP Biology.” Blogspot.com, 15 Jan. 2021, bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2021/01/nate-kim-ap-bio-mr.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2021.

    In Nate's review of "Earth's Oceans are Storing Record-Breaking Amounts of Heat", Nate worked effectively to sum up this article. It is significant, particularly in this sort of arrangement, to have a complete, and full, summary of the article. Since the reader isn't reading the article, we should depend on the writer's outline of this article to settle on educated choices regarding our own thoughts on the matter. I figure Nate worked effectively at this. Furthermore, I figured Nate worked effectively to keep his tone proficient and formal. In these sorts of reviews, it is essential to keep an expert tone, so your cases sound not so much one-sided but rather more trustworthy. While he had a decent close to home tone too, the expert tone was useful for the review. In conclusion, he opened the review with an extraordinary hook. He began by asking the peruser a progression of fascinating inquiries that got the reader snared on what he needed to state. I, at the end of the day, needed to keep pursuing to quench my curiosity that Nate had formed within me.

    Two zones in which Nate could develop is supporting proof and individual association. I thought Nate's review needed explicit proof to prove his cases. For instance, large numbers of his cases were not upheld by the article he read or any external data. Despite the fact that I confide in Nate not to lie in his reviews, I accept that his article can be reinforced by including some particular proof. In conclusion, I believe that Nate would have improved associations with how it impacts our lives. While he discussed society and the nation in general, I would have loved it if Nate zeroed in on the nearby biological system, for example, how it would have affected our neighborhood climate, environments in Bronxville, or something like that.

    I picked this article since I am enthusiastic about natural manageability. Prior to pursuing this review, I had past information on the warming seas and carbon obsession inside the water, however perusing Nate's knowledge unquestionably extended my agreement. I had a snapshot of acknowledgment that our Earth is arriving at its limit. With the whole world chipping away at lessening our effect for quite a long time, lastly now standing out as truly newsworthy in significant news sources, there are more difficulties to survive. This issue is a calculated bad dream at all times, and has acquired a freshly discovered regard for anybody attempting to help save our current circumstance.



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  2. https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2021/01/nate-kim-ap-bio-mr.html#comment-form

    Lambert, Jonathan, Susan Milius, Carolyn Gramling, Bruce Bower, Aimee Cunningham, Tina Hesman Saey, Betsy Mason, Maria Temming, Lisa Grossman, Cassie Martin, Emily Conover, Bethany Brookshire, et al. “Earth’s Oceans Are Storing Record-Breaking Amounts of Heat.” Sciencenews.org. N.p., 13 Jan. 2021. Web. 14 Jan. 2021.

    I really enjoyed reading Nate’s review of the article “Earth’s Oceans Are Storing Record-Breaking Amounts of Heat.” He did a great job of creating a concise summary that was powerful and easy to understand. He also incorporated lots of statistics and made sure to explain them in order to put everything into perspective. When it might have been difficult for readers to understand how powerful certain data was, he related the information into real-world situations: “To put that data point into perspective, Earth’s oceans absorbed about enough heat to boil 1.3 billion kettles of water.” I also think Nate’s reflection on the article was very powerful, and I could tell how much of an impact the article had on him as a reader.

    Nate’s review is very well written, but there are a couple of areas in which he can improve upon in the future. This review didn’t have any quotes from the article, which would have helped to strengthen his arguments and writing in general. He should also have touched more upon why this information is so important. Once, he explained a finding that was talked about in the article, and stated that it “is extremely concerning,” yet failed to elaborate on exactly why it was concerning. In the future he should work to elaborate on all of the points he makes in order to make his writing more credible and strong. Overall, however, it was a very great review.

    This review has made me realize how serious the issue of global warming has become. Prior to reading this, I thought I was aware of how large this issue was, but it was truly a shock to read the article and realize that it was much more severe than I had originally thought. I am now much more concerned about climate change and will do more in the future to try to protect our Earth before it gets to be too late.

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