Henry Arcano 1/21/10
Chemistry Article Review
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/science/20carp.html?ref=science
Genetic material of the Asian Carp, an invasive species that has been nearing the Great Lakes for years, has been found in Lake Michigan. That means that the fish has somehow gone past the elaborate system of barriers created to keep it out of the Great Lakes. These barriers, costing millions of dollars, were made to stop the fish from reaching the Great Lakes, where it would have no natural competitors and will threaten the fish population. Now no live or dead fish have been found, and there are many other ways that the DNA could have reached Lake Michigan. However, it is being taken as an early warning that there may be live Carp in the Lake. No one knows how the DNA got into the Lake, and no one probably ever will. The Supreme Court denied Michigan the right to close the locks of a Chicago shipping canal that goes directly into the lake on the day the positive DNA samples were found. This is bringing even more calls for help from the Great Lake states. The governors of Wisconsin and Michigan have called for the Obama administration to call an emergency summit and identify an emergency rapid response. Professor Lodge of Notre Dame says that the court rulings and the DNA findings “Highlight the urgency” of action to protect the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes have a 7 billion dollar fishing industry and 20% of the world’s fresh water.
This crisis affects humanity in general. If the Asian Carp invade the Great lakes, then they would be able to support high-density populations. This would lead to a decrease in the population of the natural species of fish. That might deplete the 7 billion dollar fishing industry going on right now.
I found this article very interesting, but I thought that it was hard to understand unless you already have background information about what’s happening with Asian Carp. Other than that, I did not have any problems with this article.
I believe Henry did a great job at explaining the growing problem in the Great Lakes. He also described why Asian Carp are such a problem by stating different industries that could be hurt by this growing problem. I also enjoyed how Henry described the Supreme Court’s and the President’s decisions in this problem. I think Henry could have talked a little more about how the Asian Carp exactly got into Lake Michigan. I also think he was a little too general on describing the way that Michigan has been trying to keep the Asian Carp out of their waters. In all, I thought the article that Henry chose was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHenry did an excellent article review. He clearly described the increasing problem about the Asian Carp in the Great Lakes. He made the subject even more interesting by explaining the Supreme Court and President's thoughts on the issue. Also, did a great job writing about this topic. However, I would have liked to know how the Asian Carp got to Lake Michigan and what Michigan is doing to keep the Asian Carp away from entering the water. In conclusion, the topic Henry chose to write about for his current events was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think that Henry’s review was very informative and interesting. I think he gave background to the topic well and summarized it very concisely. I also liked how he provided some statistics from the article, which pressed how important the Great Lakes are to the U.S., and the world’s fishing and water supply. Also, he explained what Michigan was trying to do to prevent this, and what got in their way very well. I think the review could be made even better if he explained the reasons for the Supreme Court’s denial of closing the locks. Also, I would like to know how scientists found the Carp DNA in the water. All in all, I was very impressed with the quality of his review and its information.
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