Current Events Article
Martha Thomas
6/8/15
Semple, Kirk. "Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 June 2015. Web. 08 June 2015
The Article “Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface” by Kirk Semple is an alarming piece. Recently in Long Island about 100 dead turtles, and many more dead fish washed up on the shores of Long Island. Even though marine biologists are still analyzing the carcasses trying to discover the cause of all these deaths, they predict that it has to do with the abundance of Nitrogen in the water filtration system, which must have somehow leaked into the Long Island Sound. Because both the fish and turtles had no visible damage scientist concluded that they were poisoned (by nitrogen). Long Island has seen some sea animals in the past killed due to pollution, but have never witnessed such an epidemic that threatens the sea’s ecosystem so much. The quickly increasing population in Long Island is a factor that plays into the need for so much filtration, leading to pollution. Many scientists and government officials are going to extreme measures to ensure the safety of the Long Island Sound environment. The local government is spending $383 million expanding and improving the sewer system, and Governor Cuomo set up a program at Stony Brook University that will try and create new affordable technology to prevent nitrogen to flow through the filtration systems and into the oceans.
Climate change is an issue that endangers humans and animals worldwide. Despite the fact that this is a global problem, here in America we don’t suffer as much from it’s effects. Most of our goods are imported, and the factories they are made in are located across the world. We force people living in other places to cope with the pollution that our luxuries cause. I used to live in Hong Kong, an island South of China. Hong Kong doesn’t have nearly as many commercial factories as BeiJing or other large Chinese cities, yet it still was greatly affected by the pollution given off by them. When the API (air pollution index) was over 100, which it was quite frequently, my grade wouldn’t be allowed to go outside to play for recess that day due to the health risks. People living in other places have to face the consequences of America’s wasteful culture. The relatively minor pollution and death that Long Island is facing is getting so much attention, yet other places have even worse pollution. This dying fish incident is an example of how Americans are absorbed in their own relatively minor issues, and can be blind to the great problems in other parts of the world.
This article was very well written and easy to understand. It was quite lengthy and provided many details about the causes of this issue and measures the government is taking to fix the issues. Even though the author provided many important details he could be a bit repetitive at times. Overall it was a fascinating article.
¨Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface¨
ReplyDeleteSemple, Kirk. "Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 June 2015. Web. 08 June 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/nyregion/long-island-sees-a-crisis-as-it-floats-to-the-surface.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience
The current event review of ¨Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface¨, written by Martha Thomas was strongly written. In this review, Martha was successful with many writing methods. First, Martha did a good job with summarizing the article. The review also has statistics, which helps the reader understand how big of an issue is having an overflow of nitrogen levels in the ocean. Martha also did an excellent job with connecting this issue to her life and the world. Although Martha had a strong review article, there are some aspects she could work on. Martha could analyze a little more on how the author could improve the article. I found that in the review paragraph where Martha connected the article to her life, it was a little lengthy. She could remove some unneeded information. In this article, I was able to learn more about a serious issue that is occurring so close to where I live. Overall, this article was very well-written and informative.
Core Chemistry
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
I chose to review Martha’s critique on the article, “Long Island Sees a Crisis As It Floats to the Surface,” by Kirk Semple. I thought she did a really good job for many reasons. First of all, the opening of her summary was a great opening hook and her first couple of facts were great starters to the summary, as they were alarming and intriguing. Also, she mentioned in her last paragraph that this article was pretty lengthy with a lot of detail. Even if there was a lot to cover, she did a great job of getting all the major points and it seemed like she understood this intensive article really well from the explanations she gave. As for her second paragraph on the article’s relevance, I liked how she gave a personal connection and then tied it together with a bigger overall message relating to society. This really strengthened her report.
While she mostly did an excellent job, there were a few minor adjustments that could have been made. One, it would have helped to hear a quote from a scientist or someone involved in the study, as quotes provide more direct evidence for the main idea and can explain other’s exact opinions on the matter. Another part was the actual critique paragraph. Many people tend to give a really good summary and significance piece on their article, but then the actual critique is usually vague and short. It would have made her overall review much stronger if she had made her last paragraph a little more specific. Besides that, it was a great review and I was really impressed with her personal connection to the topic because I’ve never been to China and it was alarming but interesting to learn about the crippling environmental situation over there.
Oliver Evison
ReplyDelete¨Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface¨
Semple, Kirk. "Long Island Sees a Crisis as It Floats to the Surface." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 June 2015. 08 June 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/nyregion/long-island-sees-a-crisis-as-it-floats-to-the-surface.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience
I chose Martha’s review of, “Long Island Sees a Crisis As It Floats to the Surface,” by Kirk Semple. She did a great job with this review. She had a strong opening statement and summary of the main details of the article. I could really tell that she knew what she was talking about. I like how she intertwined two threads of theme. She mixed the overall summary with an effect on our society and how it affects us as a people.
However, there were a few things that could have been made even better. I wish she had included some statistics in her report. It would have made it much more contemplative. Also, it would have helped to hear a quote from a scientist or someone involved in the study, as quotes provide more direct evidence for the main idea and can explain other’s exact opinions on the matter. Besides that, it was a great review and I was really impressed with her personal connection to the topic. I never knew about the problems in China.