Volcanic Eruptions Helped Dinosaurs Dominate Planet Earth.

 

Quinn McCarthy

Mr. Ippolito: Period C Odd

9/29/21

Current Event Review: Volcanic Eruptions Helped Dinosaurs Dominate Planet Earth

Article:

Jones, Sam. “Volcanic Eruptions Helped Dinosaurs Dominate Planet Earth.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Sept. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/science/dinosaurs-volcanoes-triassic.html.

Link to article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/science/dinosaurs-volcanoes-triassic.html

Link to review:

Review

             “Volcanic Eruptions Helped Dinosaurs Dominate Planet Earth” by Sam Jones, presents new information about Volcanic Eruptions from the Carnian Pluvial Episode (from 234 million to 232 million years ago), and the effect they had on Dinosaurs at the time. Following the Permian-Triassic extinction, which occurred 253 million years ago and wiped out roughly 90% of all the planet's species, skinnier and more reptilian-looking dinosaurs emerged. Up until the mass extinction of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period, these creatures evolved into the fantastic creatures we think of as dinosaurs, such as the Triceratops and the Tyrannosaurus rex. To study what drove this transition, scientists have focused on the CPE (Carnian Pluvial Episode). Scientists specifically picked this period as  “the planet experienced an increase in global temperature, humidity and rainfall — a climate often referred to as a “mega-monsoon”. Researchers recently analyzed sediment and plant fossil evidence from a lake in Northern China, and were able to match four intense phases of volcanic activity with the changes of the CPE. This find enabled scientists to conclude that four distinct peaks in mercury, which correlate with Volcano activity, are linked to shifts in the carbon cycle as well as rainfall, thus resulting in local changes in the vegetation on land and in the studied Chinese lake. According to Jason Hilton, a paleobotanist at the University of Birmingham in England, “We’re often able to link volcanism to global warming, but our study is unusual in that we’ve also linked it to periods of intense rainfall”. During the CPE, plant and animal species that couldn’t adapt to the more humid environment went extinct. “These changes freed up ecological space for other groups of organisms, like dinosaurs, to thrive,” claimed Dr. Hilton.

            The research conducted as well as the studies completed help give us insight on current day global warming concerns. This article explained how increases in carbon dioxide released by volcanoes is thought to have increased global temperatures and caused more humid climates. According to Sarah Greene, a study co-author and paleoclimatologist at the University of Birmingham, “The rate at which these eruptions emit carbon dioxide is tiny compared to human carbon dioxide emissions today”. This article makes us question: If the increase in carbon dioxide from volcanoes had this detrimental of an impact on dinosaurs, what type of impact could the current extremely rapid increase in Carbon Dioxide have on humans and the environment?

            Overall, although I found “Volcanic Eruptions Helped Dinosaurs Dominate Planet Earth” by Sam Jones quite interesting, I feel as though it was very confusing. Several times when reading this article, I was lost as to the claims he was making. I feel as though Mr. Jones should have given more background information and should have been more clear when explaining the topics he covered. Sam Jones did however do quite a good job at choosing data and backing up claims he made. Despite the confusion caused by this article, I found the topic quite fascinating and exciting.

 

Nearly Two Dozen Species of Birds, Fish and Other Wildlife Are Set to Be Declared Extinct and Removed from the Endangered Species List

 

Skylar Lau

Mr. Ippolito

Science 9 Chemistry

9/28/21

Ebrahimji, Alisha, et al. “Nearly Two Dozen Species of Birds, Fish and Other Wildlife Are Set to Be Declared Extinct and Removed from the Endangered Species List.” CNN, Cable News Network, 29 Sept. 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/29/us/extinct-animals-2021-list-scn-trnd/index.html. 

Ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 other species make the 2021 list of extinct animals - CNN

For my current event article, I had the pleasure to read an article my dad recommended to me. I read the article “Nearly two dozen species of birds, fish and other wildlife are set to be declared extinct and removed from the endangered species list” by Alisha Ebrahimji and other writers from CNN.  The article talked about the recent announcement of 23 animal species that were declared extinct and removed from the endangered species list.  The authors also say that extinction of all these spiece could be a “wake up call” for people to start and take more actions to prevent extinction.  Also, the author talks about the problem with the waitlist for protection and how by the time species get added it could be too late.  In addition the authors talk about how climate change is making it even harder for these species.  Finally, the article talks about the Ivory-billed woodpecker, a once common species now extremely rare because of loss of habitat. 

The article has a great effect on the world because it shows how even with plans to prevent extinction species are still going extinct.  It shows people that if they don't start to do more to help these endangered species dozens if not hundreds more could go extinct.  

Overall this article was great and I learned a lot.  The article taught me a lot and gave a ton of evidence. However, the article had some problems.  The major problem was the lack of explanation.  Even though the article had a ton of quotes and evidence, the author did not explain it well.  A ton of the article was quotes and evidence, and without the proper explanation left me confused and made the article hard to understand.  So I would suggest adding a little more explanations, which would turn this great article into an amazing one.  

Wind energy can deliver vital slash to global warming

 

Scarlett Kane

Honors Core Chemistry Odd Period C

9/28/21

Current Event #3

Wind energy can deliver vital slash to global warming

            According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I Sixth Assessment Report, it can be predicted that the earth's atmospheric temperatures could add 1.5 degrees C of average warming by 2040. Although that date seems far off, that's in under 19 years. As a species we need to work together to treat our planet properly before we cause our own demise. The key to this, to cost effectively shift away from relying on fossil fuels and to adequately reduce our carbon dioxide emissions is wind energy. One main reason in the past we have not switched to wind energy is cost, and although environmentally friendly power sources sound pricey in the long term things like solar and wind power are arguably more cost effective than fossil fuels. Some countries have embraced this eco-friendly lifestyle, like Denmark with 41% of their power comes from wind, however sadly although our country has the second largest amount of wind generated in the world we still only get 8.4% of our power from wind energy. In addition to that it's not even throughout our whole country, just six states make up the majority of our wind energy. Overall we as a nation need to do better when it comes to being conscious of our carbon footprint.

            I believe that the messages of this article are extremely important in our current socio political climate with so many people fully ignoring the effects we have on the environment. It seems almost as if people have given up on our planet and don't realize that although things look bad for our planet it's not past the point of saving. However, future generations won't be able to say the same thing, which is why we are living in such an important time. Another factor that this article illuminated for me and hopefully other people is that solar and wind energy systems are actually not significantly more expensive than fossil fuels, and in some cases can even be less inexpensive. Overall I hope people realize we are the last generation with the chance to save our planet and we can't waste this chance.

            Some strengths of this article were how quick to the point it was and how it emphasized that it's not too late to make a difference. However the article was not perfect, one small issue I had with the article was how much of it the author left to assumption, for example when it mentioned the most eco friendly country based on percentages it left only a few examples and not even the number one which is relying to much on prior knowledge and using resources such as google. However, this could very easily be fixed by adding a bit more specificity.