Sean Flanagan 10/1/12
Earth Science 1 C Block Even Ms. Davies
Kunzig, Robert. “Earth Before the Ice.” National Geographic. October 2011. 90-109
I chose to read an article published in the magazine National Geographic entitled “Earth Before the Ice. The article explained the Earth’s warm period fifty-six million years ago known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum or PETM. During this period, there was not a single piece of ice throughout the world. The Earth had warmed to such a degree in this period that no ice could form without the aid of man, who were currently in quite a primitive state. The cause of this steep warming was a massive release of carbon into the primitive Earth’s atmosphere. “…they [scientists] estimate it was roughly the amount that would be injected today if human beings burned through all the Earth’s reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas.” Where did all of this carbon come from if it wasn’t released by humans? Scientists suggest that it could have come from wildfires, volcano eruptions, and the melting of methane hydrates. Because there was so much carbon released, it is likely that it is a combination of these factors that caused the PETM. And this massive release of carbon caused a drastic rearrangement of life on this planet. Species went extinct, and the ancestors of apes, humans, cattle, and horses shrunk to survive the conditions. Miniaturized versions of animals seem silly, but the implications for our own situation is frightening.
This event that happened fifty-six million years ago eliminates any doubt that global warming is a very real threat to our existence. The carbon that was released into the atmosphere during the PETM warmed the planet until there was no ice to be found anywhere on Earth. This happened over a very long period of time giving the world some time to adjust and evolve. The rate that we are releasing carbon into the atmosphere is much faster than fifty –six million years ago. If we continue at this rate, the planet will warm, the ice will melt, and it will spell disaster for the human population. More frighteningly, during the PETM, species either adapted to conditions or went extinct. What will the inhabitants of the Earth look like after the Earth’s carbon is released again? Evolution could go down a completely different path that will reshape the Earth. Humans might not be part of that reshaping.
The article was one of the most interesting I had read in a while. It scared me a little bit with the information it contained. It made me sit up and pay attention to say the least. The article was easy to read, and understand because of the diagrams, pictures, and explanations. I think all of the points in the article were supported by experts and evidence. However, the author made the article sound a little too dire. It makes it a little surreal, and not very believable. I am sure the article contained only true information, but it was hard to believe. The article was interesting, but overly gloomy.
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ReplyDeleteI read Sean Flanagan’s report on “Earth Before the Ice”. Overall I thought it was well presented and had a lot of important information. One thing that I thought was particularly well presented was the questions that were asked. Sean’s response included a lot of questions and he answered them well. He didn’t overly explain them so I could interpret things my own way. The way he answered them also kept me thinking throughout the whole article. Another thing that I thought was well presented was the connection between the carbon being released fifty-six million years ago and how it could happen again in the future. I clearly understood the connection without any confusion. Thirdly, Sean’s response had a really good voice to it. I always knew what his point of view was.
ReplyDeleteI learned a few things from reading this article. I knew that animals and species went extinct in the past, but I never knew why. I did not think that carbon being released into the atmosphere, eventually leading to global warming, happened in the past already and is a cycle. I also found it interesting that if this whole process repeats itself and species go extinct humans might not be on Earth anymore. There has always been rumors about the world ending but I never believed them, and actually thinking about the fact that humans might exist anymore is unrealistic.
Altogether I thought the article was well written and shared the information really well. One thing of how this review could be improved is less repetitiveness. There was not much repetitiveness but I thought there was a little in the beginning. I don’t think that it is a big issue, since it was only in one sentence. Overall I thought this response was phenomenal.
Noor Banihashem Ahmad October, 2012
ReplyDeleteEarth Science Review
I read Sean Flanagan’s review on the article “Earth Before Ice,” and I found it very intriguing and interesting to read. There were many things that were well presented. For example, he really portrayed the information very well. He told the reader all about how the Earth was like before there was ice on the Earth. I also really enjoyed reading about how this affects us. I was always one to believe in Global Warming, and now there is without a doubt, heating of the Earth. I also thought he presented the facts well. He got straight to the point, and he made the response, and the article very comprehendible.
I learned many things from this article. For one, I learned that during the PETM , the Earth had warmed up so much that there was literally no ice left on the Earth. I thought that was very fascinating to think about. I thought conditions now were bad, but I guess I underestimated that. I also found that because of the carbon’s release into the atmosphere, that the Earth was warming up. I found this very interesting to read about.
Although this article was written very nicely, I think that there were a couple things that Sean could have done to make it even better. There is a little bit of repetitiveness, and it makes the review a little boring to read. I also think that Sean could proofread the review one more time because he didn’t catch some errors. These are very minor errors, and they would be very easy to fix. Overall, I thought this article was very well written and well presented.