Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Current Event 1- Shocks in the city


Graham Klimley
Current Event
February 24, 2014

            The snow is melting, spring is upon us, the weather is getting warm, how much better can it get for us (humans) in late February? Well, for dogs, that’s not the case.  While we are very happy to see that the sidewalks are finally getting rid of the snow, ice, and slush, they still hold a very high electoral shock that can be very harmful to dogs if they lick the snow. On February 19, 2014 several blocks in downtown Manhattan were blocked off for hours to try and figure out what this shock is, and why it is affecting dogs and even humans.
            The reason for this is that something went wrong in the detective cable, according to service advisor Con Ed. Though no dog or human was hurt this time, there have been instances when people and dogs have been hurt. In the winter of 2004, Jodie Lane was walking on a New York City sidewalk. The street was damp and wet and she got wet and she was electrocuted. The electrocution killed her, and Con Ed said that the cause of the electrocution was because of poorly insulated wires in the streets of New York City. In 2007, two dogs were electrocuted in the matter of days when they were walking on the streets in New York City. Unfortunately, one dog died because of the shock, but the other one was revived because its owner did CPR.  Even as early as this month, a pit bull stepped outside go one a walk but instead he got shocked. These occurrences are happening rapidly and it is nerve racking for people to even go one walks now with there dogs or not.
            It’s not surprise that these shocks are happening during the winter. Water from the snow and ice can conduct electricity but not very efficiently. What really sets up the water to have a lot of electoral power is that when the salt and other materials, such as, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and certain chloride compounds are dissolved in the water, and this gives the water more shock. The sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium chlorides are the exact compounds found in the sidewalks of New York City.
            In most recent cases of this, Con Ed was able to figure out the problem and figure out why this is happening. In general, just be safe when walking in New York City, and if you see your dog acting weird take him straight to the vet, and if you feel a shock go straight to the ER.
              

3 comments:

  1. Hey Graham, where is your citation?? I would like to see the article where you got this news story from!

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  2. Graham...Great job here, You really showed passion about your subject and I get like I learned a lot. What an interesting and unique topic. Hopefully my dog never has to deal with these electric shocks...

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  3. Graham,

    After reading your review I could tell that you thoroughly studied the article. I enjoyed how you gave a concise summary, included interesting stories and tips as to how to stay away from being a victim of a sidewalk shock. I was taken by your enthusiasm about the topic as well as the details about the conductors, I thought that adding in the names of the different names of the conductors helped the reader figure out why these shocks were occurring. If I were to include something else into this review I would have gone into greater detail about why this is happening so frequently and whether or not these shocks can be prevented in the future. Overall, great job analyzing the article, I really enjoyed learning about the shocks happening so close to home!

    -Jillian

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