Earth Science 10H Current Event #1
Citation:
Gorman, James. "For Polar Bears, a Climate Change Twist." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2014
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/science/for-polar-bears-a-climate-change- twist.html?ref=science>.
For Polar Bears, a Climate Change Twist
In this article, by James Gorman, from the New York Times they discuss the affects of global warming in the Western Hudson Bay. The climate change causes complications for many animals but a huge icon for the danger of global warming is the polar bears. The polar bears usually eat seals but with the ice melting so much earlier, seal hunting has become progressively harder for the bears. The bears were desperate to find a new meal to eat during the warm seasons. Since, the ice was melting so much earlier, the bears conveniently arrived on the Western Hudson Bay at the same time as snow geese breading season. Although, geese eggs are not healthy for the bears to eat, the bears eat almost 1,200 eggs in four days, which is the equivalent to 247,500 calories. The geese have almost tripled the size of their population, and even with the bears feasting on their eggs, they have not been able to make a dent in the geese population. Although the geese are helping the polar bears by providing a abundant food supply, they are causing severe damage to the land. They have turned large areas of tundras into muddy swamps. We can't forget that the geese also need to eat. They eat the tops of the plants, pulling them out completely from their roots. Scientist Dr. Rockwell, who has been coming to the Western Hudson Bay for years says that it is almost unrecognizable from when he first started coming there.
Climate change is not only affecting the Western Hudson Bay. Global warming has affected the ocean vastly. It has caused the ocean level to rise due to thermal expansion. It has also caused the surface of the ocean to rise in temperature. Dr. Rockwell did not want us to think that just because the polar bears found a steady food source that they will be okay. The polar bears still are not used to living in the warm climate and the geese eggs are extremely unhealthy for the bears. They are unfortunately still at a huge risk from global warming, as well the rest of the Earth.
This article was very interesting to me. It helped me to learn a lot about climate change and the way it is affecting not only the animals, but also the land The article was a very easy read, but it was very lengthy and I did not think the last category about the tangled tundra was needed. I do not think it added anything to the article. But, overall I found this article fascinating and I enjoyed reading it.
This was a well-written review by Abby on the how climate change affects animals and the land all over our planet. One component that was well-done was her description of the effect climate change had on polar bears, stating how their diets were forced to be changed because of the premature ice melting. A second aspect I enjoyed was how she talked about how climate change is happening all over the planet and the effects of it. A last element I thought she did a good job on was critiquing the author, stating that he was informative on climate change but added an unnecessary section. One part that could be improved is I thought she could have added a direct quote from Dr. Rockwell's observations in Western Hudson Bay to give the reader a better understanding of the area and problem. Also, I thought Abby could have gave some background on climate change and global warming, and some of the theories surrounding the topics. The most impressive part of this review was the fact that in four days the bears ate 1,200 eggs, which is 247,500 calories! That shows how important a diet is to the life of polar bear, because they eat so much.
ReplyDeleteAbby’s review of “For Polar Bears, A Climate Change Twist” was very insightful. It was interesting to me that the polar bears in the Western Hudson Bay have begun to eat snow goose eggs instead of seals because seals have become so much harder to hunt. It was also interesting that the polar bears are eating the eggs even though they are bad for the bears, which shows how climate change has really pushed certain species, like the polar bear, to their limits. I also learned that the snow geese have begun to destroy the tundra of the Western Hudson Bay by pulling out the plants and turning the land into a muddy swamp. I though that Abby did a great job of explaining the relationship between climate change, the polar bears, and the snow geese, advancing the idea onto a global scale by talking about how climate change affects other parts of the world. She also summarized the article very thoroughly and gave the reader a good idea of what the article was about. One thing that Abby could add is why the eggs are so unhealthy for the bears to eat and how this change in diet is affecting them. Overall, I found Abby’s review very insightful and made me more aware of the issues we face in regard to global climate change.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I hear a lot about global warming and the effects it is having on the world and polar bears, I was never aware of this problem. Abby did a really good job of concluding the main points of the article and explaining how global warming is not just affecting the polar bears, but also the land. I thought she did a good job of getting the point across that there are multiple problems being caused from global warming. Another aspect of her current event she did really well in was her critic of the author. She went in depth with what she had problems with and they seemed to be important aspects that have a great impact on the article.
ReplyDeleteI found her writing to be very strong and a message got through to me. If she were to make any changes in her writing to make it even better, I would say to make the connection to our life more meaningful. It would have been interesting to see how the polar bears would be doing without this source of food. Abby also talks about how polar bears are eating geese eggs and this is not affecting the population of geese because there is such a large population. I wondered how many polar bears would have died if the eggs were not available and if the polar bears stopped eating the eggs the problems would not be as bad. Is it better to save more polar bears or save the land? What would change if polar bears don’t eat the eggs?
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting; I liked learning about global warming and its effects although it is unsettling. I learned the affects of climate change on polar bears, and how their diets are changing. This article made me understand how much of an impact global warming has on so many aspects of one species. Global warming isn’t just going to affect the polar bears and the ice caps. Global warming is going to change how the whole world works. This idea was recognized when Abby pointed out how because if the increase in population of geese, areas of Tundras have turned to swamps. I also learned how because of the warming climates the polar bears begin looking for new food because seals are harded to hunt. The polar bears started eating geese eggs, which creates an unhealthy diet.
Abby did an excellent job summarizing the article, she was able to take the key points of the article and condense it. Her summary flowed and she used examples from the text, which was helpful to the reader. The summary was very easy to understand and was very focused.
The review was great but I would like to see more of a connection to how climate change affects earth as a whole, since it’s a big issue. Overall the review was great and it taught me a lot about climate change. A few questions this article presented me with are: How is the polar bears new diet going to effect the population as a whole? Will it have an impact?
I thought Abby did a great job summarizing this article. I learned many new things. For example, I had no idea that the polar bears diets were changing. I also learned about how unhealthy the geese eggs are for the polar bears. Lastly, I learned about how the geese are effecting the land. I thought abby did a great job with summarizing her article.
ReplyDeleteI thought abby had a very good summary. It was not only understandable for the reader, but it was also very interesting. I also think Abby did a great job of critiquing the author. You could really tell Abby understood what was happening in the article, and she knew exactly what she thought needed to be fixed.
One thing I think Abby could have done to make this review even stronger is like Kate said, to give a bit more of a connection on how climate change affects the whole earth. One question that still remains for me is, will the population of these geese the polar bears are eating ever die? And if so what will the polar bears do next?