Lock McKelvy 10/18/15
Earth Science Current Events
Richtel, Matt. "A Culture of Nagging Helps California Save Water." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
“A Culture of Nagging Helps California Save Water” by Matt Richtel is about how citizens help make the California drought better. Matt Richtel describes the horrific struggle of the deep Californian drought and what families are going through. Richtel tells of how neighbors and families are trying to decrease each other's water usage in any way they can. People are monitoring their shower times, lawn watering, flushing the toilet and leaving the sink running while brushing their teeth. With things that seem normal here in New York people in California cannot do. San Francisco resident Robin Wolaner was criticized for shaving her legs with the water running. She would say that shaving without water is “uncivilized” however, many would disagree with her, even friends and family. This watching of water usage may be good for the environment, but some sources say that it turns people against each other. Even though it may cause some arguments, many people agree the environment should be the number one objective. Even though this is not the first of California’s droughts, this is one of their most serious droughts in recent history. Some scientists say California has been in a drought since the year 2,000. Even though people are making a difference, citizens are only using about 20% of the water. Agriculture is responsible more the majority of the water usage and, most likely, legislation will be the only thing able to change how much water is used by the wineries and the farms. I hope, as do many people, that the Californian drought will end soon. This seems rather likely because of El Nino. El Nino brings warmer water in the Pacific Ocean, causing higher amounts of rain. It will be very interesting to see if El Nino can fix California, but if it doesn’t there is little hope for the fixing of California’s drought.
This article has an enormous effect on society. This article raises awareness for the already well-known Californian drought. Richtel tells the stories of the struggles of the people in California, creating a personal experience from the readers to the people who are living through the drought. This article tells of how people in different parts of the country are trying to impose the view of saving water. The article shows how people everywhere can try and should try to preserve water whether they live in California, or a rainforest in Northern Washington.
This article was a pleasure to read, being neither too lengthy or too short. Mr. Richtel does a great job of intertwining quotes into his paragraphs, building on his past examples. Even though I liked this article, it was not perfect. It got to a point where it seemed as if there were too many quotes and too many different stories to actually make sense. Even though there were too many examples, the use of a person from outside of California was good in which it showed that Californians aren’t the only people that are cutting down on water usage. There wasn’t hard factual evidence to support his claims, making them seem weak. Even though some evidence was weak, this article was still high quality.
Lock, you did a great job on this current events report. Your report was on a topic that affects many people and was interesting. It was interesting how much water the residents use compared to the wineries and farms and that the residents, not the farms, are trying to conserve water by doing small things not keeping the water running when washing your hands. Like you, I am interested in if El Nino can help with the drought and what Californians will do if it doesn’t. I think that you had a very good summary that included just the right amount of details. I also think your transitions between thoughts was good and you backed up your thoughts with information from the article.
ReplyDeleteOne thing you could have done to improve your report was where you said, “Some scientists say California has been in a drought since the year 2,000.” I think you could have provided more information on why the scientists thought this. I think that you did a nice job trying make a connection between not only the people of California, but also those of other states around the nation. Over all, it was a well written report. Nice job Lock!
Lock, there a lot of impressive things about this current event report. I was impressed at how you gave us such a large chunk of information in the beginning of the report. I think putting everything out of the table showed how trustworthy your writing is, and how well you know what you are talking about. Second, you did a fabulous job of analysis your content. It is important to criticize, which you did. Many people forget to give reason when doing this, which you did not. You gave reasoning for all of your opinions and arguments. Last, I liked how you compared the different residents' opinions on the topic, showing all sides of the story.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect of the review I really liked was how you did not let the article stop you. What I mean is you seemed to have some minor issues with the article you picked. Despite that, you seemed to do really well using the facts you liked and analysis what was wrong with it overall. Also, you used really nice and clear transitions, flowing you from one idea to the next.
I am extremely intrigued to know where else but California this may be going on in the world, and how they are dealing with it. Overall you did a very good job on your first current events report!