The article in National Geographic Magazine was entitled “Ocean Acidification”. It was written by Elizabeth Kolbert and the photographs were taken by David Liittschwager. The article discusses the acidity of the sea and how carbon dioxide and harmful greenhouse gases are seeping into the ocean and affecting life in the water. The study takes place in two locations, the first is in Castello Aragones, which is west of Naples, and the second location is in Australia, by the sea in the Great Barrier Reef of Queensland.
The article first explains why the locations were chosen and what was happening to the marine life because of the CO2 emissions. The sea which surrounds the little island of Castello Aragones can help scientists see what the ocean will look like in the year 2050 (Kolbert). This is because of the carbon dioxide coming from volcanic vents on the seafloor near the island. These vents produce carbonic acid, which can make seawater corrosive in large doses. Researchers have been studying this area, tracking the sea creatures who live there, and those who dissolve due to the acidity of the water. Signs of acidity showed just a bit off the coast of the island cliffs where sea barnacles could not be found. Anywhere else, you could see these tough barnacles hanging around near the water’s edge. The article provides an insight of what happens when the PH balance of the ocean becomes imbalanced. This was done with a study on coral that has been in operation for years located near the Great Barrier Reef. Researchers have been looking into the reproduction of sea coral and how carbon emissions are affecting them. Sea coral are very important since they provide homes for millions of different species. The article also gives some insight on how humans are contributing to this change in pH balance (Kolbert). Since the start of the industrial revolution, we have been contributing to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. After analyzing tens of thousands of sea water samples, scientists have found that the ocean is absorbing about thirty percent of the carbon dioxide produced by humans. Although the paper shows how the ocean’s acidification affects sea mollusks and coral, it gives a preview of how this can affect more complex marine organisms. The writer gives readers a bit of a glimpse of what could happen in forty or fifty years if the acidity of the ocean keeps rising.
National Geographic Magazine has been around for since 1888, nine months after the National Geographic Society was founded. It used to contain mostly articles about geography, world culture and history. However, now the magazine ventures into other topics, too. It is well known for its use of dramatic photographs as well as activist views on the environment. The magazine has an international circulation of over eight hundred thousand copies internationally, while it is based in the United States. It also comes in a variety of other languages to suit different countries where it is distributed. They release a new issue each month. The National Geographic Magazine is one of the most reliable sources when it comes to biology and the environment. The Magazine has won three National Magazine awards and it has also won The American Society of Magazine editors. Just in the year 2011, the magazine was available worldwide.
Although the piece was wonderfully written, it had a few flaws. One was that for people who are not too interested about the ocean, it is not a great read. The article had a lot of facts that were mixed in. Of course, these facts are to help readers understand the gravity of the situation and to show why the information being written is relevant. However, to those who are merely reading the article, one could easily just skim through the important parts and miss a lot of information, just because the content written is not very interesting. A lot of technical terms are also used in this piece which are not explained thoroughly. For someone who is not interested in a study like this, it would be very difficult to read.
Another problem with the study is that the author seemed to jump from one place to another. It is a very long piece and it is not fragmented in a way that a reader can easily skim through and find bits of information that they want to read about. It is one big piece of writing that does not have sections. The writer goes from one place to another without much of a transition. This can be quite confusing at times, and the reader will have to go back and forth, trying to figure out what happened in between, or to better understand the next sentence.
This article is relevant because it brings light to one of the main issues we face today, which is climate change. Kolbert is an expert on the topic, and she has studied global warming and climate change extensively. She aims to bring awareness on the topic and help people understand why sustainable living or the reduction of carbon footprints is very important. There was also a lot of research done for the article. Kolbert interviewed a lot of people for her work, and she stayed with them in their place of research. This helped her get a better idea of what they were trying to achieve in their study and why it is relevant to humans. One of the biggest factors of climate change is human activity, this is often referred to as “global warming”. Scientists actively try to understand these changes in weather patterns by observing the climate and recording events that have happened to the earth in the past. Climate change is currently the biggest threat to human development. This is because the threat of climate change hinders the potential of humans and limits expansion. The early warning signs of climate change are already visible, even though they are non-apocalyptic. Today, with the earthquakes, storms and strange weather occurring all over the world, we could be witnessing one of the major onsets of the reversal of human development.
Tackling climate change should be one of the priorities of every country. However, not all countries are able to battle this issue. Developing countries suffer the most from climate change. Studies show that fighting climate change is all about a game of attitude (Giddens, 2009). If more countries and cities stressed on the importance of the reduction of greenhouse gases, more citizens would become aware of their emissions. In a new report, if there are fines from the local government for contributing to climate change, more people would start to want to live sustainable lives. This article should be an eye-opener. When people think about climate change, they only think about how humans are affected. This article shows that humans, marine life and everything on earth is suffering because of carbon dioxide emissions.
Works Cited
Kolbert, Elizabeth. “Ocean Acidification”. National Geographic Magazine. April 2011. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/04/ocean-acidification/kolbert-text/3
