Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Our Oceans Need Us

In an article in the Atlantic entitled, "Why the EPA doesn't Regulate Ocean Acidification," the author discusses the severe threat of ocean acidification on marine life especially those with calcium carbonate shells. Our zooplankton, corals, and clams that form the basis of the food chain are in jeopardy due high levels of carbon dioxide in our oceans. As a society, we tend to focus on global warming and the greenhouse gases but fail to remember that are our oceans' are hurting too. The EPA has failed to regulate ocean acidification or even list carbon dioxide as an extreme water pollutant. Non profits including the Center for Biological Diversity have sued the EPA to get them to take action on the issue. Ocean Acidification has only recently been coined and most of the research is very recent only beginning to understand the true effect on our oceans. One of the most common ways to access ocean acidification is through pH. Since the EPA doesn't have a good baseline for assessing any change, this has become problematic. 

The author of this article, Robin Meyer, works for the Atlantic where he covers issues relating to technology. He is also a climate writer and through his twitter account, provides interesting images and statistics on the issue of climate change. Climate change is a topic he is knowledgable and passionate about. Recently the author Robin @yayitsrob tweeted, "really remarkable how much warmer 2016 is," showing a moving image of the temperature increasing annually since the early 1960s. This article was written from his perspective as a concerned citizen on the issue of climate change. Since the author does not have the identity of being a scientist, he tends to leave out explaining exactly what ocean acidification is. The common reader may not understand what he is referring to if they don't have the proper background. He is great at providing statistics and explaining policy and research done. By just reading this article, you may understand how the issue is not being addressed but may fail to understand exactly what ocean acidification is. Understanding the background of the writer may provide great insight into what can be gained from reading an article.

1 comment:

  1. This is an awesome review of a really interesting article. Very thoughtful comments about the author's perspective! I think the EPA now sees CO2 as an air pollutant, but it's really intersting to think about it as a water pollutant too. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete