Dwindling Species Due to Melting Sea Ice

Dwindling Species Due to Melting Sea Ice

“The polar bear is the best-known victim of rapid melting in the Arctic, but if we don't slash greenhouse pollution, many more creatures will follow it down the path to extinction,” says Shaye Wolf in her report, “Extinction: It’s Not Just the Polar Bears.” There has been a great deal of emphasis on the state of polar bears as the ice in the arctic is melting at an increasing rate, but there are many other species which are also affected by this issue and in great danger. I will compare this primary source to the Environment News Service’s (ENS) article about Wolf’s findings.

It is important to remember that each form of media is designed for a specific audience. In today’s society the general public would not have the time or patience to read Wolf’s 41 page report of the dwindling state of Arctic animals. The ENS article about Wolf’s research was both informant and brief, an ideal example of relaying important information to the average reader. In the process of simplifying the original material it is only reasonable that a great amount of information was left out of the secondary source. In this assignment I will draw attention to some of Wolf’s essential data that was left out of the ENS article.

While Arctic Warms, Sea Ice Shrinks, Extinction Risk Grows did in fact take the time to recognize all of the 17 endangered species that Wolf reported on, only about 6 of them were brought to light in this secondary source. This is perfectly understandable, because to the average reader there is little difference between the effects of climate change on a narwhal, bowhead, beluga or grey whale. It just isn’t necessary to delegate precious space to something like that.

Wolf’s paper has plenty of useful values to represent the diminishing state of sea ice, but instead the ENS chose to use data from other sources like the University of Boulder Colorado and NASA. Some very shocking figures that were not included in the secondary source were that in the year 2000 the sea ice has already reached a low that was not expected until 2050. It is now predicted that the sea ice could potentially disappear completely in the summer of 2030, or even before. I think that easily recognizable and immediate effects like this would have a real impact on readers, so I am surprised that it was not included in the article.

Instead of going into too much too many dry details about statistic and such, the ENS article focuses more on the sympathy card. By using animals like majestic whales and adorable seals, the reader is more inclined to feel some sort of connection or compassion for the material being displayed. Wolf’s work also showed great attention to the creatures, but it is nice to see that the secondary source wasn’t overtaken by pure facts and figures.

The image provided is a satellite photo courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. The image demonstrates the summer sea ice minimum in 1979 (top) and 2007 (bottom). It is easy to detect the incredible difference in only a 28 year span, especially considering the enormous size of our planet.

The Pacific walrus received special attention in this article as, like the polar bear, there has been a recent buzz of media around the increasing number of walrus being forced ashore in Chukchi, Alaska. The number of walruses has reached 20,000, which is significant because the as the shore line is becomes more and more crowded, more calves are being trampled as stampedes of spooked walruses retreat to the ocean.

The ENS quoted Wolf saying, “Early sea-ice breakup prematurely separates ringed and harp seal mothers from their pups before the pups are big enough to survive,” but failed to provide any sort of reason to the readers. The primary source goes into further detail, explaining that the snow-drift-caves pups are usually reared in are melting, and exposing the young to hypothermia and predators. Another important fact that the secondary source confused was about the fragile state of plankton. ENS commented, “‘It could become lethal to the most sensitive shell-builders by 2050, threatening the marine ecosystem with collapse," the groups state in their report.” This was referred to but never stated.

As a whole, I found that my secondary source was a wonderful depiction of Shaye Wolf and her team’s original research paper, in both relaying information and emotion to the general audience. There was no information that was severely misconstrued and the overall concept was covered very successfully.

References:
Wolf, Shaye. "Extinction: It's Not Just for Polar Bears." (2010): Web. 23 Sep 2010.

Environment News Service, . "Arctic Warms, Sea Ice Shrinks, Extinction Risk Grows." (2010): n. pag. Web. 23 Sep 2010. .

Kacie Weber

ENVS 1020

Blog #1