Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification is a recently confirmed up-and-coming problem that is linked to global climate change. Sometimes referred to as "the other carbon problem," ocean acidification results from the ocean acting as a chemical sink for CO2 in the atmosphere. When the CO2 dissolves into the water, it undergoes a chemical reaction and becomes carbonic acid, and this is argued to be detrimental for any and all organisms in the ocean that create shells or skeletons out of calcium carbonate. Similarly to the increase in carbon in the atmosphere over the past several decades, there has been an increase in carbon in the ocean as well, and the imminent problem acidification poses is the threat of collapsing food chains and ecosystems as corals and other base organisms fail to thrive in an altered environment.

The following articles are examined for their viewpoints on the issue of ocean acidification. Types of media included range from videos, to news articles, to fact sheets and brochures, and are evaluated for scientific balance and logical reasoning.

Monday, July 4, 2011

"Oceans at Dire Risk, Team of Scientists Warns"

A New York Times article.

This article essentially summarizes the findings discussed in one document, and does not really take a critical viewpoint of climate change or ocean acidification. The language of the article is neutral, simply relaying quotes and statements by others to create a snapshot of what this document (the International Earth system expert workshop on ocean stresses and impacts Summary Report) is about and what people are saying about it. There is no scientific background information to the story, but conclusions about implications for people and for the future are given - in the from of opinions by experts. There is a link to the document in the first sentence of the article, but no other references are alluded to.

I find this to be a balanced summary of the document in question, however, as a stand alone article it is not scientifically balanced. The article goes through different points of the document fairly evenly and gathers opinions from several different experts, but does not branch out from the contents of the document, and does not offer additional information to supplement understanding of the material. As it is written, the article shows one dimension of the problem without imparting a full understanding of the issue to the reader.


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