Annotated Bibliography - Research Project

Working Thesis:
Although most people do not know what calcifying marine organisms are or how they are being adversely affected by ocean acidification, it is a problem that will affect the global community as a whole because these organisms directly impact the commercial fishing industry, because some calcifying marine organisms help to regulate the temperature of the earth, and because they help to create one of the most bio-diverse habitats within the ocean.


Annotated Bibliography:

National Center For Atmospheric Research (2006, July 5). Report Warns About Carbon Dioxide Threats To Marine Life. Science Daily. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060705083057.htm

Joan Kleypas, the lead author of the cited report as well as a scientist for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), reports about the effects of carbon dioxide on marine organisms. The report directly relates to the stated thesis topic and will give authoritative voice to the argument being presented. One of the points Kleypas (2006) brings up within the report is that “…cold-water reefs, which are extensive structures that provide habitat for many important fish species, particularly in the coastal waters of Alaska…” (National Center For Atmospheric Research, 2006) are one of the prime candidates for degradation resulting from increased carbon dioxide levels.

United States Geologic Survey (2007, January / February). Discovering the Effects of CO2 Levels on Marine Life and Global Climate. Sound Waves. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2007/01/

In the article entitled, “Discovering the Effects of CO2 Levels on Marine Life and Global Climate,” published in the monthly newsletter Sound Waves, by the United States Geologic Survey (USGS), author Kate Bradshaw describes some of the various experiments that are currently being conducted by different organizations including the USGS to study the topic of ocean acidification and increased carbon dioxide levels. The experiments are being conducted in various marine locations and are showing some very interesting results, including current “CO2 thresholds” and predicted “CO2 thresholds.” Bradshaw states that, “These thresholds are the amount of CO2 that needs to be present before the rates at which sediments are dissolving exceed the rates at which calcifying marine organisms produce the calcium carbonate needed to make shells or skeletons” (United States Geologic Survey, 2007).

Burns, W.C.G. (2008). Ocean Acidification: A Greater Threat than Global Warming and Overfishing? Terrain.org, 21. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www.terrain.org/articles/21/burns.htm

Dr. William C.G. Burns, co-chair of the American Society of International Law’s International Environmental Law Group and editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, writes in the article, “Ocean Acidification: A Greater Threat than Global Warming and Overfishing?” (Burns, 2008) about the overall problem of ocean acidification and puts some of the harder concepts into simpler terms that a more generalized audience can understand. The article should provide valuable information relating to the general topic of ocean acidification as well as make the more technical terms and concepts easier to relate to a general audience.

Halpern, B.S., Walbridge, S., Selkoe, K.A., Kappel, C.V., Micheli, F., D'Agrosa, C., Bruno, J.F., et. al. (2008). A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems [Electronic Version]. Science, 319(5865), 948-952.

On February 15, 2008 the journal Science released a collaborative report titled, “A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems.” The report is cited in many other sources and seems to have been highly anticipated as one of the more up to date and in-depth studies of the effects of human activity upon the marine environments of the earth. The report is quite technical and requires other less technical sources in order to clarify a lot of the technical scientific data presented, however it provides a very in-depth look at the impacts humans are having upon the oceans of the world; it provides directly related information to support the impacts of ocean acidification upon calcifying marine organisms.

Bibby, R., Cleall-Harding, P., Rundle, S., Widdicombe, S., & Spicer, J. (2007). Ocean acidification disrupts induced defences [sic] in the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea. Biology Letters, 3(6), 699-701. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from ASFA: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts database.

The article, “Ocean acidification disrupts induced defences [sic] in the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea,” is a report covering some of the less direct impacts of ocean acidification on calcifying marine organisms. It goes into detail describing some of the behavioral changes that have been viewed in lab tests of organisms that have been affected by ocean acidification, including, “…increasing their avoidance behaviour [sic], which, in turn, could affect their interactions with other organisms” (Bibby, R., Cleall-Harding, P., Rundle, S., Widdicombe, S., & Spicer, J., 2007).

Riebesell, U, Schulz, K.G., Bellerby, R.G.J., Botros, M., Fritsche, P., Meyerhoefer, M., et. al. (2007). Enhanced biological carbon consumption in a high CO sub(2) ocean. Nature, 450(7169), 545-548. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from ASFA: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts database.

The report addresses data collected from a case-study of plankton subjected to controlled acidification levels. The data obtained, combined with the data of several other reports already cited within this bibliography should help to draw a good hypothesis as to the impacts that carbon dioxide levels and ocean acidification will have upon the calcifying marine organisms of the world. This data combined with the overlying effects that a degradation in calcifying marine organism populations will have will constitute the body of the research paper that has been proposed.

Hoegh-Guldberg, O, Mumby, P.J., Hooten, A.J., Steneck, R.S., Greenfield, P., Gomez, E., et. al. (2007). Coral Reefs Under Rapid Climate Change and Ocean Acidification. Science (Washington), 318(5857), 1737-1742. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from Environmental Sciences and Pollution Mgmt database.

The report cited is a general assessment of the impacts that ocean acidification is having upon coral reef systems, as well as some projected impacts that will affect the overall population of coral reefs worldwide. The article does not seem to focus on the results of the fewer reefs, however it does address the fact that reefs are being affected and talks about how and why they are being affected. The information within this report should be combined with some information outlining the resulting effects of having less reefs within the oceans of the world in order to be used the best for the purposes of the proposed research paper.

Kroglund, F., Finstad, B., Stefanson, S.O., Nilsen, T.O., Kristensen, T., Rosseland, B.O., Teien, H.C., et. al. (2007). Exposure to moderate acid water and aluminum reduces Atlantic salmon post-smolt survival. Aquaculture, 273(2-3), 360-373. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from Environmental Sciences and Pollution Mgmt database.

This article published in Aquaculture is not directly related to calcifying marine organisms; however it is very interesting since it talks about the impact of ocean acidification upon the population of Atlantic salmon. The implications of the information given in this article could have direct results on Alaska and since that is the geographic region where this research paper will be published there is the possibility of using a bit of the information contained within this article as a side-bar to the main topic of ocean acidification and calcifying marine organisms which will be the main emphasis of the proposed research paper.

Persselin, S. (2007). Kodiak Laboratory: Shellfish Assessment Program. National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administration - Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Retrieved 25 February, 2008, from http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/Quarterly/amj2007/divrptsRACE10.htm

The article, “Kodiak Laboratory: Shellfish Assessment Program” addresses some very valuable information for the purpose of the proposed research paper; it addresses the impact of ocean acidification upon different species of marine life that are important to the commercial fishing industry. These findings include the fact that, although little research has been done on the effects of ocean acidification on King Crabs, it will affect, “commercially valuable king and snow crabs” (Persselin, 2007). This article will prove very valuable in linking several points within the research project and to show that the effects of ocean acidification will in fact impact the commercial fishing industry in a negative way.

Bettwy, M. (2005). NASA Satellite Data Capture a Big Climate Effect on Tiny Ocean Life. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2005/plankton_elnino.html

This article talks about the effects of ocean acidification on marine phytoplankton, a calcifying marine organism, which in effect creates a nasty cycle. Phytoplankton is responsible for absorbing, “…half of the carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, absorbed annually from the atmosphere by plants” (Bettwy, 2005), according to the article, and it so happens that an overabundance of carbon dioxide in the oceans waters is what is causing ocean acidification, which in effect is having negative impacts on the phytoplankton itself, therefore causing a bad cycle of events. If the phytoplankton in the oceans is reduced then there will be less carbon dioxide absorbed by the oceans safely, thus increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, in effect causing the earths temperature to rise dramatically.

Maoz, F., & Tchernov, D. (2007). Scleractinian Coral Species Survive and Recover from Decalcification. Science (Washington), 315(5820), 30. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from Oceanic Abstracts database.

This article provides information contrary to the belief that coral reefs will undergo damage that will be irrepairable; instead this article provide data that supports the claim that coral reefs will be able to function and reproduce without the calcifying shells that normally support them. Maoz and Tchernov believe that coral reefs will eventually fully recover from the effects of ocean acidification once the ocean ph levels once again return to normal. This information may prove valuable in helping to establish a counter-argument to the main topic of the research paper being proposed.

Murray, J., Wheeler, A.J., & Freiwald, A. (2006). Reefs of the deep: the biology and geology of cold-water coral ecosystems. Science (New York, N.Y.), 312(5773), 543-547. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from MEDLINE database.

This article is a look at the fact that coral reefs are widely viewed as a warm water marine organism, however deep water exploration has shown that coral reefs are much more widespread than once believed. They have been found within the deep ocean, as well as within the cold-water regions of the ocean. The article also explains some of the reasons that coral reefs are important as an incredibly diverse marine habitat which is being threatened by ocean acidification.

Dybas, C.L. (2006). On a collision course: ocean plankton and climate change. BioScience, 56(8), 642-646. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from CAB Direct database (20063146679).

This article talks about plankton and the effects that a warming climate is having on it. It also relates this to ocean acidification and the implications that it has on the climate as a whole; “…the long-term survival of many marine species” (Dybas, 2006), according to the article. This article relates directly to the northern climates and the effects of ocean acidification and a warming climate upon the oceans of the Northern latitudes.

House, K.Z., House, C.H., Schrag, D.P., & Aziz, M.J. (2007). Electrochemical acceleration of chemical weathering as an energetically feasible approach to mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Environmental Science & Technology, 41(24), 8464-8470. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from CAB Direct database (20083033479).

This article, other than being quite technical, seems to be one of only a few that addresses any form of solving the problem of ocean acidification, other than the most apparent solution that is, which would be to emit less carbon dioxide into the air. None the less, this article addresses a possible mitigation to ocean acidification using an electrochemical process. It is very interesting and can possibly be used within the proposed research paper as a sort of alternative solution to the given problem of ocean acidification.

Gattuso, J.P. (2008). Ocean Acidification. Retrieved 25 February 25, 2008, from http://oceanacidification.wordpress.com/

Senior research scientist Jean-Pierre Gattuso of the University of Paris, France discusses a multitude of points associated with ocean acidification on his weblog, “Ocean Accidification.” This seems to be a very valuable resource in finding up to date information about the ongoing issue of ocean acidification and its effects upon the oceans and marine organisms of the world.

"Logical Fallacies" - An In-Depth Look at the "Red Herring" (Week 5)

Logical fallacies come in many forms, each having its own name and certain parameters that each type fits into. According to the article, “Logical Fallacies and the Art of Debate,” one type of logical fallacy is called a red herring. A red herring occurs when the speaker or an author argues a point by, “…introducing irrelevant facts or arguments to distract from the question at hand” (Whitman, 2001). An example of this type of logical fallacy would be if an author was writing a paper arguing for the legalization of marijuana and within the argument they wrote, “Marijuana is grown naturally all over the country, therefore it should be legalized.” This fact alone is in no way providing any sort of evidence that marijuana should be legalized; it is instead just being used to distract the reader with a fact that does not support the argument.
The author of this blog was recently found guilty of using a logical fallacy in the rough draft of their Position Essay. The essay was about the effects of accelerated glacier recession upon the global community of the earth, and toward the end of the essay the author dedicated a paragraph to pointing out the opposition’s point of view. However, when the author did this they inadvertently used a red herring by talking not about the people that do not believe that the effects of accelerated glacial recession is an important issue, but instead by talking about the people that believe glacial recession is just a natural cycle of the world, and that accelerated glacial recession is not real. For this particular paper, and for the argument that was set forth by the author, whether or not glacial recession is being accelerated by man or is just a natural occurrence was not the issue being argued, it was the importance of the effects that this accelerated glacial recession will have upon the earth and its people that was being argued; therefore the author inadvertently committed the sin of logical fallacy. This fallacy was pointed out during a very good peer workshop by Xia Baker, which can be found on her blog, Xia’s English 213 Blog. After realizing the mistake that had been made, the author revised the paper during the final draft so that the opposition’s point of view was stated in reference to the argument given in the thesis of the paper.

Whitman, G. (2001). "Logical Fallacies and the Art of Debate." Debate. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html.

Baker, X. (2008). "Work shop: Position Essay (Comments for Cary English)." Xia's English 213 Blog. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://xia-xia08.blogspot.com/.

"Bigfoot" - A review (Reading Assignment, Week 5)

In the article, “Bigfoot,” written by Michael Specter, the main idea of the article is easy to understand; however the actual thesis statement is a bit hard to identify within the body of the text. The overriding theme of the article is an informative piece about carbon emissions and what some of the possible solutions to the growing carbon emissions issue may be. It covers a lot of information, including some causes of carbon emissions and some of the long-term effects of these emissions upon the environment as well as some effects upon the global economic community. The thesis does not seem to be clearly stated until the beginning of the fifth paragraph; it is here that Specter (2008) states, “Possessing an excessive carbon footprint is rapidly becoming the modern equivalent of wearing a scarlet letter. Because neither the goals nor acceptable emissions limits are clear, however, morality is often mistaken for science” (Specter, 2008). This thesis seems to allow Specter to explore the large scope of topics all relating to carbon emissions that the article addresses while still staying within the focus of the thesis statement.

The question posed by Professor Sullivan, “What differentiates this essay from what a newspaper account of the honeybee situation would say?” seems to be out of context when thinking about the topic of carbon emissions, which was the main idea of the article “Bigfoot,” published in The New Yorker. According to Save the Honeybee a webpage helping to, “…elevate public awareness of the catastrophic decline of the world wide bee populations…” (Reich & Yavne, n.s.) the concept of both articles would be completely different. The newspaper article detailing “the honeybee situation” would inevitably provide many details about the “…catastrophic decline of the world wide bee populations…” (Reich & Yavne, n.d, “Save the Honeybee”) however it would seem that there would be very little talk of carbon emissions.

In the article “Bigfoot,” there are many sources quoted while addressing the topic of carbon emissions. One of the sources quoted was New Science, in which Specter addresses some research showing a link between obesity and carbon emissions; this research is shown on the New Scientist Environment Blog. Another piece of information that was borrowed in Specter’s article was the idea of a “100-Mile Diet,” this is in fact true, and information pertaining to the idea can be found on the webpage 100 Mile Diet: Local Eating for Global Change. A third piece of information that was used within Specter’s article was the idea of Issac Berzin, who is reportedly planning to “…put an algae farm next to a power plant….throw some algae in and it becomes a super photosynthesis machine and sucks the carbon dioxide out of the air like a sponge” (Specter, 2008); this was confirmed with a USA Today article that details Berzin’s aspirations to, “…turn the nation's greenhouse-gas-belching power plants into clean-green generators with an attached algae farm next door” (Clayton, 2006).

Overall Michael Specter’s article, “Bigfoot,” was very informative and well written; it offered technical data without overwhelming the reader with too much information. The article addressed a topic that is very much in the forefront of the world’s current state and it addressed the topic in a way that gave information to the reader in many aspects of the issue and created a very well-rounded base for the previously uninformed reader about the topic of carbon emissions.


Specter, M. (2008). Big Foot. The New Yorker, February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/02/25/080225fa_fact_specter?printable=true


Reich, B., & Yavne, E. (n.d.). Save the Honeybee. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://save-the-honeybee.org/index.html



Cited Sources from the article, “Bigfoot,” by Michael Specter:

Carrington, D. (2006). Carbon sequestration in obese humans. New Scientist Environment Blog. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2006/12/carbon-sequestration-in-obese-humans.html


100 Mile Diet: Local Eating for Global Change. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://100milediet.org/


Clayton, M. (2006). Algae – Like a breath mint for smokestacks. USA Today, January 10, 2006. Retrieved February 25, 2008 from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-01-10-algae-powerplants_x.htm

"Where Does My Food Travel" - Week 4

Quaker oatmeal
Tomato Soup
Saltine Crackers
California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza

Today started out with a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal, which to the best of my knowledge is made in Chicago, Illinois. From there I imagine that it is either trucked or ferried to Alaska, however I could not find out which line of transportation the company uses. It seems that most freight comes to Alaska by boat into ports in Valdez and Whittier though as it makes it’s way from the Lower Forty-Eight to Alaska. It is then trucked up to Anchorage and on to Fairbanks. The Campbell’s Tomato Soup I could not find out where it is manufactured and canned, however I imagine that it once again travels the long transportation line from truck, to ship, to truck, to the store, and finally to the lunch bowl. The Saltine Crackers were very hard to track down. Wikipedia states that Saltine was originally trademarked by Nabisco Corporation but lost the trademark when the word saltine started being used as a generic term to refer to crackers. This makes it hard for me to know which type of saltine cracker was actually eaten today with the tomato soup I had for lunch.

On the other hand, the California Pizza Kitchen Barbecue Chicken Pizza that I had for dinner was very interesting to research. According to Wikipedia it seems that California Pizza Kitchen is actually an offshoot of, “…Wolfgang Pucks Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills…” Due to the fact that it seems to be made and packaged in California it seems the strongest possibility that California Pizza Kitchen pizzas that are store-bought probably arrive in Alaska by boat, and are then trucked up to Fairbanks via Anchorage.

This was a rather interesting investigation just in the fact that most of the time one stays mostly oblivious to the actual background information about the food that is eaten on a day to day basis. However, if one chooses to research the food there is quite a bit of information available on the internet about the various foods that are commonly bought and eaten.

“Saltine Cracker.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 5 Feb. 2008. 19 Feb. 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltine

“California Pizza Kitchen.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 Sep. 2007. 19 Feb. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Pizza_Kitchen

"100 Proof" - Week 4 Proofreading

The podcast titled "100 Proof," from the Grammar Girl website seems quite informal, yet at the same time was a quite informative. While listening and reading the podcast it was nice to hear that everyone seems to have the same troubles trying to proofread papers that they have written themselves. The anecdote given in the podcast about the Band of Kazakh was a fairly extreme example of the fact that as a whole, people do not do very good proofreading of things that they have written themselves.

The fact is that just as Grammar Girl spoke about in the podcast, humans are not perfect, and there will always be human error. However, after taking into consideration the fact that there will be some amount of human error within everything someone does, it also falls upon one's shoulders to try and eliminate as much of that error as possible. The tips given toward the end of the podcast actually seem to be quite good. After reading the tip about reading something that one has written from back to front, one sentence at a time, I did just that with fairly good results. After reading a blog entry from back to front I noticed a grammar error that I had not detected before then, as well as a few sentences that needed a little restructuring.

All in all I would say that the tips given were very helpful and I would recommend the podcast to anyone. This was the first time that I have heard or read any of the Grammar Girl tips and it seems like a very good resource for those that are either learning to write, or for anyone that is interested in learning to write better.

“100 Proof.” Grammar Girl. 20 Oct. 2006. 19 Feb. 2008.
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/proofreading.aspx

Catchy Lead Sentence From Grist.org - Week 4 Reading Assignment #4

"Human activity has tainted all but 3.7 percent of the world's oceans, and 41 percent of the world's waters have been heavily impacted, says a new study in Science."

This is the lead sentence in the article, "Assail the Seven Seas," posted on grist.org. The lead sentence technique that is being used would best be defined by the quotation. It works well because of the shocking information that it presents, and the quote causes the reader to want to read on and find out more about the topic.


"Assail the Seven Seas." Grist. 15 Feb. 2008. 19 Feb. 2008.
http://www.grist.org/news/2008/02/15/ocean/index.html

A Melting World: Effects of Accelerated Glacial Recession (Essay #1: Position - Final Draft)

Torrents of water rushing down from once benign mountain lakes are killing thousands of people, coastal villages are being destroyed, and water supplies are being severely threatened by one of the newest natural killers in the world. What is this killer and is this reality or fiction? Glacial melting is the killer in question and currently this statement is fictional, however there is good reason to believe that this fictional statement is about to become a reality. Although many people believe that accelerated glacial recession is not a concern, it is a major problem because it has the potential to create catastrophic flooding, it is a cause of dramatic climate change, and because much of the world’s fresh water supply is held within the glaciers of the earth.

In order for one to understand the concept of accelerated glacial recession those interested should have a basic understanding of glaciers and what the term means when being used within the context of this paper. According to McGeary, Plummer, and Carlson the definition of the word glacier is, “A large, long-lasting mass of ice, formed on land by the compaction and recrystallization of snow, which moves because of its own weight” (556). At the same time McGeary, Plummer, and Carlson define the word ice cap as, “A glacier covering a relatively small area of land but not restricted to a valley” (558), and once again they define an ice sheet as, “…a mass of ice that is not restricted to a valley but covers a large area of land (over 50,000 square kilometers)” (472). For the purposes of this paper the term glacier will be used to represent any mass of ice which was formed through the process of recrystallization; therefore the term glacier will be used to represent valley glaciers, ice sheets, and ice caps, unless otherwise noted. The process of recrystallization as stated is a fairly simple concept. In its most basic form recrystallization in the context of glaciers can be described as snow falling in an area where due to one climate variable or another, the snow does not completely melt away before more snow falls on top of the older snow. This process continues over a period of many years and eventually the snow layers that have been buried beneath the newer layers start to bond together, eventually creating what is called glacier ice.

The basic geography of a glacier consists of three parts; there is the accumulation zone, which in relative terms usually occupies the higher elevations of a glacier. It is in this zone that more snow falls annually then actually melts away, in turn causing a glacier to grow, or to recede if that snowfall starts to lessen and not enough snow is leftover to grow new ice. The second geographic area of a glacier is the ablation zone, this area is generally lower in elevation than the accumulation zone, and it is here that the snow melts off usually resulting in bare ice during warmer months. The third part of a glacier is called the terminus; this is the end of the glacier. For the purposes of this paper it is important to also understand one of the geologic aspects of a glacier called a moraine. Moraines are basically piles of ground up rock and debris that are left along the sides of glaciers. Sometimes moraines run down the center of a glacier because as different glaciers merge together, the moraines that were once on the side now run down the middle; when this occurs the moraines running down the center of the glacier are called lateral moraines. Another type of moraine that forms is called a terminal moraine and this type is formed at the end, or terminus, of the glacier. A terminal moraine formed at the end of a glacier is once again a large pile of rock and debris, and as the glacier continues to recede the debris pile is left in place, leaving a pile of rock set away from the ice of the glacier itself.

Sometimes when these debris piles are leftover they act as dams causing melting waters coming from the glacier to form into lakes. As one can imagine the faster a glacier melts the more water is melted away and left to fill these glacial lakes, if the water entering the lakes fills up faster than the lakes can empty it through small run-off streams, then “wham!” the natural dam formed by the old terminal moraine fails, causing thousands of gallons of water to rush forth in a torrential flood, annihilating anything in the path of these killers. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), they have “… reported the finding of at least 44 glacial lakes in the Himalayas that are filling so rapidly they could burst their banks in as little as five years’ time, sending millions of gallons of deadly floodwaters swirling down valleys and putting tens of thousands of lives at risk. The lakes are rapidly filling with icy water as rising temperatures in the region accelerate the melting of glaciers and snowfields that feed them” (“Global Warming Triggers Glacial Lakes Flood Threat”). This is just one of the few problems associated with accelerated glacial recession and one of the problems that is facing the people of the world as glaciers quickly melt away.

Another problem facing the planet is that not only is the rate at which glaciers are melting increasing due to climate changes, but the accelerated rate also has the potential to cause some very significant climate changes in itself, thus causing a very violent and horrific cycle. Science Daily recently published an article reflecting the findings of Dr. Rainer Zahn, a research professor at the UAB Institute of Environmental Science and Technology. According to his findings, “… when the great ice sheets covering North America and Scandanavia [sic] melted at the end of the last ice age, the subsequent flow of fresh water into the North Atlantic caused the greatest natural disturbance in ocean circulation in the last 20,000 years” (qtd. in “Melting Of The Greenland Ice Cap May Have Consequences For Climatic Change”). The ocean helps to regulate the different climates of the earth by a mechanism of heating and cooling. According to Dr. Rainer Zahn’s studies, “Any variation in ocean circulation may lead to substantial and abrupt climate changes (that is to say over less than 30 years) on a global scale” (qtd. in “Melting Of The Greenland Ice Cap May Have Consequences For Climatic Change”). In essence the accelerated melting of the polar ice caps will affect the oceans’ temperature and the way that the oceans’ waters are circulated around the earth. This change will create even more glacial melting, in effect causing the glaciers to melt faster and faster, changing weather patterns and climates all over the earth due to the change in the circulation of ocean currents. These facts lead one to believe that the acceleration of glacial recession is in fact a very large problem facing the earth.

There is yet another very large problem associated with accelerated glacial recession, and that is the fact that according to information presented by the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) webpage, pertaining to where the earth’s freshwater is stored, “…about 69 [sic] percent, is locked up in glaciers and icecaps…” (Where is the Earth’s water Located?”) Using the table presented on the same page of the USGS website, it states that only, “…0.26 percent of fresh water is stored in lakes…” (“Where is the Earth’s water Located?”) What does this mean to the people of the world? In some regions there are whole populations that are dependent on glacial runoff as the primary source of freshwater, and with the accelerated rate of glacial recession there is a great risk of a large-scale freshwater shortage in the near future.

Some people argue that accelerated glacial recession is not a large concern for the global community of the earth because they have no concept of the impact it will have upon the earth as a whole. The information that has been presented sets forth several examples of large-scale impacts that will be felt by all inhabitants of this planet as glaciers continue to melt at an alarming rate. These problems are not just localized, when they happen it will impact each and every person living on this planet.

There is a time to stand still and do nothing, and there is a time to act; the time to do nothing has passed, and the time to act is upon us. As a person, as a nation, and as a global community we need to provide more in the way of research and try to understand what is happening to the glaciers of this world. It is imperative to the survival of our population that we find out why glaciers are melting at such an alarming rate and if there is anything we can do to help once again slow down the rate of recession.


McGeary, David, Charles C. Plummer, and Diane H. Carlson. Physical Geology: Earth Revealed. Ed. Thomas C. Lyon. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.


“Global Warming Triggers Glacial Lakes Flood Threat.” UN Chronicle: Online Edition. 2002. 18 Feb. 2008. http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2002/issue3/0302p48_glacial_lakes_flood_threat.html


Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. "Melting Of The Greenland Ice Cap May Have Consequences For Climatic Change." Science Daily. 8 May 2007. 18 Feb. 2008.
http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2007/05/070507113401.htm


United States Geologic Survey. “Where is Earth’s water located? Water Science for Schools. 1 Feb. 2008. 18 Feb. 2008. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html