Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Haley Reading Group: “Pleistocene Park”

[The Best American Science and Nature Writing (2018)]


Ross Andersen’s “Pleistocene Park” follows the scientist Nikita Zimov and his attempt to “solve the problem of climate change” by making the world green (2). Although most people see Nikita working to build and maintain a park, Nikita is using the park to hopefully address greenhouse gases and other serious climate issues.

Nikita states the goal of this park is to “spread across Artic Siberia and into North America, helping to slow the thawing of the Artic permafrost” (2). He’s hopeful that this park created in 1966 will deter the frozen underground layer from defrosting because it has the potential to release some of the deadliest “climate-change accelerants” into the atmosphere (2).

What did you find most useful about the article, and why?

74 comments:

Linda H. said...

What I found most useful about this reading was the paragraph where they are describing why Nikita's park is so important. "If this intercontinental ice block warms to quickly, its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as do all of America's SUVs, airlines, container ships, factories, and coal-burning plants combined."(pg.4 para.4) This really gives me, the reader a sense of urgency to the situation of climate change. The fact that melting ice could change the world is an incomprehensible and surreal thought.

-Linda H.

Hannah Coleman said...

The most important part of this article was the mention of the “spread across Artic Siberia and into North America, helping to slow the thawing of the Artic permafrost” (2). This is the most important piece of the article in my opinion because of the specificity of the climate issue that is being targeted and slowly helping ice caps to melt slower. This is a direct cause of many atrocities that can affect people everywhere- especially those on the coasts and people who are near the continents closest to the Arctic. It affects the wildlife as well as other living things whose integral part of living depends on the solidity and abundance of the ice caps. This is a very real problem and I think that the most important part is explaining where the relief is going to be held is important.

LaTrina Brown said...

The most useful information that I got from this article was information on animals from different countries and about their species. "The large animals of Hawaii, Madagascar, and New Zealand disappeared during the past 2,000 years, usually within centuries of human arrival" (Anderson 14) In the passage, there are different references to animals and it makes the reading more interesting.

Aleeya Barrolle said...

I found this quote the most useful from the article " For decades the Zimovs and their animals have stripped away the region's dark trees and shrubs to make way for the return of grasslands. Research suggests that these grasslands will reflect more sunlight than the forests and scrub they replace, causing the Arctic to absorb less heat" (5). This is an important quote because it explains why they are hitting trees at the beginning of the article.

- Aleeya B.

Thomas Siganga said...

I found the part of many landscapes in Scandinavia, Canada, Alaska, and Serbia wilting like Duvanny concerning and important info(17). This makes me believe that once we see the method Nikita wants to accomplish(making the grasslands occur in Duvanny), we can apply it to other lands and cause less heat absorbtion to arctic areas.

Anonymous said...

I found the part stating the significance about grass throughout history to be the most important part, because today's society is forgetting the effects grass and trees have on people. Andersen stated, "Grasses became the base layer for some of the Earth's richest ecosystems" (p. 10). Trees and grasses are definitely key factors to fixing climate issues as they are foundations of Earth.

Samantha A.

Alexis S. said...

What I found to be the most useful was the quote, "Climate change may have played a supporting role in these extinctions, but as our inventory of fossils has grown, it has strengthened the case for extermination by human rampage" (Anderson 13). This quote is important because it highlights the fact that we cannot blame the Earth dying entirely on climate change but also in part on humans non eco-friendly actions throughout the years. This quote was a wake up call telling humans that we need to be more environmentally conscious in order for us to try and reverse the negative effects that we have caused so far.

Alexis S.

Aliyah Johnson said...

I found the part where it explains the damaging effects of melting ice bergs most useful. The passage says, "If this intercontinental ice block warms too quickly.... mega droughts could expand and send hundreds of millions of refugees across borders, triggering global war" (Andersen 4). This gives humans an idea of how serious this ordeal is. It also suggests why Pleistocene Park is so important. This experiment, although ambitious, is vital because we humans have dug ourselves into a hole that we must brainstorm a way to climb out of.

--Aliyah Johnson

Caleb Abernathy said...

To me, the most important part of the article is when the man explains that he is not just trying to solve climate change for the animals, but rather he is doing it for the for the future of the human race because he has children (2). With the overall importance of solving issues now, as well as the plethora of data that is exposed regarding climate issues, I think that people seem to forget that if changes aren't made, the real ones suffering are the individuals that have to live through the short-comings in the future.

Also, in correlation with the mass amount of data that is being collected, I think that it is very important to understand the figures that are being explained. For instance, "If the intercontinental ice block warms too quickly, its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as all of America's SUVs, airliners, etc. combined." (4). Those figures are quite frightening, and almost so esoteric that people just seem to forget that they exist.

Jovahna Williams said...

What I found most useful about this article was the part where the author discusses genetic coding and modifications in order to make a quasi-mammoth. This part was the most useful because it shows the importance of different animals in the new man-made artic forest. Although planting trees and maintaining the biome in terms of greenery is important, in order to have a fully successful and functioning artic tundra the mammoths have to come into play. However because they are extinct this would be a crucial missing piece in the overall plan. Nevertheless this shows that modern technology and genetic coding can prove to be immensely useful in solving not only problems with the human genome, but manufacturing useful creatures that would solve an immense environmental issue that the world is currently facing.
-Jovahna W.

Justin Jubert said...

As humans, we are narcissistic in the belief that Earth relies on us and we can "save the planet" single-handedly. We portray our egocentric ideas of ending climate change as a benefit for the entire planet when, in reality, we are only worried about saving ourselves. "Megadrouts could expand deserts and send hundreds of millions of refugees across borders, triggering global war" (5). To avoid war and potentially save millions of lives, I believe we should use more renewable energy and take climate change seriously. However, acting as if we are altruistic in our intentions is dishonest.

-Justin Jubert

Jasmyn Kloster said...


What I found most useful about Ross Andersen’s “Pleistocene Park” was the paragraph when the importance Nikita Zimov’s park was described. On page 4 Andersen states, “If this intercontinental ice block warms to quickly, its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as do all of America's SUVs, airlines, container ships, factories, and coal-burning plants combined." This is such a bold statement that people should be fearful of. More people need to be aware that climate change is a huge issue that we all need to be working to fix. Once the greenhouse gases are released there will be no changing the outcome, so we need solutions now.

Anonymous said...

I found this article really eye opening. It highlghted how urgent the situation actually is. One quote that really stuck with me is "Climate change may have played a supporting role in these extinctions, but as our inventory of fossils has grown, it has strengthened the case for extermination by human rampage" (Anderson 13). Humans will blame each other, and the earth but never take ownership for the role they are playing in our planets downfall.Every part of our environment in so important no matter how little we think they are important.
Fatima B.

Jordan R. said...

What I found most useful about this article is that thawing of ice blocks will continue to send increasingly large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (4). An event this drastic could be irreversible if it progresses to a certain point.

Brandy Collier said...

A useful part of the article was the effects of the intercontinental ice block thawing which is talked about on pages 4 and 5. The article basically says that if this ice block melts it will cause many problems with the climate and change the way many people live.

-Brandy Collier

Kyla Tinsley said...

What part I found most useful in the article was the description of what will happen if the layers the Artic produces between the continents melts too quickly (4-5). While I have known that climate change will cause calamity if not taken seriously, I haven't heard any specifics as to what events would occur, and the fact that some of these events are starting to happen - hurricanes destroying the coasts, marine animals becoming endangered - is terrifying.

-Kyla T.

Jasmin Smoot said...

Overall, the article was extremely interesting and informative, but one thing that stood out to me was a statement mentioned on page 13:
"Of those animals [30 land-mammal species that weighed more than a ton], only elephants, hippos, rhinos, and giraffes remain." To think that over the course of 70,000 years, 26 species were eradicated, most likely due to human behavior (overhunting, environmental decisions, etc.)

J'kolbe K. said...

I found this article useful because it alerted me to the eminent dangers humanity faces due to climate change. On page four the author states, "If this intercontinental ice block warms too quickly, its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as do all of America's SUVs,airliners, container ships, factories, and coal-burning plants combined." This influx of Green house gases could potentially threaten not only us but all life on earth.

Nia Piggott said...

After reading the “Pleistocene Park” I found several interesting topics in the reading. I found that the information on page 13 was most useful.It states “ Some scientist think that extreme climate change was the culprit ; the global melt transformed land based biomes and lumbering megafauna were slow to adapt." I believe this was the most useful because it only furthers the idea on climate change and how global warming disrupts many factors in ecosystems past and future .

KaelynB said...

I found this whole part to be very useful and interesting information. But the most useful and thought provoking part was the sentence that simply stated "nothing in nature happens in isolation". That, to me, is true in every day life. But applied here, every little incident or happening can cause such a huge reaction amongst the forest. Nothing really can happen without something else being affected by that and that is the most simple, yet complex idea.
-Kaelyn Blunt

Zaria Whitlock said...

The most useful thing I found this article to accomplish was establishing the importance of climate change but also allowing readers to understand how close in time this previous periods of civilization occurred. It is easy to think of these periods as having been billions of years ago but this Andersen makes it clear that things have changed and can change quicker than we would assume. I also found it important that Andersen addresses how soon this period of civilization could end if we do not begin to take care of the climate. Andersen ends the article by saying, "Our original sin will be wiped clean. And if, in doing all this, we can save our planet and ourselves, that will be the stuff of a new mythology" (Andersen p.22). Ending the article with this quote makes it clear to readers that it is our job to fix the problems we have created through greed.

Zaria Whitlock said...

The most useful thing I found this article to accomplish was establishing the importance of climate change but also allowing readers to understand how close in time this previous periods of civilization occurred. It is easy to think of these periods as having been billions of years ago but this Andersen makes it clear that things have changed and can change quicker than we would assume. I also found it important that Andersen addresses how soon this period of civilization could end if we do not begin to take care of the climate. Andersen ends the article by saying, "Our original sin will be wiped clean. And if, in doing all this, we can save our planet and ourselves, that will be the stuff of a new mythology" (Andersen p.22). Ending the article with this quote makes it clear to readers that it is our job to fix the problems we have created through greed.

-Zaria W

Isaiah Jackson said...

I found the section on genetic coding to be the most useful part of this article. I was aware of many of the issues with climate change, but I was unaware that the technology to edit genetic code had come so far. I honestly thought it was mostly hypothetical. This article ended up making me think of the exciting possibilities of having power over genetic code more than anything.
-Isaiah J.

Jeremiah Terrell said...

I found it useful to know how important animals' roles are in addressing greenhouse gases and climate issue. "To test these landscape-scale cooling effects, Nikita will need to import the large herbivores of the Pleistocene"(page 5). I found it interesting that Nikita planned to resurrect woolly mammoths to help. I have always been against cloning animals but I can support it if it's for the greater good of earth.

dgeeter said...

A useful part of this article was the discussion of genetic modification. People always speak on it like it is a bad thing but I have always thought maybe it could save species from going extinct! I thought that was pretty cool and interesting to read about. I also really got into reading about climate change just because I have watched many documentaries on it by now, to know a good amount of facts about it

-Dejanee Geeters

dgeeter said...

(sorry if this posts twice, I didn't see that it posted the first time...) The most useful part of this assigned reading to me was the genetic modification information. I feel genetic modification is always viewed negatively.. but I think it could possibly be what saves species from extinction. I've watched some pretty good documentaries on climate change and it's nice to see all the evidence correlate with each other as well.

Dejanee Geeters

Brandon N said...

What I found to be the most useful part of this article was pages 13 and 14. In these pages, the authors discuss how the extinction of most large animals was due to them being hunted by humans. Animals that we could only dream of, like hippo-sized wombats and bear sized beavers, went extinct due to our desire for meat. It's a sad thought to think about. We obviously did not think of the consequences when it came to excessive hunting, and now these animals only exist in the history books.

-Brandon N.

Zuriah Harkins said...

One thing that I found most useful about the article was, of course, the information about the permafrost melting. I would have never thought that the melting of the ice would release greenhouse gases to that extent.

Another thing that I found very useful is that grassland can sometimes be more effective than trees in maintaining a safe ecosystem. We hear a lot about the benefits of planting more trees, so I found it interesting that the article began with the main characters tearing them down. This was useful to me because growing grassland seems easier than growing and planting trees.

Zuriah H.

Anonymous said...

Global warming is clearly a thing, I don't know why people deny it so much. If we do not change the way we live, what will be left for future generations?
Breann Walton

Unknown said...

The most important part of the article was the man explaining that he is not just trying to save the animals with climate change awareness, but he is trying to save the human race (2). Climate change is such an important topic that is just washed over within our society, as if it will not affect us in any way, so it is amazing that someone was able to speak on the fact that this issue is life or death for the human race and the planet.

Alliyah M. said...

One part of the essay that I found useful was on page 13, "Climate change may have played a supporting role in these extinctions, but as our inventory of fossils has grown, it has strengthened the case for extermination by human rampage." I think when people think of how humanity is affecting the environment, we usually just discuss global warming and how humans are increasing the rate at which temperatures are rising globally. This quote, however, shows how we can be destructive to the environment in other ways, such as hunting certain species so extensively that we cause the extinction of certain species.

Ronald Akpan said...

One aspect that really intrigued me was Nikita's whole mindset behind his research. Nikita claimed in page 2 that his main reason behind making this approach was to look out for humans rather than animals. The reason this stuck out to me was because most researchers tend to have the mindset of wanting to look out for wildlife over a human's life and I found it intriguing (in a positive way) that Nikita had an opposite outlook when it came to his purpose especially in a world where climate change and its effects are showing rapidly by the day.

Tatyana C. said...

The most useful part of this article was "Pleistocene Park is named for the geological epoch that ended only 12,000 years ago, having begun 2.6 million years earlier(2)" because it gave the readers an explaination of why the article has it's title. This sentence gives the reader a better understanding of what the passage is about.

- Tatyana Curtis

Kelsey McNeil said...

Something that I found particularly interesting and useful while reading this was a quote on page 13 that says: "And we were carrying deadly projectiles that could be thrown beyond the intimate range of an animal's claws or fangs' (Anderson 13). That stood out to me because today we talk about how much pollution is in the air and how that is damaging the earth but we don't talk about how when humans first started to hunt that also hurt the ecosystem. Reading that was something that I had never learned or thought of before. It was very interesting to read about how much the earth has changed in the past and how we can try to preserve it.

Kelsey McNeil

Anonymous said...

The part I found most useful, was that even if a deep freeze could save a cell of some extinct animal, it could still be ruined before we even reach it. The article states that even if a cell is spared in ice, that thousands of years of cosmic rays could make the genetic code unreadable (5).

-Marcus U.

Kenisha Townsend said...

I found the effects of the Siberian permafrost quite useful considering we can possibly prevent these effects with the help of Pleistocene Park (p.5). In the article, the author discusses how if the blocks of ice warm too fast mass extinction could occur, severe droughts can affect deserts, and the relocation of people across borders could trigger global war (p.4-5). All in all, this shows the seriousness of the situation, and how something must be done because I'm sure no one wants to experience the effects.

Youssef Hassan said...

It is hard to pick which part of this article was most important to me because many of the things mentioned in it was important. What i found the most interesting however was when i read "When Nikita and I had driven through Chersky, we had seen whole houses sinking in the mud". I found this interesting because i only get to see the effects of climate change through photographs and videos. This made me wonder if i would ever witness these effects in person.

Michael Dade said...

I thought the most useful part of this text was the description of what could happen if the iceberg melts too quickly; "its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as do all of America's SUVs, airlines, container ships, factories, and coal-burning plants combined...the more apocalyptic climate-change scenarios will be in play." (4) This passage does a good job of putting the magnitude of this problem into perspective, warning us of what's to come if we don't change our habits.

gabby said...

This article, just as many others pertaining to climate change and the environment was very eye opening. It really portrayed how urgent it is for us to change the devastating effects that we as humans have created upon earth. I found a quote on page 4 that really stuck out to me. Anderson states “If this intercontinental ice block warms to quickly, its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as do all of America's SUVs, airlines, container ships, factories, and coal-burning plants combined”. I found this to be incredibly scary and something that more people need to be aware of, as this is a huge issue. It is pertinent that we need to use more renewable resources and take the idea of climate change very seriously.

Miles W said...

I just want to get this out of the way, real quick. Not to start this dialogue off-topic, but I love that little tidbit about how Sergey, "Like many Russians.. has a poetic way of speaking." It's the short and sweet sentences in the midst of the text that keep me reading. And now, into the real nitty gritty.

In the 2nd paragraph(p.4) Anderson mentioned the "domestication of fire... that nourished our growing brains. I found this super interesting because just last week I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, TED Radio Hour with Guy Raz, and in this episode, "The Unknown Brain" Guy, neuroanatomists, and neuroscientists delve deep into the topic of the brain. One of the points aroused in conversation is the idea that the human brain is special because it's bigger than that of other animals. In short, rather, it is special because, with the domestication of fire, humans are able to cook, which gave them the ability to eat more calories and expend less physical energy obtaining food, thus giving the brain more calories and enabling it to function at higher levels.

Samontriona P. said...

In the article what u found useful was the fact that if the ice block gets warm at a faster rate than its supposed to,then more greenhouse gas will be put into the atmosphere that vehicles, factories and Cole-burning plants put together. That is useful information because the more people that knows the severity of the climate change issues, the more serious they will take it. Personally, I did not realize how bad it has become. This article has opened my eyes.

Phoenix Johnson said...

The most useful part is how it explains the impacts of the intercontinental warming. On page 4, Andersen explains that constant melting will cause coastal populations to become swamped, mess up food chain, and could cause millions of refugees. This us important to know because some people like me care more and actually what to know when we learn what is at stakes.

Ivyanne B. said...

I think the most important part for me was when it said " I looked up just in time to see a small sheet of ice dislodge from the cliffside" Pg 19. This really opened up my eyes that climate change is a problem. That we need to be doing something about it. I think that the project Nikita is working on is super cool to see how he's trying to help the human population.

Adejoke Adanri said...

To me the most interesting part of the reading was the whole idea behind geo-engineering wooly mammoths. Page 5 states “But to grow his Ice Age lawn into a biome that stretches across continents, he needs millions more [large herbivores]... And, to keep the trees beaten back, he needs hundreds of thousands of resurrected woolly mammoths”. I understand the potential effect that creating a grassland ecosystem in the arctic will do to counter climate change, but there are a lot of ethical issues that come with cloning that many mammoth’s.

Argos 1756 said...

One thing that I found to be was the author talks about how the human race in addition to climate change has made an impact on the earth. In it she says, " Climate change may have played a supporting role in these extinctions, but as our inventory of fossils has grown, it has strengthened the case for extermination by human rampage" (Anderson 13). Many people blame climate change and things of that sort however, for many years we have contributed to the damage ultimately accelerating it 10 fold. Today there are so many eco-friendly campaigns and movements trying to make a positive impact on the earth as a result of this.

Anonymous said...

On page 4 i found the paragraph about how if the intercontinental ice block warms too quickly, it will release a lot of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere to be useful. I find the information in this paragraph to be useful because it explains how these greenhouse gases can affect climate change. It gives examples of oceans becoming acidic, mass extinction and drought.

-Jada Baker

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that people all around the world have such different ideas for saving the planet. Also, this chapter really corresponds to what I am currently working on in biology. The narrator really personifies the plants evolution when he says “they army-crawled themselves onto the continents”, meaning they made their way from from water to land.

R Allen

Anonymous said...

Alexis H.

This article helped inform me of the future problems of pollution. I did not know that if an iceberg melted it would release more Carbon dioxide than a factory, American SUV’s, and planes. I found this useful because it has helped inform me of how serious is the ice melting in Antarctica is.

I also like how Nikita wants to open up this reserve to bring attention to greenhouse related issues. It solves one problem in hopes of finding a solution for another one.

Mackenzie Cohoon said...

What I found most useful in this article is the fact that they are trying to clean up the mess that we as humans made by literally bringing back what we destroyed in the first place. They hope to bring back the grasslands, and with them, the wooly mammoth so that the grasslands can be maintained. The articles states that church "hopes to deliver the first woolly mammoth to Pleistocene Park within a decade" (7).
-Mackenzie Cohoon

Anonymous said...

What I found the most useful in this article was the idea that we don´t need to come up with great technological advances to save the world. We just need to go back to the basics. Anderson said that ¨other people want to stop climate change by putting chemicals in the atmosphere or in the ocean, where they could spread in dangerous ways. All I want to do is bring animals back (18)¨. I never really thought about it before, but why don´t we look more into how to restore the earth by taking us back to our roots? New technologies and chemicals could bring about more disaster than we anticipate. At least with known quantities, we know what to expect.

Marina T.

Anonymous said...

The most useful information that I gathered from this article was the goals and purpose of Pleistocene Park. “ Pleistocene Park is meant to slow the thawing of the permafrost... research suggest that these grasslands will reflect more sunlight than the forests and scrub they replace, causing the Artic to absorb less heat.” (5). This is useful to me because It gave me more insight on why this park was built and the crisis of the Artic. I had no idea of any of this and overall, the article made me more aware of how climate change affects not only us, but animals.
- Dasmin Whitted

Unknown said...

I thought Ross Ansersen's, Pleistocene Park was a very interesting read. I like that the purpose of Pleitocene Park is to slow the thawing of the permafrost because if the "intercontinental ice block warms too quickly, its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as do all America's SUVs, airliners, continental ships, factories and coal-burning plants combined." (Ansersen,4). Pleistocene park hopes to try to relieve the current climate change for humans and resurface the grasslands. The director of this project also stressed that Pleistocene Park is not a tourist attraction, but a "radical engineering scheme."

-Madalynn M.

Donovan W. said...

The most interesting part I found from the reading is the this quote, "Climate change may have played a supporting role in these extinctions, but as our inventory of fossils has grown, it has strengthened the case for extermination by human rampage" (Anderson 13). This stood out to me because it depicts the destructive behavior humans have and our impact on the earth. It is apparent that we are not considering our action's consequences enough in our every day lives.

Jayla Pierce said...

What I found important was Sergey’s paper he submitted to the journal Science. “When this process occurs at the bottom of a lake filled with permafrost melt, it creates it creates bubbles of methane that floats up to the surface and pop, releasing a gas whose greenhouse effects are an order of magnitude worse than carbon dioxide...’’ It is important to understand what these gases do and how they effect the climate. Then he goes on to say how the problem could be fixed.

Jazsmine Towner said...

The most interesting part of the article to me was "As a species, the woolly mammoth is fresh in its grave. People in Siberia still stumble on frozen mammoth remains with flesh and fur intact. Some scientists have held out hope that one of these carcasses may contain an undamaged cell suitable for cloning" (Andersen 5). This was interesting because it highlighted how far technology has advanced. To even consider cloning an actual organism's DNA is a huge step for technology, also this gives me hope that the environment is not as doomed as predicted. If we can use our technological advances to reverse our climate crisis and global warming we can solve a lot of our problems.
-Jazsmine Towner

Fontez McNeal said...

What I found most useful about the article was that the article explained just how damaging global warming is and can be. I didn't know that if the permafrost melted that it would essentially release toxins into the atmosphere. The article made it very apparent that we need to make changes to our everyday lives so that we can better protect the Earth.

Peyton W said...

What I found most useful about the article was that elephants when taken away from their family can slip into madness and the mothers can even kill their offspring. I think it’s important for more people to know this so the next time they see a lone elephant in the zoo they understand that its probably suffering from loneliness and is going crazy. As a result it can help elephants retain their sanity and remain happy.

-

Stella Nguepnang said...

I found it most useful that the article mentioned the mess humans make. It mentions how we try to clean it up but not well at all, we just bring it back. This made me think about how sometimes the best way to resolve situations is not what we always do. Sometimes we aggravate situations we try to make better. I hope we can start doing better with the climate but it doesn't seem to likely.

Devin Ellis-Martin said...

I found this article very interesting and relevant to life today. However, one comment in it that stood out the most to me was, "Climate change may have played a supporting role in these extinctions, but as our inventory of fossils has grown, it has strengthened the case for extermination by human rampage" (Anderson 13). I think this is important to note due to the arguments over climate change and whether it exists, when we should find ways to fight against it.
-Devin Ellis-Martin

Crystal R. said...

I wouldn't say it was the most useful, but the most eye opening thing about this article was when the article talked about the pattern of changes that happened. It says, "The pattern that pairs human arrival with megafaunal extinction is clearest in the far-flung islands that no human visited until relatively recently. The large animals of Hawaii, Madagascar, and New Zealand disappeared during the past 20,000 years, usually within centuries of human arrival...animals found it so difficult to survive on the planet Earth (14). I felt this was eye opening because it allows the readers to see how much of an impact and major role we had on this change and extinction of many of our animals due to our careless and selfish ways.

Crystal R.

Cheniya Alston said...

What I've found most useful while reading this article, "Climate change may have played a supporting role in these extinctions, but as our inventory of fossils has grown, it has strengthened the case for extermination by human rampage" (Anderson 13). This spoke to me because it emphasizes the impact of the carbon footprint. I believe it is the human responsibility to do all one can to lighten the load one may place on the environment. And while the efforts to reverse the effects we have induced over time may be "tedious" they are essential for the upcoming generations. To paraphrase Anderson, it is not just about us or the animals, but those we bring into the world in its state. It's about those who must live through it.

Sydney O said...

¨...other people want to stop climate change by putting chemicals in the atmosphere or in the ocean, where they could spread in dangerous ways. All I want to do is bring animals back (18)." Climate change, animal extinction, littering, and everything else that human have done to this Earth is sad. This article had a lot of useful information. I think it does a good job in helping people think about what can be done to help the Earth, and the importance of having leaders who care about helping the Earth heal from our hundreds and hundreds of years of damage.

Sydney O.

James Beverly III said...

I found this reading very interesting, it was pretty eye-opening to see how the grass and trees had such a huge impact on human civilization now and in the past. It was also interesting to see how climate change has had an impact on both of those as well as the fossils. On page 18, where the author expresses how all he wanted to do was "bring the animals back" showed how our pollution is impacting the environment.

James Beverly III

Daeja Daniels said...

The one part that I found the most interesting was when it said, "If this intercontinental ice block warms too quickly.... mega droughts could expand and send hundreds of millions of refugees across borders, triggering global war" (Andersen 4). This to me is huge. As reading it it shows how serious it is. This ultimately would displace so many people as well as disrupt their lives.

A. Robinson said...

What I found most useful in the article came on page 13 where they talked about how the animals over a ton would slowly become extinct and only elephants,hippos, rhinos, and giraffes will remain. I have been aware of the dangers of climate change for a while but I think articles like this really enforce the likelihood that it could happen if things don't change and what the cost of climate change will be.

Alexis R.

geonel m said...

on the fifth paragraph of page 5, the author explains the purpose of the Pleistocene park, and how it slows the the permanent frost. It was interesting because based on my understanding, the zimovs and their animals work together against the climate change. to Thanks to the presence of the Pleistocene Park, the arctic adsorbs less sun light which means slows down the melting of ice.

Geonel M

Deja Thornton said...

What I found most useful in this article was "As a species, the woolly mammoth is fresh in its grave. People in Siberia still stumble on frozen mammoth remains with flesh and fur intact. Some scientists have held out hope that one of these carcasses may contain an undamaged cell suitable for cloning" (Andersen 5). This was interesting to me because the science behind this is unbelievable. I never thought cloning would actually be possible.

Jalen Clower said...

What I found most useful was the information given about how devastating it would be if Arctic permafrost melts too quickly, causing massive shifts in climate and destructive weather phenomenon like hurricanes and flooding.


Jalen Clower

Marcus B. said...

I thought something very interesting from the reading was that statement that “if the intercontinental ice block warms too quickly, its thawing will send as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere each year as all of America's SUVs, airliners, etc. combined." (p. 4) The fact that so much greenhouse gas could come from that and be as much as all the human pollution combined was a shocking thought. That is a lot and can be very serious and something that should be worried about.

-Marcus B.

Kalonji said...

The part of the article that I found most significant is the outline of Sergey and Nikita Zimov's hypothesis that repopulating with large herbivores could restore rich grassland ecosystems. The repercussions of climate change and its long term effect on our environment is consistently put on the backburner. It's encouraging to see that two brilliant minds are at the forefront of this issue and looking into ways of reversing these effects. This hypothesis is one that I wasn't previously aware of and I find the principles behind it very intriguing.

Kalonji Rumph

Lyric Barnes said...

"The large animals of Hawaii, Madagascar, and New Zealand disappeared during the past 2,000 years, usually within centuries of human arrival"(14). I believe that this is the most important part of the passage because it shows the results of humans arriving somewhere. When people come to new places, the animal life that currently resides there begins to decrease due to our actions.

Lyric Barnes

Kamela Cross said...

"It is instead a geoengineering scheme." is the quote that captured me the most. It is all this family is working towards and it is something that government officials need to do more of. The planet is dying and only the scientists seem to be doing anything about it, when this is a project for all of humanity.

Mara Bracken said...

The most significant part of the article is when the topic of cloning comes up. As a species and a nation we have put a lot of effort in preserving human life, such as cloning. We have gotten to the point where medical practitioners are able to create blastocysts outside of the womb to help women who have fertility issues or froze their eggs. Specifically in the article they talk about modifying the genes of an elephant to create mammoths that are now extinct. I believe that we shouldn't mess with natural life as much as we do because while it has greatly improved our quality of life it has deeply damaged the life around us.


Mara Bracken

Louis Stith said...

I found this reading very interesting, it was pretty eye-opening to see how the grass and trees had such a huge impact on human civilization now and in the past. It was also interesting to see how climate change has had an impact on both of those as well as the fossils. On page 18, where the author expresses how all he wanted to do was "bring the animals back" showed how our pollution is impacting the environment and how if we continue to do what we are doing we won't really have anything to look back on in the next couple of years.