Negative Feedback loop in Antarctica

In a article by Roberta Kwok in Conservation Magazine Kwok reviews a article titled Negative feedback in the cold: ice retreat produces new carbon sinks in Antarctica published in the Journal Global Change Biology. The secondary article states the articles findings, certain statistics that where calculated, and the articles conclusion while within the article itself the authors go into great detail as to how they gathered their data and which certain data was included in calculating their statistics. As well as any errors they may have had and how they where dealt with.

One example of how the secondary article simplifies the peer reviewed article is with the statistic that was concluded in the primary article which states that 910,000 tons of carbon that is contained within the new formations of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and seabed animals in the arctic. In the primary article the authors spoke about each ice shelf, bay, and area of ice that had melted and which is now home to new life. Then it was shown for each area of ice that had melted the calculated amount of carbon stored within that particular area. As well as the calculations for how much carbon was stored in each of the phytoplankton and seabed animals was included individually. It was not until the end in their conclusion when they had that particular statistic calculated. Kwok does not provide an explanation or proof of the statistic just states it in her article while in the peer reviewed article it shows step by step how they concluded that statistic and what data was used.

At the beginning of the secondary article Kwok gives two example of positive feedback loops which where the melting of polar ice caps and the loss of forest area due to climate change. There is no explanation in her article as to why melting sea ice will increase the effects of climate change and why warming temperatures will effect forestry leading to another positive feedback loop. In the primary article the authors provide thorough explanations. Ice reflects approximately 70% of the light that strikes it and therefore reduces heat by approximately 90 watts per meter squared compared to water. As with the case of reducing forest area this is due to spreading desert zones and a decrease in moisture. In the secondary article this is not explained at all and Kwok only gives the results of climate change and positive feedback loops and not the causes.

Kwok speaks about the total area of ice that has been lost this century within the arctic, a total of 23,900 square kilometers. In the peer reviewed article each region of ice that has melted was calculated then added up as well it breaks down the area of ice melted within certain time period of that century. The authors also explain how they dealt with errors such as when there was missing data for a coastline within a specific date then the data of the next closest date was used. Kwok does not speak about these certain details and possible errors within the data, just states the final conclusion itself in the article. The primary article provides detailed explanations of what areas and during what time periods they included within their data.

The secondary article summarized the peer-reviewed article’s points and conclusions in order to give a general idea of what the article was investigating. In the actual primary article it gave very detailed explanations of how they carried out their experiments or calculations and included how they collected data and if there where any errors how they dealt with them. The statistic and claims made in a primary article seem much stronger and reliable since they give a thorough explanation as to how they came to that conclusion while in a secondary article it simply references the information to the primary article with no other explanations. This undermines the evidence since you are not able to see how the evidence was constructed making it difficult to judge whether the evidence is reliable until you read the primary article from which it came from.

References:

Kwok, Roberta. "Southern Exposure : Retreat of Antarctic ice opens new waters for carbon sinks." Journal Watch Online. 29 Sept. 2009. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. .

Pecz, L. S., D. K. Barnes, A. J. Cook, A. H. Fleming, and A. Clarke. "Negative feedback in the cold: ice retreat produces new carbon sinks in Antarctica." Global CHange Biolagy (2009). Wiley InterScience. 15 Sept. 2009. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. .