Nithya Trichy

Professor Madden

Eng 1201- Online

7 July 2019

Annotated Bibliography

I will research to what extent and degree have humans led to the many environmental problems

occurring today. I want to learn more in depth about the different ways that humans cause harm

to the environment and then learn how to solve these problems. My research questions include;

How have humans impacted the environment, What can be done to ensure the sustainability of

the environment, what ways have humans have negatively impacted biodiversity and how can

conservation methods help sustain and protect life on earth?

Harvey, Chelsea. “Climate Change Is Becoming a Top Threat to Biodiversity.” Scientific

American, Springer Nurture America, 28 Mar. 2018,

www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-is-becoming-a-top-threat-to-

biodiversity/. Accessed 29 June 2019.

Author Chelsea Harvey, in the Scientific American newspaper, writes about how climate

change is a major threat to biodiversity on Earth. First, she explains how many species have been

lost in recent times due to factors such as climate change, land degradation, and habitat loss

which are all caused by humans. She explains statistics from the Intergovernmental Science

Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services that show how animal life in Africa is

expected to decline 50 in the current circumstances. Next, she explains how pollution, land use,

and habitat loss are not only affecting animals but affecting humans as well. Land degradation
has caused the loss of habitats for animals but it also is affecting global warming and is leading

to a decrease in the world’s annual global gross product. In conclusion, she emphasizes that if

steps are not taken to preserve the world’s biodiversity now, there will be a large decline in

biodiversity in the near future.

The author’s purpose for writing the article is to inform as well as to persuade people to

take action to save biodiversity and to stop climate change. The audience for the article is aimed

to be an American adult audience. The author includes statistics about climate change in

America, so it aims to target the American audience.

Chelsea Harvey is a reporter for E&E News. She has been writing about climate science

since 2014. The Scientific American is a well-known, reputable news source. The author cited

credible sources and was very informative. This a reliable source for my research paper.

I decided to use this article because it provides me evidence for my research question,

how have humans have negatively impacted biodiversity. This source gives evidence on different

ways that humans contributed to the decline of various animal species and gives good statistics

that I could use in my paper.

Hauk, Jerome. “Human Activity Insignificant in Climate Change.” StAlbertToday, StAlbert

Gazette, 7 Feb. 2017, www.stalberttoday.ca/your-view/human-activity-insignificant-in-

climate-change-1294290. Accessed 2 July 2019

In this article, the author claims that humans are too insignificant to have caused climate

change. He states that CO2 in the atmosphere is actually a good thing and showing evidence that
it is vital for life. He states that climate change is a natural process and is not the sole result of

human activity. He says that humans do not have a large negative impact on the earth.

The author’s purpose is to argue his point of view that human activity is not a significant

cause of climate change contrary to the common fact. He wants to show that other factors led to

climate change not only humans.

The author and article are reliable because it is a news website and the writer is a Ph.D.

The article is also a current article. It is a reliable source to use. According to the criteria, I think

this is a reliable source.

This article is important for me to use in my research paper because it helps me address

the counterargument for my thesis statement. The article claims that humans do not have a great

impact on climate change and the environment. However, my thesis is that they do have a large

impact on climate change.

Hoffman, Ary. “Climate Change and Biodiversity.” Australian Academy of Science,

Australian Academy of Science, 23 Nov. 2017, www.science.org.au/curious/earth-

environment/climate-change-and-biodiversity. Accessed 28 June 2019.

The article, “Climate Change and Biodiversity”, by author Ary Hoffman is about how

healthy ecosystems and biodiversity is extremely important to life on earth and how climate

change is disrupting the ecosystems. Hoffman explains that in order for life to exist in balance, it

is dependent on healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity. However, Climate change is affecting

the habitats of many species negatively. Mainly, the change in temperatures in recent times have

forced species to migrate to different areas and if they are unable to do so, that species has no
chance for survival. A phenomenon known as coral bleaching is a result of the temperature

increases. It is when the algae on coral no longer can help coral produce nutrients and cause coral

to die. This disrupts the entire ecosystem because many other organisms depend on coral either

as food or shelter. Next, the author discusses how CO2 emissions by humans are also causing

ocean acidification which also is harmful to marine life. Then the author discusses how wildlife

diversity in countries such as Australia is decreasing.

The author’s purpose in writing this article is to inform people about the importance of

protecting wildlife and how humans are contributing to the loss of biodiversity. The author wants

people to take action and support organizations trying to preserve wildlife which is apparent

through his tone and word choice.

The article and website are very reliable. The author is an Australian Laureate Fellow for

the Department of Genetics and Department of Zoology at The University of Melbourne. The

website is the Australian Academy of Science which is a credible website. The article is current

and the source is credible. The author also provides evidence from credible sources.

I will use this article to support the idea that biodiversity is very important and I will also

use this as evidence to show the negative impacts that humans have on biodiversity. This article

supports my claims so I will use it as supporting evidence.

Mason, Betsy. “Maps Show Humans' Growing Impact on the Planet.” National

Geographic, National Geographic Society, 23 Aug. 2016,

news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/human-footprint-map-ecological-impact/.

Accessed 28 June 2019.

 In the article, “Maps show Humans’ Growing Impact on the Planet”, author Betsy Mason

explains new studies that show where humans have had the greatest impact on the environment.

She explains a study where satellite technology was used to map and monitor human activities

including deforestation, drilling, and movement of refugees. The images show how these

activities have hurt the environment. She explained environmental pressure and those areas with

more pressure are the places with lots of human activity. These pressure places happen to be in

the same area as the most biodiverse places on Earth. This means that these species in these areas

are threatened and are at risk.

In terms of currency, this is a good article to use as the date when the article was written

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is August 23 , 2016. The website says it has been frequently. In terms of reliability, the article

has many facts and includes unbiased data. The author is very credible as well. She is a former

geologist and a current science journalist. She completed a science journalist fellowship at MIT.

The author is very objective in the article and states many facts and backs up the facts with

evidence from other credible sources. The National Geographic Society published the article and

owns the website, so I would say it is very reliable. There are no advertisements in the website. I

think that most of the information is accurate. The article provides facts and evidence by stating

where they got the information from. The articles are reviewed by the organization for accuracy.

The purpose of the author and the website is to spread knowledge. The author is not

trying to sell anything. In terms of currency, accuracy, reliability, authority, and purpose this

article passes and would be appropriate as a source for a research paper.

I will use this to answer my questions of how humans are directly impacting the

biodiversity on earth. This will give me good data that I can use to support my claims. This
article is unique in that it discussed the idea of pressure areas and shows map images of these

locations.

Merzdorf, Jessica. “NASA Study: Human Influence on Global Droughts Goes Back 100

Years.” NASA Global Climate Change, Earth Science Communications Team , 26 June

2019, climate.nasa.gov/news/2872/nasa-study-human-influence-on-global-droughts-goes-

back-100-years/. Accessed 28 June 2019.

In the Article, “NASA Study: Human Influence on Global Droughts Goes Back 100

Years”, author Jessica Merzdorf explains how the greenhouse gases generated by humans have

increased the risk of global drought since the early 20th century. The author states facts and talks

about data about how human activity has caused climate change and increased droughts in the

world for the past 100 years. She explains how humans caused climate change and if it

continues, the temperatures would continue to rise, food and water shortages would result, there

would also be human health impacts, and would cause a depletion of resources.

This article has the purpose of informing people about climate change and how human

activity has caused it. She wants to talk about the ways to prevent it as well. The purpose of the

website is to spread information about science to improve the world.

The article is a very reliable source. First of all the website it was found on is very

reputable and one of the most well known source for scientific information, NASA. The article is

also current, there are no advertisements on the website, and the author is credible as well.

I will use this source to back up my claim that humans have directly impacted the

environment to a great extent. I will talk about the evidence that shows that this trend has
persisted for a century and I will talk about the global drought risk and how it affects life on

earth.

Shankman, Sabrina. “Humanity Faces a Biodiversity Crisis. Climate Change Makes It

Worse.” InsideClimate News, InsideClimate News, 13 May 2019,

insideclimatenews.org/news/05052019/climate-change-biodiversity-united-nations-

species-extinction-agriculture-food-forests. Accessed 28 June 2019.

The article, “Humanity Faces a Biodiversity Crisis. Climate Change Makes It Worse” by

Sabrina Shankman explains how human activity such as carbon dioxide emissions and

unsustainable farming have been causing severe impacts on biodiversity. The unsustainable food

system is a driving force for the loss of biodiversity. When farmers transform the global

landscape in order to produce for crops, they do not realize that they are destroying the homes of

many species. The author also talks about how global warming is causing species loss. She

explains statistics about the correlations between species loss and the increase in temperatures.

Then she concludes by explaining that action needs to take place to help sustain the environment.

This article has the purpose of informing people about climate change’s negative effects

and want to inform the public. The author is not trying to sell anything. The purpose of the

website is to spread information about climate news, which is their mission statement on their

website.

The author and article are very reliable. The author, Sabrina Shankman has a Masters

degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley and she is a reporter for InsideClimate News. She is also
an author. The website is an online News website and there are no ads shown on the website. The

article is also current. It was published very recently on May 6th, 2019, so it is a relevant source.

This article provides me information about how other factors contribute to the loss of

biodiversity. I am mainly discussing climate change, but another huge human activity leading to

the loss of species is deforestation and the use of land by destroying other habitats. This will

provide me evidence for my research paper.

Walsh, John, and Donald Wuebbles. “Observed Change.” GlobalChange.gov, National

Climate Assessment, 2014, nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-

climate/observed-change. Accessed 29 June 2019.

The article, “Observed Change” written by John Walsh and Donal Wuebbles explains the

recent trends of climate change and what the future trends could be. They explain that global

warming in the past 50 years is primarily a result of human activities. For example, they provide

graphical evidence for the increase in carbon dioxide due to the use of cars and factories has

caused the global temperature to rise significantly. Next, the author explains that the Global

climate is projected to change in the future and how this could cause more severe impacts on the

world. Through graphs and data, they show how different amounts of heat-trapping gases

released by humans have a direct correlation with the increase in temperatures and say this will

increase substantially in the future. The impact of different environments due to this temperature

is explored. They explain how different regions will become more drier and will hurt many

animal habitats. Not only climate change, but other stressors like fires and deforestation also hurt

habitats and ecosystems. With the changing habitats, they say many species will disappear and
animal life will change. Then they talk about what decisions should be made to prevent further

damage in the future.

The purpose of this article to inform and show statistical evidence on how climate change

caused by human activity has led to many environmental problems that will hurt all life on earth.

They want people to understand the severity of the situation and they are suggesting possible

solutions to the problem. They support the point that humans are the main cause of climate

change and support that it has a negative impact on ecosystems and biodiversity.

The article is very reliable. The authors of the article are both have Ph.D. degrees and

work for accredited Universities. Dr. John Walsh is a Chief scientist working at the International

Research Center at The University of Alaska Fairbanks. Dr. Donald Walsh is a Professor of

Atmospheric Science at the University of Illinois. The website seems very reliable as well. There

are no advertisements and they include evidence and cite credible sources.

I will use this source to back up my claim that humans have directly impacted the

environment to a great extent. I will also use the data to show how biodiversity has been

impacted by climate change. I will also use the facts about how to solve the issue in my paper as

well.