User:Barackdrea/sandbox

Recent Observations
A group of scientists with the University of California updated previous results ranging from 1979 to 2017, which improved time series for more accurate results. Their article, published January 2019, covered four decades of information in Antarctica, revealing the total mass loss

which increased gradually per decade. 40 ± 9 Gt/y from 1979 to 1990, 50 ± 14 Gt/y from 1989 to 2000, 166 ±18 Gt/y from 1999 to 2009 and finally 252 ±26 Gt/y from 2009 to 2017. The majority of mass loss was in the Amundsen Sea sector, which experienced loss as high as 159 ±8 Gt/y. There are areas which have not experienced much speed, such as East Ross ice shelf.

This improved study revealed an acceleration of near 280% over the span of four decades. The study has proven to question previous hypothesis', such as the belief that the heavy melt began in the 1940's to 1970's. Suggesting that more recent anthropogenic actions have caused accelerated melt.

Reflection
Wikipedia is an incredible source to use when researching. Throughout elementary and high school, Wikipedia would be the first source I would use when researching for assignments. Although we would always get stern warnings that we needed to use “proper” sources, it was the best place to check first for a general overview of whatever my topic was. Not only was it the best start, it also provided plenty of sources that it got its information from. Many times I used Wikipedia as a starter for projects and continued to rely on its sources throughout the project.

Even now in university, I continue to use Wikipedia as the best way to begin a project. I have used it for years now, and this is the first time I stepped behind the scenes to see how Wikipedia creates its helpful articles. At first glance, it all seemed difficult to understand, but the training was incredibly helpful and there is an abundance of help to learn how to work on articles.

I would say that my biggest issue with Wikipedia was the photos – or the seemingly lack thereof. Many articles have photos that are, while nice, a bit useless. For example, there were lots of possible photos of graphs and diagrams for the melting Antarctic ice sheet, however the strict rules concerning photos made it impossible to include them. On one hand I applaud Wikipedia for being strict about copyright and protection of photo creators, but on the other hand it can be hard to get your point across. It ended up being either no photos or “pretty” ones available for usage on Wikipedia. Ultimately with the strict copyright rules, I opted for no photos at all despite having seen excellent ones.

The strict plagiarism was also difficult. Of course I am for strict rules against plagiarism, but Wikipedia was very strict on how you paraphrase your information. It made me a bit paranoid about how I wrote my article, especially since I also wanted the article to be as unbiased as humanly possible.

Aside from those two complaints, I still enjoyed seeing how to write in Wikipedia, since I’ve used the source for so long. It’s easy to use a source without appreciating it, and I feel this assignment helped appreciate Wikipedia. It also helped shine a light on the belief that Wikipedia is an entirely unreliable source that isn’t safe to use. It’s very much the opposite.

I chose to work on the article about the Antarctic Ice Sheet. I had found a fascinating study done by a group of scientists from the University of California that updated previous findings on the melt of the ice sheet and used new techniques to try and find more accurate data for the last four decades. The findings weren’t necessarily anything new – the ice sheet is melting and has been for some time now. However the new study had provided a glimpse into just how much had been melting, and how it has been rapidly increasing in melt. It was difficult to stay unbiased since it’s such a serious topic. I understand there are plenty of pages on climate change and the overall ice melt around the globe, but I felt the page required more updated information on just how much is melting. While the article is about the Antarctic Ice Sheet and not climate change, I believe it is necessary for people to see the effects climate change is having even if they aren’t researching about climate change and just want information on the ice sheet. There are still a fair amount of people who don’t believe in climate change and disregard it, and I believe it’s important for information about its effects to be spread and seen as much as possible.

Overall it’s been very illuminating getting to know how to use Wikipedia and while one of the things that (at times) frustrated me was how strict the site is, it gave me a newfound appreciation. It is strict enough to be a very reputable site and it’s easily one of the best sources of information on the Internet.