Jordan Sopher
English 1110.01
Professor Weiser
Mammoths Don’t Grow on Trees
In his scientific news article “Pleistocene Park”, Ross Anderson uses his first person experience to inform the readers of The Atlantic on an unorthodox solution to the rising issue of global climate change. Leading the charge research is Siberian scientist Nikita Zimov. This Siberian scientist follows in his father's Sergey Zimov’s footsteps, devoting his life to preventing climate change. The seemingly far-fetched belief that artificial creation of Mammoths can prevent climate change lays at the heart of the Zimovs’ mission.
Nikita and his team believe that through the genetic modification is key to give mammoths necessary adaptations to survive in the harsh temperatures. The most difficult part of executing an artificial mammoth birth is getting an embryo to withstand the twenty-two month gestation period. This has still yet to be tackled. Geneticist George Church has made progress, already successfully altering many genes. Both Nikita and Church carry high hopes that soon they will be able to modify all the genes that are needed.
Once Mammoths are able to be created, Nikita’s plan is to bring them to Pleistocene
Park to flourish in large numbers. Theoretically, large numbers of these twelve-thousand pound beasts will knock down the trees and create a grassland out of the current transition zone of tundra and forest. The new grasslands are predicted by to reflect back much more light energy.
Tall grass would allow soils to freeze deeper in the winter, in comparison to forests. In turn large amounts of harmful gases would be locked away. The plan, while still a large reach, has the potential to reduce global temperatures and melting of permafrost.
Throughout the text, Author, Ross Anderson aims to bring the serious issue of climate change to light and inform on a unique solution that the Zimovs have been working on. Many readers may come across the large number of facts supporting their studies within the article. In addition, pathological appeal for Nikita and Sergey causes readers to like them as people. With this information alone they could assume this is a feasible solution. However, in actuality the author certainly questions the practicability in the time-line and scale of the Zimovs’ work.
After first describing the Nikita and Sergey’s plan for Pleistocene to the reader, Ross immediately follows by stating that “In its scope and radicalism, the idea has few peers…”(3).
His choice of diction brings inference that he thinks that we are not close figuring how to make the Zimov’s crazy idea happen. Anderson suggests this by using words such as “Radicalism” to describe the idea. In addition, the statement that Zimov’s “idea has few peers” negatively affects
Zimov’s ethological appeal to the audience early in the writing. This choice of words within the quote also gives an impression to the reader that Nikita does not have the support of the general scientific community. Anderson chooses to include scepticism of the practicality of Pleistocene
Park’s mission early in the text. Not only does he do this, but he also chooses to end the article by touching on the same topic.
Ross Anderson’s doubt can clearly be seen at the end of the reading as he begins his concluding message. Speaking on his takeaways from Pleistocene, he admits that “The known challenges are immense, and there are likely many more that he can not foresee”(22). By describing the challenges that Nikita and his team are facing as “immense” and “many” implies that there is still a huge amount of work that needs to be done for the big ideas in the article to actually happen. The placement of this quote is also significant. As a general rule, authors generally try to instill the most important messages they want the reader to take away after completing the passage.
To sum it up, the Zimov’s creative solution to climate change is explained by the Author,
Ross Anderson, in “Pleistocene Park”. While he admires the vision and dedication, the author certainly questions the practicability in the time-line and scale of the Zimov’s work.
Anderson certainly agrees that something needs to be done about climate change. In his eyes, he rejects it as a realistic and timely solution that need.