English 1302
23 April 2021
Climate Change Misinformation
I. Introduction
a. Misinformation refers to false information that is meant to deliberately mislead others.
b. The spread of misinformation has undermined public support leading to political inactivity despite conformation from scientists about
c. THESIS STATEMENT: Misinformation on climate change claim that no significant warming is taking place and that the changes have no specific impact on livings things.
II. MISINFORMATION SECTION
A. IDEA 1: Climate change critics argue that no significant warming is taking place on earth.
i. Several Social media groups that are against climate change argue that there is no recent warming on earth (Nuccitelli, 4)
ii. Facebook is an example of how climate change misinformation spreads. It is targeted by anti-climate critics because of zero restrictions a huge number of followers. Those that post are not reliable or credible.
iii. The media is another source of information displaying biased news to the public. Some of the news outlets may have a biased purpose for releasing misleading information to the public (Horner, 4)
B. IDEA 2: Climate change has no effects on living things.
i. Climate change deniers argue that it is beneficial for oceans according to a group that posted on Facebook (Waldman, 13). It is not the posts are not accurate and the author at most times cannot be recognized.
ii. Twitter is another source where misinformation about climate change occurs. This source is a type of misinformation because its relevance, authority and purpose are biased.
iii. Youtube channels are another source of misleading information about climate change. In his speech John MacArthur states that people should vote for global warming because it would be helpful for farmers and poor people. (Pantele AZ, 2014)
III. CORRECTED INFORMATION
A. IDEA 1: Global warming is becoming an issue globally.
i. Temperatures are expected to increase by 8° Fahrenheit by 2100 (Denchak, 1). The source provides misinformation because the accuracy of the paper cannot be established.
ii. Global temperatures have risen to more than 0.5% over the last three decades (Nuccitelli, 6). The source does not fit into the accuracy test so that one can identify the reliability and correctness of the information.
iii. The summer of 1988 was very hot proving that global temperatures were rising (Keane, 11). The source is a news outlet which may be biased on one side than the other.
B. IDEA 2: Plants and animals are going to be adversely affected by climate.
iv. Species of animals are migrating north for comfortable conditions (). It is not a peer-reviewed article or a report from an organization.
v. Warm temperatures are going to extend and expand tropical diseases such as malaria and dengue fever (). This is not a verified a personal website set up for commercial purposes which does not qualify the CRAAP test.
IV. CONCLUSION
a. Climate change has misleading facts as well as facts which support or oppose the existence of global warming and climate.
b. Imagine not wearing a sweater or trench coat in early spring or winter days because it is warm outside.
Work Cited
Bradford, Alina. Effects of Global Warming. Live Science. August 12, 2017. https://www.livescience.com/37057-global-warming-effects.html
Denchark, M. Are the Effects of Global Warming Really that Bad? Natural Resources Defense Council. March 15, 2016. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/are-effects-global-warming-really-bad
Horner., Christopher. “ Reviving ‘Global Warming’ ,”Washington Times. Republished by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, April 29, 2005. Archived November 3, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/JVypb
Keane, Phoebe. How the oil industry made us doubt climate change. BBC News. September 20, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-53640382
Nuccitelli, Dana. The top ten global warming ‘skeptic’ arguments answered. The Guardian May 5, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/may/06/top-ten-global-warming-skeptic-arguments-debunked
PanteleAz. John MacArthur on Cal Tech and the Global Warming Hoax. Youtube. (January 6, 2014). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTlYl8E_B14&t=353s
Waldman, Scott. Climate Denial Spreads on Facebook as Scientists Face Restrictions. Scientific American. July 6, 2020. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-denial-spreads-on-facebook-as-scientists-face-restrictions/
