Arguments
Software
Resources
Comments
The Consensus Project
Translations
About
Support
Latest Posts
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2024
- Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilizing temperatures
- Sabin 33 #3 - Solar panels generate too much waste and will overwhelm landfills
- Here’s how governments could fix their Paris climate commitment failures
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #46
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2024
- 20 fact briefs published in collaboration with Gigafact!
- Sabin 33 #2 - Are toxic heavy metals from solar panels posing a threat to human health?
- 2024 will be the first year above 1.5°C
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #45
- Fact brief - Is there an expert consensus on human-caused global warming?
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #45 2024
- The planet is ‘on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,’ scientists warn
- Sabin 33 #1 - Are electromagnetic fields from solar farms harmful to human health?
- Volunteer activity: Evaluate automated climate misinformation debunkings
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #44
- Fact brief - Are most glaciers growing?
- Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles thanks to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #44 2024
- The hidden health toll of hurricanes
- Climate Adam: Is climate change fuelling mega hurricanes?
- Jobs in wind, solar, and energy storage are booming. Is your state keeping up?
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #43
- Fact brief - Do volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans?
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #43 2024
- Why widening highways doesn’t reduce traffic congestion
- Climate Risk
- Welcome to the world of personal air conditioning
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #42
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #42 2024
Myth Deconstruction - Glacier (EN)
Reference
Deconstructing climate misinformation to identify reasoning errors
Cook, J., Ellerton, P., & Kinkead, D. (2018). Deconstructing climate misinformation to identify reasoning errors. Environmental Research Letters, 13(2), 024018. Link to PDF & Link to Supplement
Step-by-step deconstruction
The table below is inspired by the simplified supplement and may differ slightly from what is shown in the GIF. This is mostly due to make the text fit into the available space which made it necessary to reword some of it.
| 1 | Identify claim | Glaciers around the world are increasing, disproving global warming. |
| 2 | Argument structure | Premise 1: Some glaciers are increasing. Premise 2: Glaciers cannot increase in warming conditions. Conclusion: Global warming isn't happening. |
| 3 | Inferential Intent |
Deduction |
| 4 | Validity | INVALID Premises refer to local warming conditions while the conclusion is about global warming, hence the premise does not lead to the conclusion. |
| 4a | Hidden premises | Premise 1: Some glaciers are increasing. Premise 2: Glaciers cannot increase in warming conditions. Premise 3: Global warming means warming everywhere. Conclusion: Global warming isn't happening. |
| 5 | Check premises | Premise 1 is true. Premise 2 is false: oversimplification. Glacier change is based on a number of factors such as temperature and precipitation. It is possible for local conditions to be such that increased precipitation causes glaciers to grow more than warming temperatures cause melt. Premise 3 is false. Impossible expectations. Some regions may experience cooling or no temperature change during global warming." |
| 6 | Status of claim | FALSE The argument is made valid with an extra premise but contains two false premises. |
| 7 | Summary of fallacies | Oversimplification: Glaciers are influenced by a number of factors, predominantly temperature and precipitation. While most glaciers will retreat under warming conditions, some glaciers may even grow if precipitation and local conditions are favorable. Nevertheless. overall, glaciers across the globe are shrinking at an accelerating rate, threatening water supplies for millions of people. Impossible expectations: Global warming doesn't mean that every single location on the planet is warming. |
Related material
Are glaciers growing or retreating?
Blog post with background information about the myth deconstructions: Myth deconstructions as animated gifs
To learn more about the fallacies used in the myth deconstructions: A history of FLICC: the 5 techniques of science denial
Other versions
Printable Version | Back to Graphics by Skeptical Science
|
Skeptical Science Graphics by Skeptical Science is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. |
){kind=link}
THE ESCALATOR
(free to republish)