Blog Post 4: Carbon Dioxide Paper Evaluation

Is The Paper Legitimate Now?

Credibility:

• This paper has been published 4 times in the last 14 years.
• The most recent publication was in 2007 in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.
• Since the most recent publication, it has been cited 77 different times. 
• Cites publication from credible sources, such as;
• Nature
• Science
• Global Change Biology
• ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the list of most-cited journals in climate change research respectively. 

• Center for Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change
• A non-profit organization whose mission is to "disseminate factual reports and sound commentary on new developments in the world-wide scientific quest to determine the climatic and biological consequences of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content". 
• Several Studies have found similar correlations between climate and solar activity (all are cited within this paper)

Other Factors:

• Though the paper does cite sources as seen in the previous slide for data and measurements, this paper did not really have any of its own research. 
• The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine along with the National Academy of Sciences signed a petition stating that there is no such thin as Human Induce CO2 increases.

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Strength and Weaknesses of this Paper:

• With our presentation personally, it was very difficult for us to review and decide if the paper was legitimate. First off, we didn't agree that the paper was correct and we also thought that the paper was poorly written. The only real strength that we had with this paper was the resources that they got their information from. The disagreeing groups, in my opinion, had a much easier time with this paper because of all the faults of this paper. It was easier to find faults in this paper that to find believable facts. 

Group Management:

• Like with all types of group work, no group is at it's peak of perfection, but I believe that our group did very well at managing time and workload with everyone in the group. One of the aspects of this work that could have went better was the group itself having more flexibility to meet with each other.

Ethical Conditions with Position

• I was in a group that had to agree with the paper. I found it very difficult and nearly impossible to agree with this paper. First off, I could barely read through the paper without becoming confused about what the authors were trying to explain. I also did not agree with their argument. So having to agree with this paper was extremely difficult, and in the end, i stated reasons why they could be legitimate, but over all I wasn't convinced. 

Did the Class Make the Proper Decision When Considering the Broader Impacts of the Global Warming/Climate Change Debate?

• This is a yes and no. There were several students who agreed that global warming/climate change was happening today, there were also several who did not agree. The class did come to an overall agreement that people do effect the earth with the way they live their lives, such as; the types of cars they drive, how much electricity they use, landfill usage, who recycles etc...

"What we do in the US, soon will not matter."

• I'm not entirely sure if I have this saying correct, but to me, this statement means that because of the technological advances in the US, everything people can do, we have basically created something that can reverse it. This statement also means, that the US is already so damaged that there isn't any possible way to fix it because it would take too long, and most people would continue what they had done in the past anyway. For example, recycling has been promoted to save the earth, and many people did begin to recycle, but there are still many of us who don't recycle habitually.

"What we do as individuals matters."

• What we do as individuals matters mean that an individual person can do one good thing and though it may not make a large impact on a larger problem, it still matters that they did what they did. A perfect example of this would be bullying. When people see another individual getting bullied, they typically don't interject, but if one person interrupts that situation, that difference means a lot, especially if others see it. Not only does it help the victim of bullying, but it can also satisfy the person stopping the bully. As for the bully, it would probably show them that what they are doing is wrong and that not everyone thinks that it is okay or fun to do.