Week Two: Wikipedia Analysis (Step One)

Step One:

Does the Wikipedia article appear to be biased in any way or does it maintain neutrality?

The Wikipedia article is biased towards the continuation of global warming, and thus, the threat to human civilization as we know it now. The language of the text appeals to the emotional man for action against global warming rather than being informative:

• What facts has the author omitted?
• Earth’s temperatures are naturally cyclical over a span of 10,000 years. Therefore, there is a natural warming and cooling period that the earth goes through 
• What additional information is necessary?
• Temperatures before the 19^th century
• Earth’s temperatures are cyclical over a span of thousands of years
• What words create positive or negative impressions?
• Negative
• Projected continuation
• Likely to rise
• Threat
• Inundation
• Efforts to reduce emissions may be inadequate
• Homelessness
• Statelessness
• Crop yields falling
• What impression would I have if different words had been used?
• Not an immediate threat
• Not a lot can be done or that “it is what it is” attitude towards global warming
• Not a man-made problem

NewsandEventsGuy. (2013, March 17). Global Warming. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming

If you find some information that seems to reflect a partiality, preference, or prejudice for or against a person, object, or idea copy and paste that information to your blog.

1.      “In the scientific literature, there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused mainly by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view, though a few organizations hold non-committal positions” (NewsandEventsGuy, 2013)

     

     I find it hard to believe that there is no scientific body of national or international standing that disagrees with the fact that human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases are the cause of global warming.

2.      “The US public appears to be unaware of the extent of scientific consensus regarding the issue, with 59% believing that scientists disagree "significantly" on global warming” (NewsandEventsGuy, 2013)

This statement references the previous notion that all notable scientists believe that global warming is caused by humans.

3.      “That global poll also found that people are more likely to attribute global warming to human activities than to natural causes, except in the USA where nearly half (47%) of the population attributed global warming to natural causes” (NewsandEventsGuy, 2013)

I chose this quote because I feel that these statistics were sought out to show that the U.S. is behind in their knowledge of global warming and its cause.

NewsandEventsGuy. (2013, March 17). Global Warming. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming