Week 5

PART 1- APA FORMAT- 250 WORDS- 3 REFERENCES

3. Oil

It’s hard to discuss this region of the world without talking about oil. Pick a country in this region with significant oil reserves and exports. Provide a brief description of the amount of oil this country exports and has in reserves. What difficulties does this country face in extracting and exporting its oil? Also, how has the revenue generated by this oil have been used (or misused) by the country you chose? Do you think the oil revenue is being used in a way that will best benefit the country in the future?

PART 2-APA FORMAT-250 WORDS- 3 REFERENCES

Global Climate Change

sci·ence (/ˈsīəns/) - systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation

pseu·do·sci·ence (/ˌso͞odōˈsīəns/) - a collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method

This discussion will focus on global climate change and pseudoscience. Many scientists think global climate change is the number one environmental issue the world faces today. In order to have a useful and enlightened discussion, it is important to understand data behind global climate change. It will also be important to use your best research skills in finding articles and information. In addition to understanding global climate change, we will explore what science and pseudoscience are.  

Pseudoscience is all to often passed off as science. It is especially prevalent when discussing the topic of global climate change.  This comes from both sides of the fence - those that believe humans are the primary cause of global warming and those arguing that global warming is not occurring or humans are not responsible.  Examples of pseudoscience include creationism, astrology, conversion therapy, ancient astronauts and numerology, to name a few. A good article in Forbes on the dangers of pseudoscience being passed off as science can be found here.

Forum Requirements 

Step One - Choose one of these myths about global climate change from the Skeptical Scientist Website. In your response explain why it is a myth. What data exists that demonstrates the myth you chose is not supported by evidence? Be sure to read both the information in the basic and intermediate tabs. Notice how the information in this website is well cited by reputable scientific sources. That is a key to recognizing rigorous information versus pseudoscience.