Thursday, January 3, 2013

Bad Science and Media Support for it

Yahoo News - LiveScience - Climate Change May Increase Volcanic Eruptions

My dearest readers, I apologize that my posts have all been short as of lately. This one will also be short. I will find lengthier things to discuss in the coming months.

The linked article says that a "study" by some people has shown that climate change can lead to increased volcanic activity. This is bad science in a few ways, it presumes cause and effect and does it poorly. The second problem is that posting the article now is an attempt to say that the increased volcanic and earthquake activity we are seeing now is due to climate change. Both assertions are garbage.

Firstly, the article clearly states that changes in the earth orbit cause climate change and then states that the climate change causes volcanic activity. Bad logic on their part. Couldn't it be just as likely that changes in the earths orbit cause the volcanic activity? What the article also failed to address is what causes changes in the earths orbit. If magnetic pole shifts cause changes in the earths orbit, might they not also cause volcanic activity as has been proposed by some?