12
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by kabe@lemmy.world to c/debunkthis@lemmy.world

FOX News claims that 1) 6 whales have been killed by wind farm development in the last month, and 2) offshore wind farms pose a severe threat to aquatic life.

What do you guys make of this?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Spzi@lemmy.click 3 points 1 year ago

Just two general thoughts, not a debunk in itself:

  1. offshore wind farms pose a severe threat to aquatic life.

Any work, or simply presence, in any ecosystem will harm some life there in some way. That makes the statement "X will harm marine life" a bit pointless. Quantify the statement to make it worthwhile: How much harm does it cause, and how does this harm compare to other, similar activities? Especially interesting questions might be: Does it cause unecessary, or avoidable harm? If we don't do X, but Y, how much harm would Y cause instead?

  1. 6 whales have been killed by wind farm development in the last month

Again I'm missing context. What's the opportunity cost of not building offshore wind farms? For example, how many whales are killed by oil spills and other energy related activities which could reduce if we build more wind farms? Not saying wind farms are better (although I believe they are, but that's not the point), just saying we need to put the numbers in context to make sense of them.


In summary, it's easy to find bad things about anything. To decide wether an option is still a good or even the best option, we have to compare it to the other options (all of which will also cause harm).

this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
12 points (100.0% liked)

DebunkThis

1071 readers
1 users here now

Debunking pseudoscience, myths, and spurious hogwash since 2010.

We are an evidence-based Reddit/Lemmy community dedicated to taking an objective look at questionable theories, dodgy news sources, bold-faced claims, and suspicious studies.

Community Rules:

Posting

Title formatting on all posts should be "Debunk This: [main claim]"

Example: "Debunk This: Chemicals in the water are turning the frogs gay."

All posts must include at least one source and one to three specific claims to be debunked, so commenters know exactly what to investigate.

Example: "According to this YouTube video, dihydrogen monoxide turns amphibians homosexual. Is this true? Also, did Albert Einstein really claim this?"

NSFW/NSFL content is not allowed.

Commenting

Always try to back up your comments with linked sources. Just saying "this is untrue" isn't all that helpful without facts to support it.

Standard community rules apply regarding spam, self-promotion, personal attacks and hate speech, etc.

Links

Suggested Fediverse Communities

RFK Jr. Watch @lemm.ee - Discuss misinformation being spread by antivaxxer politician, Robert F Kennedy Jr.
Skeptic @lemmy.world - Discuss pseudoscience, quackery, and bald-faced BS
Skeptic @kbin.social - The above, just on Kbin
Science Communication @mander.xyz - Discuss science literacy and media reporting

Useful Resources

Common examples of misleading graphs - How to spot dodgy infographics
Metabunk.org - a message board dedicated to debunking popular conspiracies
Media Bias / Fact Check - Great resource for current news fact checking + checking a source's political bias
Science Based Medicine - A scientific look at current issues and controversies
Deplatform Disease - A medical blog that specifically counters anti-COVID-vaccine claims
Respectful Insolence - David Gorsky's blog on antivax shenanigans, politics, and pseudoscience

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS