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If this site just whetted your appetite

If you want to go into detail, textbooks are available can be accessed  for FREE at https://pressbooks.directory/?q=biology&p=1

Highly recommended:

  • Baumgarten, Joni  Environmental Biology
  • Fisher, Matthew   Environmental Biology

They cover more territory and go into greater detail.

Note: Downloadable versions of the books are in .pdf format, so you will require a .pdf reader ( many available for free e.g. see https://snapfiles.com)

Doing your own research

Advice on how to spot disinformation

Before you set off to find out more about what is going on, be aware that there are many people offering false information about the health of the planet and its ecosystems. Make sure you are aware of who they might be, what sort of false arguments they present, and why they would do this.

Skeptical Science - Global Warming & Climate Change Myths

DeSmog Climate Disinformation Database

New climate deniers are making millions on YouTube. But they're lying.

 


 

Scientific Journals

Peer -reviewed scientific journal articles are published by a number of specialised publishers and are often associated with universities and professional bodies e.g.

  • over 100 journals released under the umbrella of Nature Portfolio
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United states of America (PNAS)
  • the British Ecological Society

The material published in these journals covers the research and thinking of thousands of scientists in many fields. Most relevant to the current discussion are those concerned with the environment, ecology and biodiversity.

Examples of the meta information provided by a legitimate journal PNAS

Click on image to display it full size it.

examples of meta information made available about an article1. Information about the authors and their academic affiliations
2. Date of publication
3. Data about how the information is supported

Note that his article is marked as Open Access. This means that it can read without cost. Some articles are only available for a fee or through membership of an approved library.


Here is another  example of meta data available for an article from the journal Nature.
Meta data from an article published in the journal Nature.

The content of these journals is often difficult for people not qualified in relevant fields to comprehend. In response to this, some journals are now releasing Plain Language Summaries in order to make this material available to a wider audience. This is not yet universal unfortunately.

Here is an example of an article in a scientific journal withe Plain Language Summary available via a link.

Click on the image to display it full size.

example of a PLS for a journal articleThis example is drawn from the journal Functional Ecology which is published under the auspices of the British Ecological Society.

Another way that you might gain information about a scientific article is by reading a summary of it in a reputable science magazine site. e.g.

Here is a screen grab of a fairly technical article published in Nature
Article published in journal Nature

and here is a review of this article published in a scientific magazine for the general public

article published in lat person magazine

Video sources

As noted above, YouTube is a popular place for climate change deniers to post false and/or misleading information. You should be very wary when using YouTube for research.  Use the sites listed above to vet the person/organisation posting the video, and ensure that they are not compromised by vested interest groups.

Some trustworthy providers as at July 2024

 

 

Reader Contributed Links

These links have been suggested by readers of these projects.

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