Task details and Instructions:
Climate Change may be the most heavily debated topic in the
world today. Although it could be misleading to suggest that
‘opinion is split [as in ‘equally split’], there is certainly strong
disagreement in some quarters. However, integral to this dispute
is the existence of a significant quantity of poor or irrelevant
material or discussion, vested interest, and misinformation;
alongside good, verifiable, independent research. Your task is to
research this topic with an open mind then write, in the style of a
professional magazine article, a 1,000-word overview of the
subject, considering and separating facts from assumptions, from
opinion, from flagrant distortion. This, in turn, must be based on
credible, publicly available material [which you cite] and not
any of your own opinions or preconceptions.
In particular, however, your report must also focus on a distinct topic within the general debate.
The ‘97%’ :
Within this general discussion, a particular focus of your article
should be the oft-quoted figure that, ‘97% of the world’s climate
experts agree that climate change has been caused by
humans’. What exactly is being claimed here? How, and from
where, has this claim originated? How reliable and meaningful is
the claim? Is the intended information always presented and
portrayed helpfully and accurately? Are realistic conclusions
always drawn [by everyone]?
Conclusions
Having discussed climate change in both general and specific
terms, your article should close with appropriate conclusions
regarding the severity and causes of climate change. These
should follow logically from your main article and, again should
not be based on prejudice.
References
Your article must be supported by an appropriate reference
base [cited list of references in IEEE format] of publicly available
and credible sources. References do not count towards the
1,000-words count.
A particular challenge of this assignment will be to condense such a broad discussion into 1,000 words. This will require careful
planning and structuring of your work together with efficient use
of language.
Marking Criteria:
For this ‘article of 1,000 words’, a range of +/- 5% is tolerated before penalties are applied. [So 950 to 1,050 words is acceptable without penalty.] References do NOT count in the word count.
General discussion and critical analysis:
A very good, relevant general discussion, with complete awareness and strong application of critical analysis and evaluation. Professional, academic treatment of the general topic.
Specific discussion and critical analysis:
Professional, academic treatment of the specific topic.
Conclusions:
Sound conclusions are drawn and demonstrated by a clear argument and they are logically complete.
