March 1, 2017 (Vol. 37, No. 5)
Rating:
Strong Points: Primary citations given
Weak Points: Some display issues on iPad
Platform:
iPad/iPhone/Android
Cost:
Free
Summary:
Sadly, misinformation these days is as easy to find as valid facts (and many people have difficulty telling the two apart). The Skeptical Science app does its part to try to combat misinformation with regard to climate change, drawing from the primary scientific literature to combat the various arguments made by skeptics of global warming. Content within the app is organized around these arguments, which are grouped into four broad protests: it’s not happening, it’s not us, it’s not bad, and it’s too hard. For each specific skeptic’s argument (such as “record snowfall disproves global warming”), the author provides a description and citation of the skeptic’s argument, followed by a scientific refutation based on primary literature. Importantly, all of the information provided is accompanied by primary citations (and links to the documents when available) so that interested readers can independently read the literature themselves.
