February 1993 LSAT Section 4 Question 8

George: Some scientists say that global warming will occur because people are releasing large amounts of carbon dioxi...

Elizabeth25 on May 9 at 02:53AM

stuck btwn c and e

can we get an explanation for both c and e. Wouldn't c matter because if the proportion of global emissions of carbon dioxide is low that something else is causing a greater impact on global warming ?

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Emil-Kunkin on May 10 at 11:58PM

Hi, the argument is that since we have had warmer weather than normal, warming is already occurring.

While we are told that warming is caused by fossil fuels and burning trees, the exact proportion of which of these two factors is responsible doesn't really matter. It could be 99 percent fossil fuels or 99 percent trees, but either way will have no bearing on the argument.

E however gets to the core of why this is a bad argument. The author is extrapolating from a sample of two, in one location. We need to know if this is part of a global trend before paying the author any heed.