| on Mar 3, 2008, 03:15 PM E.S.T.
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Page 2 of 2
The manipulation of visuals--bar and line graphs, pie charts, even
photographs--has proven to be a highly effective way “to offer up scary
scenarios” ... and it is easily done. This report explains how visuals
can be manipulated by, among other techniques:
- changing the appearance of graphs by adjusting baselines (minimums) and maximums on the vertical axis,
- selectively reporting data on, for instance, a time line appearing on the horizontal axis of a chart,
- using color and three dimensions to call attention to
specific elements of a graph, even when those elements may not warrant
special treatment, and
- inaccurately superimposing graphs with different scales.
More than a dozen visuals throughout this report, including many that
are common to the current debate over global warming, make it easy to
see the effect of manipulated visuals.
Graphics can be used to summarize vast amounts of data, and they
help convey a strong visual image: That is, after all, their purpose.
But graphics can easily mislead ... and all too often in the global
warming debates, that too has been their purpose.
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