
I tried to look for graphic representations of data extrapolations and actually didn't find a lot of ones I felt strongly about; this one is sparse in terms of data, and like many of the other examples we've seen, it doesn't give insight as to the data source. It does, however, show that different research institutes have different projections for the extent of global warming and it makes the important point that extrapolation and projections are inherently of an unsure nature and that there is much room for opinion.
http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?t=84766&page=3

This next graphic is also a prediction, this time of the depletion of oil. These projections are often times used in finance as well as in production to either value certain oil fields or to gauge production capacity needs. I find such projections to oftentimes be historically unreliable since the tests that are done in order to make such projections are often insufficient and biased depending on which contractor is making the estimations and for what purpose the estimation is.
http://www.anarkismo.net/attachments/apr2007/peak_oil__depletion_curve.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment