Authors of the Websites
- Australia’s Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.
- Csiro based in Australia. This organization specializes in ecological research.
- Organization called Greenpeace that is present in forty countries around the world. It is a non-profit organization that does not accept grants from governments but obtains its finances from contributions by members.
- Australian branch of Shell Company.
- World Nuclear Association.
- Organization based in the UK called “Climate Change Me”. This organization provides a forum for individuals across the world to express their views about climate change.
Domain Names
The domain name of the first website is “gov”, and this indicates that the website is owned by a government or its agency. The domain name of the second website is “au”, which shows that it is an Australian website. The domain name of the third website is “org”, which shows that the website is owned by an organization. The fourth website has a domain name “com”. This indicates that it is a commercial website. The last website has a domain name of “UK”, and this shows that it is a website based in the UK.
Reliability of Websites
The first website owned by Csiro is a reliable source of scientific information. Yes, the information displayed on the site is accurate. The first aspect of this website that makes it a reliable source of scientific information is that the website is owned by an organization that specializes in ecological research. The second aspect is that the organization that owns this website is involved in education, a factor that indicates that the website is not commercial. Csiro provides postgraduate scholarships and offers educational resources for teachers and students.
The second website owned by “Climate Change Me” is not a reliable source of scientific information. No, the information displayed on this website is not accurate. The first reason this website is not a reliable source of scientific information is that the organization that owns it is not involved in scientific research. Second, the website is independent and relies on articles written by individual writers whose credentials are unknown. The website is just a forum that different people use to express their views about climate change, and cannot be trusted.
Information presented on unreliable websites cannot be used. This is because such information can be misleading by giving wrong facts. Unreliable websites do not publish information based on objective scientific research. Instead, some of the information on these websites is based on personal subjective views. For example, the information related to climate change published on the “Climate Change Me” website, comes from different writers expressing their personal opinions, rather than information based on scientific evidence. If one uses such information in writing academic papers, he or she may end up producing a paper based on hearsays, as opposed to scientific evidence. However, if one finds himself in a situation whereby he or she cannot avoid using such information, then one should demonstrate that such information is from an unreliable source.
Reasons for Posting Information Online
The information on climate change posted by the Australian government is meant to inform the public about the causes and dangers of climate change. The website is also meant to inform the public about measures the government is taking to deal with the challenges of climate change, and the preventive mechanisms put in place. The government’s motivation to post this information online was to educate citizens that climate change is a reality that must be taken seriously, and efforts should be made to reduce it. For example, on the website, the government gives signs of climate change that include: an increase in global temperature, melting of ice and snow, and warming oceans. This is meant to caution the public and other stakeholders about the dangers of climate change. The government also talks about efforts made to address climate change through the Australian Academy of Science. The Australian government aims to inform the public on the dangers of climate change, and the mitigation efforts made.
The reason why Shell Australia posted information related to climate change online was to convince the public and other stakeholders that the company is environmentally conscious, and takes precautions not to harm the environment. The company wants to demonstrate that its products are manufactured using technologies that make them less harmful to the environment. The company also talks about its investment in future forms of energy that would be harmless to the environment. The motivation for Shell to publish this information was marketing its products. This is true based on the fact that oil companies are one of the worst polluters of the environment.