Statistics vs. Big Numbers
By Ben Cooper
We have known about, or surmised upon, our climate woes for the better part of a century. As the data on hand becomes more pertinent, it’s critical that good data not be reported poorly, thus doing more harm than good. A recent article from The Hill reports on the findings of the Environmental Integrity Project, which considers the last century since the Clean Water Act was passed. It opens with the headline: “About half of US water 'too polluted' for swimming, fishing or drinking.” and the lede follows “More than 700,000 miles of waterways, accounting for about 51 percent of assessed river and stream miles, remain impaired with pollution. That’s in addition to another 55 percent of lake acres and 26 percent of estuary miles [emphasis added].”
This exercise is not an argument against the evidence of 700,000 miles of polluted waterways, we do not intend to muddy the waters of science denialism.
However, the use of the first statistic in the lede sentence, while a good statistic, without clarification can be considered faulty and thus exploited in bad faith arguments. It also jeopardizes the veracity of the second and third statistics, and while those do not include such an ‘assessed’ modifier, we may be tempted to think perhaps this was an editorial choice? If so, what else is? And down the drain the bad faith condemnations circle…
If only there was some great point of data to tap and open the floodgate of knowledge in deciphering the report…Oh wait, in graf 7, we see just this explanation: “Across the U.S., EIP projects 73 percent of rivers and stream miles have not been assessed during the most recent cycle. The same goes for 49 percent of lake acres and 24 percent of bay areas.”
This is critical information and burying it so far down feels dishonest by the author, especially considering it was mentioned on the first page of the original 72 page report. Ultimately, it overshadows the enormity of the original data point, that 700,000 miles of American waterways are considered severely polluted, too polluted to swim, fish or drink! Give the big number its due respect.
There’s actually MORE polluted water systems being UNDER reported here. The article fails to mention, but the report does not, that the 55% of lake acres and 26% of estuary miles translate to more polluted waterways not included in the 700,000 miles of America’s polluted streams. 55% of lake acres is 11,197,278 acres (that’s 17,500 square miles)! And 26% of estuary miles is 19,651 square miles.
Science and data need to be better understood and reported properly to build readers’ trust. This data could, and should, be reported better for greater comprehension and humanizing of our climate future.
