Post #3814658

2026-07-13 20:35 UTC

@ColinTheMathmo@mathstodon.xyz a well written article. The leading graph though... It's a standard deviation, but of what? The article makes the point that it is from actual experimental measurements. Could the math not be amplifying or distorting the signal here?

Replies (2)

@level98@mastodon.social 2026-07-14 05:36

@freshstart@hachyderm.io @ColinTheMathmo@mathstodon.xyz The graph is not a "standard deviation" (SD) - that statement doesn't even make sense. An SD is a measure taken from a normal (gaussian) distribution. As the title states, the vertical *scale* is measured in SDs from 1991 - 2020 mean. I assume they modelled temperature variation from 1991 - 2020 as a normal distribution and this is then a comparison to that period. The red line showing the current variation is way outside the temperature variation from that period.

Open ##3814657
@muminpappa@mastodonsweden.se 2026-07-14 04:08

@freshstart@hachyderm.io @ColinTheMathmo@mathstodon.xyz I agree. Moreover, he term "standard deviation" is well established in statistics and should not be used here. I haven't seen a negative standard deviation before.

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