Teacher debunks misleading claim spread on TV news: 'They ... just care about money'

A science educator on TikTok has calmly, clearly dismantled a piece of climate misinformation about volcanoes, showing why it doesn't hold up to even basic scrutiny.

In the video, shared by educator Zeke Darwin (@zekedarwinscience), the creator walks viewers through how graphs and statistics are often misused to support inaccurate arguments. 

@zekedarwinscience Reply to @jblakster Climate Misinformation #sciencetok #climatechange #learnontiktok #climatecrisis #foxnewsisfakenews #foxnewslies #debunk #edutok ♬ Harmony - Ian Taylor

"Let's check and see if Fox News is telling you the truth," Zeke says, highlighting a comment from a viewer. 

The comment claims that more greenhouse gases are emitted from natural sources, like volcanoes and the ocean, than human activity. It's also referencing a graph that appears to show volcanoes and human-generated emissions par-for-par…up to 1850.

However, by expanding the full picture of the graph and showing the years post-Industrial Revolution, we see the curve change dramatically, with an exponential rise in the burning of fossil fuels. 

Zeke explains that while volcanoes do emit carbon dioxide, their contribution is small and relatively stable compared to the massive, continuous output from the burning of fossil fuels. 

As he puts it, volcanoes "don't really make much movement" in global emissions totals — meaning they don't explain the sharp rise scientists have measured over the last century.

After laying out the facts, Darwin explains how misinformation spreads. He shows how cherry-picked graphs, cropped timelines, or unrelated datasets are often presented without context to imply inaccurate information.

"Please stop listening to politicians about this; they only care about money," Zeke says, adding, "Please stop listening to Fox News and, like, any mainstream media about this; they also just care about money."

This distinction matters because misinformation can stall progress. 

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If warming is framed as "natural and unavoidable," it undermines support for solutions that actually reduce pollution, from clean energy expansion to efforts to use less plastic and hold big polluters accountable. Staying informed on critical climate issues from reliable, credible, and peer-reviewed sources is the best way to sort fact from fiction.

Commenters largely praised the educator's approach. 

One wrote, "Omg I love your stuff on evolution!! I see so much anti climate change misinformation on here so please do more of these." 

Another highlighted the "whataboutism" of it all, saying, "I don't even get this. Even if it was true, it's ok for us to compound the issue?" 

A third cheekily chimed in, "It's almost like something started happening beginning in the late 1800s…"

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