​During the summer of 2012 in the heat of the climate hysteria over the US drought, Seth Borenstein-- apparently the "Associated Press science writer covering astronomy, climate, & disasters" and an instructor at "NYU's DC campus" -- sent out the following tweet: It read as follows: "Globally, July was 329th straight month hotter than norm. Flip coin for 329 heads in row. Odds it's random: 1 in 1.1 followed by 99 zeros." See any basic statistical problems with analogizing coin flipping to climate patterns? There is a major one: independent vs. dependent events. Let us quote some relevant text from a university website on the topic at hand: "People often misunderstand the notion of independent events. This is a probability term meaning that past events have no influence on future outcomes. For example, when flipping a coin four consecutive times, the probability of getting four heads is: (1/2)(1/2)(1/2)(1/2)=1/16. This...(Read Full Post)