When Non-Science Writers Try to Write About Science

Greening the Internet: How much CO2 does this article produce? - CNN.com: "Wissner-Gross estimates every second someone spends browsing a simple web site generates roughly 20 milligrams of C02. Whether downloading a song, sending an email or streaming a video, almost every single activity that takes place in the virtual environment has an impact on the real one."

What's noteworthy about Lara Farrar's article on CNN.com yesterday isn't that she's writing about carbon emissions from the ever-growing, ever-critical Internet. It's that she consistently refers to carbon dioxide by the letters "C02": C, zero, two. The headline gets it right, as does the story highlights, but that's about it. All five uses of the term "CO2" used in the article are mangled into "C02" and, before you start to wonder, yes, I noticed this discrepancy right away.