Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Medium

PT154 S2 Q23 ExplanationThe effects of global warming

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsParadox

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Full official LSAT questions are available through LawHub. This page provides LSAT Lab's explanation, strategy, and review tools without republishing the full official question.

Stimulus

The effects of global warming on the polar ice caps have been studied with computer models. According to some models, if the global temperature increases by as little as two degrees Celsius, the seawater will rise to a temperature that could melt the ice caps considerably. However, those the volume of the ice caps would increase, not shrink.

What this question is testing

Paradox

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
23.

Which one of the following, if true, would most help to resolve the apparent

Answer choices, explained

  1. Correct78% picked this

    As global temperatures increase, more seawater evaporates into the atmosphere, thereby leading to increased snowfall at the polar caps, which then

    Why this is right

    How could the volume of the ice caps increase? According to this, more seawater evaporation would lead to more snow at the polar caps, and then that snow would melt and refreeze as ice. So even though rising seawater is melting the ice caps, it's also sending more snow their way, and that snow adds onto the ice cap, increasing its volume.

    Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  2. Too Weak6% picked this

    As global temperatures increase, more seawater evaporates into the atmosphere, thereby lowering the ocean level, which then results in less contact between the ice

    How could the volume of the ice caps increase? According to this, the end result of the causal chain would be stabilizing the size of the ice caps. We're trying to explain how the ice caps would increase in size, not stabilize (i.e. stay the same).

  3. Deepens Paradox4% picked this

    As sea temperatures increase, the difference in temperature between the polar ice caps and the adjacent water becomes greater, which in turn causes the

    How could the volume of the ice caps increase? According to this, the end result of the causal chain would be that the water melts the ice even faster. We're trying to explain how the ice caps would increase in size, and this is saying the opposite, that they would melt even faster.

  4. Opposite11% picked this

    As sea temperatures increase, evaporation of seawater causes the concentration of salt in the water to increase, which thereby lowers the temperature

    How could the volume of the ice caps increase? According to this, the end result of the causal chain would be that the freezing point of seawater is even lower. That means it needs to be colder for seawater to turn into ice caps. It would be harder for the ice caps to grow, if the world is warmer than before and the temperature needed to turn seawater into ice is lower than before.

  5. Unclear Impact2% picked this

    As global temperatures increase, more seawater evaporates into the atmosphere, thereby leading to increased cloud formation, which causes smaller variations between the average temperatures

    How could the volume of the ice caps increase? According to this, the end result of the causal chain would be less variation in temperature overall. If the coldest climate is currently -20 degrees Celsius and the warmest is +30 degrees, then in this new global warming world, it would be more like -10 to +25. A smaller overall range of temperature variation has no common sense link to "ice caps would increase in size".

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