e360 digest

21 Jan 2010: IPCC Apologizes for
"Poorly Substantiated" Himalayan Claim

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has apologized for a “poorly substantiated” claim in its 2007 report that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. The UN body was forced to review the claim after reports that it was based not on peer-reviewed studies but on a media interview with an Indian scientist. “In drafting the paragraph in question, the clear and well-established standards of evidence, required by the IPCC procedures, were not applied properly,” IPCC leaders said in a statement. The latest controversy, which comes weeks after e-mails pirated from a UK climate institute stoked furor among climate change skeptics, has attracted more scrutiny to research into the human effects on climate. But Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist from Ohio State University, told reporters that the controversy should not undermine the credibility of the IPCC report or cast doubt on the reality that the world’s glaciers are melting. From Alaska to the Alps to the Tibetan Plateau, Thompson said that 95 to 100 percent of glaciers under observance are retreating. Of the 800 glaciers in the Himalayas being monitored, 95 percent are in retreat, he said. “We’re good at what we do, but we’re still human beings, and some errors can always get through the cracks,” he said. “[But] these issues are very specific, and they do not detract from the overall findings.”

Yale Environment 360 is
a publication of the
Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies.

SEARCH e360

CONNECT

Twitter: YaleE360
e360 on Facebook
Donate to e360
View mobile site
Bookmark
Share e360
Email newsletter
Subscribe to our feed:

ABOUT

About e360
Contact
Submission Guidelines
Reprints

e360 PHOTO GALLERY

South African photojournalist Adam Welz documents the harrowing relocation of six white rhinos to a region that has lost all its rhinos to poaching. View the gallery.

DEPARTMENTS

Opinion
Reports
Analysis
Interviews
e360 Digest
Podcasts
Video Reports

TOPICS

Biodiversity
Business & Innovation
Climate
Energy
Forests
Oceans
Policy & Politics
Pollution & Health
Science & Technology
Sustainability
Urbanization
Water

REGIONS

Antarctica and the Arctic
Africa
Asia
Australia
Central & South America
Europe
Middle East
North America

e360 VIDEO

A Yale Environment 360 video explores Ecuador’s threatened Yasuni Biosphere Reserve with scientists inventorying its stunning forests and wildlife. Watch the video.

e360 MOBILE

The latest
from Yale
Environment 360 is now available for mobile devices at e360.yale.edu/mobile.

e360 VIDEO

In a Yale Environment 360 video, photographer Pete McBride documents how increasing water demands have transformed the Colorado River, the lifeblood of the arid Southwest. Watch the video.




Top Image: aerial view of Iceland. © Google & TerraMetrics.

e360 VIDEO

The Warriors of Qiugang, a Yale Environment 360 video that chronicles the story of a Chinese village’s fight against a polluting chemical plant, was nominated for a 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Watch the video.

OF INTEREST