IPCC Will Re-Examine Report On Himalayan Glacier Retreat

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the scientific body will review a widely criticized forecast in its 2007 report that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. As has been revealed in press reports in recent days, the forecast was based not on a scientific study but on an interview with an Indian scientist in the New Scientist magazine. The scientist’s forecast was then incorporated into the IPCC’s comprehensive 2007 report. Indian Environment Minister Jairem Ramesh said that although Himalayan glaciers “are indeed receding and the rate is cause for great concern,” the forecast that the glaciers could disappear by 2035 was “not based on an iota of scientific evidence.” The controversy over the inclusion of the forecast into the IPCC report has further damaged scientific efforts to convince the public that global warming is real. It comes on the heels of a scandal in which hackers obtained thousands of e-mails from a UK climate institute. In the e-mails, some scientists discussed altering the presentation of some data to highlight the human impact on climate change. Pachauri said the IPCC will take a position on the Himalayan glacier forecast in the next several days.