General

UN guilty of exaggeration in the first degree?

Despite UN claims to the contrary, Himalayan glaciers may not disappear by 2035

The glaciers are melting! The glaciers are melting! Or not. The New York Times reports that an oft-cited UN study about the melting of the Himalayan glaciers may have been grossly exaggerated. In 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was “very likely” that the glaciers would be gone by 2035. By UN standards, the “very likely” designation meant there was a 90 per cent chance the prediction would come true. But now, it looks like that prediction was based on a single interview of an Indian scientist that appeared in The New Scientist magazine. (Moreover, that scientist, Dr. Syed Hasnain, has since claimed that he was “misquoted” about his 2035 estimate.) Christopher Field, co-chairman of the UN panel, says “the I.P.C.C. considers this a very serious issue and we’re working very hard to set the record straight as soon as we can.”

New York Times

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