 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
New Delhi (AFP) Feb 4, 2010 The United Nations' top climate official on Thursday backed leading global warming scientist Rajendra Pachauri, saying he should ignore calls to resign over errors in a key 2007 report. Yvo de Boer, executive director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said Pachauri was not personally responsible for the claim that global warming could melt Himalayan glaciers by 2035. De Boer told reporters in New Delhi it would be "senseless" for Pachauri, the chief of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to take the blame for the blunder, which has been traced to a 1999 magazine article. "I believe that the scientific evidence that is provided by the IPCC has not been shaken in spite of the very unfortunate mistake," said de Boer. He added that Pachauri was a "good chairman" who "has been a very vocal advocate of the need to address climate change at the global level". In an interview broadcast on Indian television Thursday, Pachauri accused "vested interests" of using the glacier error to attack him personally and undermine the case for action to halt global warming. Rejecting allegations that he benefited financially from his position, Pachauri said he was being targeted by an organised campaign. "You can think of some fossil fuel companies, you can think of those who are in the business of exporting fossil fuels and of course those who earn a living from the automobile industry," Pachauri told the NewsX television network. "This is an organised block of vested interests," he said. The IPCC has faced fierce criticism over the glacier mistake -- which has been discredited by glaciologists and is being withdrawn -- and the controversy has given fresh ammunition to climate sceptics. The IPCC's landmark Fourth Assessment Report in 2007 said the probability of glaciers in the Himalayas "disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high." But there is no evidence the claim was published in a peer-reviewed journal, a cornerstone of scientific credibility, and reports in Britain have said the reference came from green group the WWF, who in turn sourced it to the New Scientist magazine.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation
Much Of The Early Methane Rise Can Be Attributed To The Spreading Of Northern PeatlandsHelsinki, Finland (SPX) Feb 04, 2010 The surprising increase in methane concentrations millennia ago, identified in continental glacier studies, has puzzled researchers for a long time. According to a strong theory, this would have resulted from the commencement of rice cultivation in East Asia. However, a study conducted at the University of Helsinki's Department of Environmental Sciences and the Department of Geosciences an ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook