United Nations climate science panel made a Himalayan Glaciers report in 2007. In that report UN Panel reported that there was a “very high” chance of glaciers disappearing from the Himalayas by 2035. But, yesterday even as further errors were identified in the panel’s assessment of Himalayan glaciers.
The IPCC retracted that forecast in a statement earlier this week after British media reports revealed that the data was not gleaned from scientific evidence.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri dismissed calls for him to resign over the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change’s retraction of a prediction that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035.
The IPCC’s 2007 report, which won it the Nobel Peace Prize, said that the probability of Himalayan glaciers “disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high”.
The IPCC admitted on Thursday that the prediction was “poorly substantiated” in the latest of a series of blows to the panel’s credibility.
Experts said the gaffes that came to light in recent weeks don’t undermine the IPCC report’s main conclusion — that evidence for global warming is “unequivocal,” and human activities are driving the climate shift. But some said the incident indicates broader problems with the IPCC process and could provide fodder for climate skeptics.
While stating that there was no research on glacier melting in India, Mr Pachauri said: “We should make a plan for proper evaluation and calculation of melting of glaciers”.