Science academies to review climate report production
Science academies to review climate report production
An international science academies panel will review the workings of the United Nation’s Nobel-Prize-winning climate report, officials announced Wednesday.
The move follows criticism of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 report, sparked by news accounts of a Himalayan glacier error in the report. It suggested the glaciers would be gone by 2035, where they only seem to be dwindling as fast as other glaciers worldwide, according to NASA’s GRACE satellite results.
The “InterAcademy Council”, a collaboration between science academies worldwide, including the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, will name panel members to the review, says Robbert Dijkgraaf of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science. “The review will examine every aspect of how the IPCC’s reports are prepared, including the use of non-peer reviewed literature and the reflection of diverse viewpoints,” said the United Nations statement, announcing the review. In addition, the review will look at how the report conclusions are communicated, Dijgraaf says, and look for improvements.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) organize the IPCC, which since 1992 has involved thousands of climate scientists to put together reports assessing the state of the climate, signed off by national officials worldwide.
The most recent 2007 report found that fossil fuel-related greenhouse gases had warmed the atmosphere worldwide over the last century and “very likely” would continue raising temperatures. The group operates on volunteer review and editing by scientists worldwide on a budget of less than $5 million, according to former Sen. Tim Wirth, head of the United Nations Foundation.
“There essentially have not been any challenges that cut to the core of the (2007) report,” said climate scientist Chris Field of Stanford, who co-headed the portion of the 2007 report containing the Himalayan glacier error. “We are looking for any suggestions on how to improve the report.”
The review was requested by IPCC chief Rajendra Pachuri and other officials, ahead of the panel’s planned 2013 report. It should be finished by August, says Dijkgraaf, before climate meetings aimed at crafting international agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
