The Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Rajendra K Pachauri, has finally broken his silence about the false claims that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 as a result of man made global warming. The Press Trust of India has reported Pachauri as saying the claim was a ‘regrettable error’ and that no action will be taken against any scientist for the conclusion!
The man is on another planet. How very magnanimous of Pachauri seeing as the IPCC itself chose to use the speculation, ignoring the need for peer review or evidence for the claim. Pachauri has even made himself a hostage to fortune by stating that the possibility of there being more errors in its 2007 report ‘is minimal if not non-existent’ according to The Hindu newspaper. There was no pressure on the IPCC to include the claim at face value. They only did so because they wanted to add credence to claims published by their fellow travellers at the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), who swallow every far fetched tale that reinforces their ‘settled’ viewpoint. Pachauri said that the IPCC would review and strengthen its processes in the future:
“There is a full process that is followed and attributing responsibility on specific experts may not be desirable, particularly since the error was more of one of judgement,”
Stop laughing at the back, we are talking about a very serious gentleman who is dealing in very big and very lucrative business.
On that note, Pachauri’s big and lucrative business will come under scrutiny at 10am UK time tomorrow (Saturday) when the great man himself will don another expensive suit and attend a special press conference in India. He is expected to answer questions about his personal affairs and dealings that have been revealed in fascinating detail by Richard North at EU Referendum and Christopher Booker at the Daily Telegraph.
Back to the story, in his response Pachauri has tried to deflect responsibility from the IPCC. He has refused to apologise for yet another inclusion of data that, like Michael Mann’s Hockey Stick, has been found to be completely worthless. Pachauri went on to say that the controversy over the claim that Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035:
“should not in any way detract from the work done by hundreds of eminent scientists carefully selected and nominated by governments.”
Of course not. After all, it was only unmitigated rubbish. A false claim of the type the local drunk could make while ranting his way through inebriation. It was more of the same kind of ‘settled science’ that is influencing public policy to the detriment of taxpayers. Only this claim was made in an attempt to keep those nominating governments supplied with unscientific assertions that supposedly justify ever greater control over the people they are supposed to serve. We now have the considered opinion of the well heeled former railway engineer. Worth waiting for, wasn’t it?
Addendum: Here in the UK, the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee has announced that it is to investigate the ‘Climategate’ affair. The Bishop Hill blog has the details.
Autonomous Mind 
An error is when an honest mistake is made and when it’s spotted you make sure to bring it to everyone’s attention. Then you apologise profusely for misleading everyone.
Not sure this qualifies. The so-called error has been known for a while and repeatedly ignored or denied by Pachy and the IPCC. So this would be more in the nature of, what the rest of us would call, a lie.
It was only 1 mistake, says George Monbiot, trouble is that 2bn residents of the Indian sub-continent were told, in effect, thet their rivers were about to run dry by the year 2035 for it is the melt water, from the supposedly disappearing glaciers, that feeds them.
It’s like the whole of Europe being told that the water will cease to run from the taps by 2035.
The lie was first told in 2007 via the IPCC’s (peer reviewed) AR4.
The author has since apologised but left it until 2010 and if that were not bad enough he confessed also to not really being an expert at all.
But, hey, it’s only one mistake – SO FAR.
Did’nt anyone wonder why there was no constant deluge of meltwater surging past 24/7 year in year out? has common sense been the first casulty here?
The experts spoke and because we were also told that the AGW science was “settled” we believed.
Now we find that these, governmentally sponsored “experts” were in the business of “hiding” “tricking” “maniupulating” and the destruction of self damaging emails, one in particular from Mr Mann telling all his colleagues to destroy “all” emails.
Green taxes are on the way – Big time.