DutchNews.nl - Academics hit back at climate report critics

Academics hit back at climate report critics

Wednesday 10 February 2010

climate change, ipcc report, open letter, academics

Errors in an influential report on global climate change do not make the report's conclusions invalid or biased, a group of 52 leading Dutch academics say in an open letter on Wednesday.

The mistakes are being used by some to discredit all climate science, the academics say in their letter. And they reject the way scientists are being dismissed as the 'climate mafia' by some MPs.

The IPCC report, which dates from 2007, includes a claim that the Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 but that now appears to have been based on miscalculations dating back to 1999.

Mistakes

The report also states some 55% of the Netherlands is below sea level, but according to the national statistics office CBS that figure should be 20%.

These errors have to be acknowledged but do not take away from the fact that mankind is 'very probably changing the climate, with eventual far-reaching effects', the academics state.

The two errors led Dutch environment minister Jacqueline Cramer to say she would not accept any more mistakes.

News magazine Elsevier reports on Wednesday that only one of the 110 Dutch scientists and experts who worked on parts of the IPPC report is a climate change sceptic. Many have close connections to environmental lobby groups, Elsevier said.

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Readers' comments

Acadamicians trying to save their a**. There are many more mistakes that can't be pointed directly but can be debated. But those topics are made appear too complex delibrately by academicians to make feel the society knew little about the cause of global warming. The result being the academicians getting a nice project to write fancy scary report that conflicts with other studys done one or two decade ago. It is true that man's activity affects environment but the global warming, global dimming whatever science is fake! just speculation.

By Deborah | February 10, 2010 4:20 PM

If I did such a mistake, I would apologize and I would keep silence and work until the mistake is fixed. The so called "academics" act not as academics but as arrogant sales people which want to push their crap to the rest of us.
So, dear academics, please shut up and don't appear in public until you have cleaned the crap you did!

By George | February 10, 2010 7:36 PM

Only activists of the 'climate mafia' are invited to the IPCC, so they have actually managed to lose one of the experts.

Plase read article: http://www.news.com.au/antarctic-ice-is-growing-not-melting-away/story-0-1225700043191

By warming which one | February 10, 2010 8:59 PM

The academics are specialists in their fields, why do people with limited knowledge try to challenge their work? "A little learning is a dangerous thing", leave academics to do their work, without trying to split hairs over some minor errors.
Climate change is real, and it wont change if NL is 20% or 55% below sea level, that is the point. Let us act now before we become 55% below sea level, then it will be too late.

By AC | February 11, 2010 12:10 PM

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