The Hollywood Liberal

George Will’s torrent of global warming misinformation continues with distortion of glacier data

In a Washington Post column, serial global warming misinformer George Will said that the “menace of global warming” is “elusive” and claimed that an acknowledged error about Himalayan glaciers in a report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) constituted “another dollop of evidence of the seepage of dubious science into policy debate.” In fact, scientists routinely present strong evidence of long-term global warming and its consequences, including evidence of “[w]idespread mass loss from glaciers.”

Will cites glaciers to claim evidence of global warming is “elusive”

Citing WSJ article on IPCC glacier error, Will mentions “elusive menace of global warming.” In a statement:

The Synthesis Report, the concluding document of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (page 49) stated: “Climate change is expected to exacerbate current stresses on water resources from population growth and economic and land-use change, including urbanisation. On a regional scale, mountain snow pack, glaciers and small ice caps play a crucial role in freshwater availability. Widespread mass losses from glaciers and reductions in snow cover over recent decades are projected to accelerate throughout the 21^st century, reducing water availability, hydropower potential, and changing seasonality of flows in regions supplied by meltwater from major mountain ranges (e.g. Hindu-Kush, Himalaya, Andes), where more than one-sixth of the world population currently lives.”

This conclusion is robust, appropriate, and entirely consistent with the underlying science and the broader IPCC assessment.

It has, however, recently come to our attention that a paragraph in the 938-page Working Group II contribution to the underlying assessment refers to poorly substantiated estimates of rate of recession and date for the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers. In drafting the paragraph in question, the clear and well-established standards of evidence, required by the IPCC procedures, were not applied properly.

The Chair, Vice-Chairs, and Co-chairs of the IPCC regret the poor application of well-established IPCC procedures in this instance. This episode demonstrates that the quality of the assessment depends on absolute adherence to the IPCC standards, including thorough review of “the quality and validity of each source before incorporating results from the source into an IPCC Report” 3. We reaffirm our strong commitment to ensuring this level of performance.

U.N.’s Yvo de Boer: Error “does not alter the inevitable consequences, unless rigorous action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is taken.” In a January 20 Associated Press article, Yvo de Boer, the head of the U.N. Convention on Climate Change, said of the error: “What is happening now is comparable with the Titanic sinking more slowly than expected,” adding, “But that does not alter the inevitable consequences, unless rigorous action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is taken.” The AP further reported: “The climate panel and even the scientist who publicized the errors said they are not significant in comparison to the entire report, nor were they intentional. And they do not negate the fact that worldwide, glaciers are melting faster than ever.”

“Glacier expert” Michael Zemp: “Glaciers are the best proof that climate change is happening.” From a January 20 CNN.com article:

A glacier expert interviewed by CNN explained that the data published was flawed.

Michael Zemp from the World Glacier Monitoring Service said: “There are simply no observations available to make these sorts of statements.”

Zemp says that the figures quoted in the report are not possible because 500,000 square kilometers is estimated to be the total surface area of all mountain glaciers worldwide.

“The other thing is that the report says the glaciers are receding faster than anywhere else in the world. We simply do not have the glacier change measurements. The Himalayas are among those regions with the fewest available data,” Zemp said.

In defense of the IPCC, Zemp says “you can take any report and find a mistake in it but it’s up to the next IPCC report to correct it.”

Zemp also believes that the errors shouldn’t shake people’s belief in climate science.

“Glaciers are the best proof that climate change is happening. This is happening on a global scale. They can translate very small changes in the climate into a visible signal,” he said.

Ohio State glaciologist Lonnie Thompson: “The issues under discussion are very specific ones, but do not detract from the overall conclusions of the IPCC, which are backed by many lines of evidence.” A USA Today blog post quoted Ohio State glaciologist Lonnie Thompson defending the 2007 IPCC report: “[W]e’re good at what we do, but we’re human beings. The issues under discussion are very specific ones, but do not detract from the overall conclusions of the IPCC, which are backed by many lines of evidence.”

Scientists routinely present evidence that global warming is real

Will previously distorted U.N. report to claim: “Warnings about cataclysmic warming increase in stridency as evidence of warming becomes more elusive.” In an October 1, 2009, Washington Post report from the United Nations Environment Program predicts an enormous 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit increase by the end of the century even if nations fulfill their most ambitious pledges concerning reduction of carbon emissions” [italics in original].

U.N. report Will previously cited actually provides evidence for warming and its consequences. In that October 1, 2009, Post column, Will cited a September 2009 United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report as evidence that “[w]arnings about cataclysmic warming increase in stridency as evidence of warming becomes more elusive.” But Will ignored actual evidence in the report that undermines his claim. Indeed, in presenting the findings — which were “based on the wealth of peer reviewed research published by researchers and institutions since 2006” — Achim Steiner, UNEP executive director, stated, “The findings indicate that ever more rapid environmental change is underway with the pace and the scale of climate change accelerating along with the confidence among researchers in their forecasts.” Will also Synthesis Report — which concluded that “[m]ost of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20^th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic [human-caused] GHG [greenhouse gas] concentrations” — other scientific organizations, including NASA’s repeatedly misrepresented arctic sea ice data. In the Post and in Newsweek, Will has also forwarded the fallacy that there has been “no global warming since 1998.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at 5:42 am and is filed under Main Blog (All Posts). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.