Himalayan Glaciers Meltdown Warning Is Scientific Blunder, Admits UN Body

After United Nations body admitted to a series of scientific blunders, a warning issued by it that most of the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 owing to climate change is likely to retracted, reported PTI.

The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) headed by India’s Rajendra Pachauri, had two years ago issued a benchmark report that claimed to have incorporated the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming, said report.

A principal claim maid in the report was that world’s glaciers were melting at such a fast pace that those in the Himalayas could disappear by 2035.

According to The Sunday Times, the scientists behind the warning have admitted in the last few days that it was grounded on a news story in the New Scientist, a popular science journal, which was published eight years before the IPCC’s 2007 report.

The report said that the New Scientist repot, it turned out, was also based on a short telephonic interview with Syed Hasnain, as Indian scientist who was then based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Hasnain, the report said, himself admitted that the claim was a ‘speculation’ and was not backed by any formal research.

If confirmed it would be one of the most serious failures yet seen in climate research, said report.

The IPCC was set up to ensure that world leaders had the best possible scientific advice on climate change.

Rajendra Pachauri has previously dismissed criticism of the Himalayas claim as ‘voodoo science’ and last week the IPCC refused to comment on the report.