Wednesday 20 January 2010

The Himalayan glaciers are not melting as fast as anticipated



K2 in 2004. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.




Joel Kontinen

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicted that the Himalayan glaciers would melt completely by 2035. Its report was based on the Nepal programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), using data submitted by glaciologist Syed Iqbal Hasnain.

Other researchers have been unable to verify the credibility of the data. Recently, Hasnain told New Scientist that they were speculations.

The new disclosure will probably not lessen the ever-growing dissatisfaction with the IPCC’s approach.

Contrary to the predictions of Al Gore and other activists, climate change does not seem to conform to their doomsday model.



Source:

Schiermeier, Quirin. 2010. Glacier estimate is on thin ice. Nature News (19 January)
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100119/full/463276a.html