There is No Frakking “Scientific Consensus” on Global Warming

1-21-2010

EXCERPT:

In Dec. 2009 Time magazine ran an article titled “The Tragedy of the Himalayas.” The article is built around Syed Iqbal Hasnain – the glacier researcher now at the center of a controversy over how quickly the Himalayan glaciers are melting.

BACKGROUND
While the glacier story has been percolating for some time, four days ago a report in the Times of London afforded it prominent media coverage. The Times says that a claim in the 2007 United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report that Himalayan glaciers could disappear entirely by 2035 appears to rest on a single source – a 2005 document written by the environmental activist group, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

In turn, the WWF cites the New Scientist, a popular magazine. The magazine, for its part, says it learned about the info during an e-mail interview with Dr. Hasnain – who has since admitted to having indulged in speculation.

We’ve been told ad nauseam how authoritative the IPCC reports are. We’ve been told they are the last word on climate matters, that they represent the consensus of the world’s science community – and that they are based on rigorous, peer-reviewed research.

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