World misled over Himalayan glacier meltdown

Two years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a benchmark report that was claimed to incorporate the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming. A central claim was the world's glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.

In the past few days the scientists behind the warning have admitted that it was based on a news story in the New Scientist, a popular science journal, published eight years before the IPCC's 2007 report.

It has also emerged that the New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone interview with Syed Hasnain, a little-known Indian scientist then based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Hasnain has since admitted that the claim was "speculation" and was not supported by any formal research. If confirmed it would be one of the most serious failures yet seen in climate research. The IPCC was set up precisely to ensure that world leaders had the best possible scientific advice on climate change.

Carnegie scientists Chris Field and Ken Caldeira of the Department of Global Ecology are key contributors in the UN panel awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on October 12 for work on global climate change. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shares the prize with former vice president Al Gore for his role in communicating the issue to the public.

Following a press conference about the prize with Gore in Palo Alto, California, Field said: “It’s fantastic to have the Nobel Committee recognize the importance of the climate issue, and it’s important that the Nobel committee recognizes that effective action requires a partnership between a great communicator like Al Gore and the scientific community that provides the information that we need to move ahead.”