New Delhi: UN Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) chief R K Pachauri today dismissed as
"unfounded and baseless", claims that its findings on
disappearing ice from the world's mountain peaks was based on
a doctoral student's essay.
"The allegations (that the finding was based on an essay
by a student and an article in a magazine) are totally
unfounded and baseless. I maintain that the IPCC monitoring
systems are still robust and solid," Pachauri told PTI.
The IPCC credibility has come under attack in the past
few days for picking a report that Himalayan glaciers will
melt by 2035 from a science magazine without peer-reviewing
it, a fault later admitted and regretted by the climate body.
"Yes, there was only this error which we accepted and
corrected as well when it was brought to our notice. I still
maintain that the IPCC monitoring systems are still robust and
solid," he said.
On allegations over scientific errors regarding Amazon
forests and disappearing of ice in world's mountain peaks, he
said, "The IPCC is correct on its claim on both issues."
A UK media report had questioned the IPCC's decision to
cite a WWF report to support its claim that 40 per cent of
Amazon forests could disappear due to declining rainfall and
even be replaced by tropical savannah.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 02, 2010, 18:44