The effectiveness of the UN climate change panel
AUG 11, 2009
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023586
New York Times : As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gears up for its next climate review, many specialists in climate science and policy, both inside and out of the network, are warning that it could quickly lose relevance unless it adjusts its methods and focus.There is scant evidence that nations are acting on its warnings; emissions of heat-trapping gases have grown ; talks about a new climate treaty remain largely deadlocked .Environmentalists assert that the reports by the panel are watered down by a requirement that sponsoring governments reach consensus line by line.Some experts fret that the IPCC has failed to keep pace with an explosion of climate research .At the same time, some scientists accuse the panel of cherry-picking studies and playing down levels of uncertainty about the severity of global warming."It just feels like the IPCC has gone from being a broker of science to a gatekeeper,” said John R. Christy , a climate scientist at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, and a former panel author.
© 2009 American Institute of Physics
