New Delhi:
It's been one controversy after another for the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Barely a week after widespread criticism forced the Nobel-winning body to publicly admit it was wrong on the Himalayan Glaciers; it is facing a new controversy - this time over a key report in its fourth assessment, links the severity of natural disasters to global warming.
Published in 2008, the paper was apparently not reviewed by other scientists - this goes against the IPCC's own norms for scientific research. Scientists say the paper should not have been published, and world leaders should have been told ahead of December's crucial meeting in Copenhagen.
But the IPCC says it had published a caveat with the paper saying, "We find insufficient evidence to claim a statistical relationship between global temperature increase and catastrophe losses."
Dr R K Pachauri, who heads the panel, has dismissed the criticism and says climate change is a very real threat.
British Premier Gordon Brown too says the errors won't undermine the effort to tackle climate change.
But climate watchers and environmentalists are increasingly worried, given that leaders from over 130 countries gathered at Copenhagen to broker a climate deal based primarily on the IPCC reports' findings. Jairam Ramesh, India's Minister of Environment and Forests, too has reiterated that "we need more research on climate change."
The big question is how much of a setback the latest revelations pose for the politics of climate negotiations. Meanwhile, developing countries including India and China have asked the West - particularly the US - to make good the promise to cut back on emissions and pay the immediate 10-billion-dollar aid to countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Published in 2008, the paper was apparently not reviewed by other scientists - this goes against the IPCC's own norms for scientific research. Scientists say the paper should not have been published, and world leaders should have been told ahead of December's crucial meeting in Copenhagen.
But the IPCC says it had published a caveat with the paper saying, "We find insufficient evidence to claim a statistical relationship between global temperature increase and catastrophe losses."
Dr R K Pachauri, who heads the panel, has dismissed the criticism and says climate change is a very real threat.
British Premier Gordon Brown too says the errors won't undermine the effort to tackle climate change.
But climate watchers and environmentalists are increasingly worried, given that leaders from over 130 countries gathered at Copenhagen to broker a climate deal based primarily on the IPCC reports' findings. Jairam Ramesh, India's Minister of Environment and Forests, too has reiterated that "we need more research on climate change."
The big question is how much of a setback the latest revelations pose for the politics of climate negotiations. Meanwhile, developing countries including India and China have asked the West - particularly the US - to make good the promise to cut back on emissions and pay the immediate 10-billion-dollar aid to countries most vulnerable to climate change.
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