“These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.”
Unfortunately for his Holiness, his 'fresh' figures are not quite as fresh as he would like.
“It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at,” Dr Maslowski said. “I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this.”
Ooops! So what was the mix up?
Mr Gore’s office later admitted that the 75 per cent figure was one used by Dr Maslowksi as a “ballpark figure” several years ago in a conversation with Mr Gore.
Dr Maslowki, who works at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, said that his latest results give a six-year projection for the melting of 80 per cent of the ice, but he said he expects some ice to remain beyond 2020.Hmmm...so Mr. Gore took a 'ball park' estimate that 80% of the arctic would be ice-free in 6 years and turned it into a 75% certainty that there will be NO arctic ice in 5-7 years. The acknowledged ambassador for global warming science is actively distorting the scientific facts on a world stage, and yet we are expected to believe all of the global warming alarmist hype.
What does the scientific community think of this latest faux pas?
This is an exaggeration that opens the science up to criticism from sceptics,” Professor Jim Overland, a leading oceanographer at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
“You really don’t need to exaggerate the changes in the Arctic.”
Others said that, even if quoted correctly, Dr Maslowski’s six-year projection for near-ice-free conditions is at the extreme end of the scale. Most climate scientists agree that a 20 to 30-year timescale is more likely for the near-disappearance of sea ice.
“Maslowski’s work is very well respected, but he’s a bit out on a limb,” said Professor Peter Wadhams, a specialist in ocean physics at the University of Cambridge.
Of course the greedy little piggies in Copenhagen ignored the issue. I guess they are more focused on the trillion dollar collection plate they are trying to pass around this week - don't distract them with facts, please.
The thing that is the most surprising is that Gore's office acknowledged the error in the first place. After all, this is the man who sees the British High Court rule that there are nine substantial errors in his movie 'An Inconvenient Truth' and that, in order to show it in schools, the children must be told that it is a political propaganda film, they must be told what the errors are and opposing views must also be presented, and all he gets from it is that the film is allowed to be shown in the classroom. The man is just not big on admitting mistakes. They really didn't have much choice on this one, though, since the scientist responsible for the data came out to correct the record.
It's refreshing to see someone more interested in their reputation and the science, instead of the political payoff of alarmism. Kudos to Dr. Maslowski for standing his ground.
At best, ClimateGate is an argument for reviewing the science behind global warming alarmism, at worst it shows that the whole thing is a complete fraud promoted at the highest levels. Gore's blatant misrepresentation of scientific data furthers the argument for the latter.
BTW, is it just me, or does it seem like Mr. Gore is trapped in some weird time/space continuum? According to him, the ClimateGate emails are all over ten years old (even though some of the most damning ones are mere months old), and the 'facts' he recited yesterday were 'fresh' science (even though it turns out his 'facts' were ball park figures from a few years ago).
Careful, Mr. Gore, your desperation is showing again!
