UN IPCC: We really don't know whether our reports are valid or not

The head of the UN's IPCC climate science department, Mr. Pachauri, said in an interview that the IPCC report - you know, the one that's supposed to reflect the state of the science - can't really tell us what's going on. Specifically, the uncertainties are beyond the ability of his team to calculate:

Times of India asks: Anything in the UN probe report you completely or partly disagree with?

They have talked about quantifying uncertainties. To some extent, we are doing that, though not perfectly. But the issue is that in some cases, you really don’t have a quantitative base by which you can attach a probability or a level of uncertainty that defines things in quantitative terms. And there, let’s not take away the importance of expert judgment. And that is something the report has missed or at least not pointed out.

So if you can’t quantify uncertainties (like is climate sensitivity say 0.5 degrees or 6.5 degrees, and with what probabilities) just go with your best guess, call it expert opinion (especially if you only pick and pay the “right” experts) and say that there is a 90% certainty, even if there are no numbers you can add up to get that.

That's some righteous science, right there. How hot is the climate getting? Too hot to calculate the accuracy of the report. Oh noes - Thermageddon!



Really, will the last person who trusts the IPCC please turn out the lights? Or at least buy some Carbon Offsets, you hippies ...