The 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was so impressive that it earned a Nobel Prize. Indeed the task of tracking and monitoring global climate conditions and then trying to correlate the data is probably not even possible. Still the IPCC did so and their report was accepted as scientific fact. The basic premise of the report was that our planet is heating up and that the cause of the excess temperature rise is probably man’s interaction with the planet.

Misstatements by panel members such as Dr. R.K. Pachauri that were grossly inaccurate have damaged the panel’s as well as the report’s credibility. Pachauri’s statement that the Himalayan glaciers would likely melt away in our lifetime was patently incorrect. The reports measurement of the degree to which the rising seas has affected the Netherlands is another major error. Even simple typographical errors are being pointed to as an overall condemnation of the reports validity. A typographical error in the report whereby the year 2350 was written as 2035 was then recited by panel members with far too much fervor. This led to the Himalayan countdown error.

Another error in the report stated that even the slightest rise or fall in precipitation rates would demolish the remains of the world’s tropical forests. There is a reason they are called RAIN forests. A slight increase or decrease in rain to these areas could not possibly create the destruction the report prophesized. The press quickly pointed out the basic implausibility of this premise and once again lambasted the entire report.

But thousands of scientists worldwide participated in gathering and correlating the IPCC 2007 report. Surely the consensus of scientific opinion has merit. The underlying science of climate change as stated in the report is accurate.

Negative media attention has just about created a situation where the scientific community is set back five years to the point where they are again being asked to prove global warming and climate change exists.