Let's not lose focus in climate fight

Lately, the international media has printed reports critical of the scientific basis of climate change, and, in particular have raised questions about the credibility of scientific data compiled by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. It was discovered that the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report had mistakenly reported that Himalayan glaciers would be gone by 2035 due to melting. In addition, it stated that 55 percent of the Netherlands lies below sea level, while the correct figure is 26 percent. Next, at the end of last year, internal e-mails exchanged by climate scientists of East Anglia University were leaked, allegedly showing an intention to manipulate climatic data in order to corroborate an alarmist vision of climate change and global warming.

Discussions in the media have followed suit, the wave of skepticism providing small groups of climate skeptics with new lifeblood. This is a severe injury to the good faith of public audiences that could be shaken by this criticism, and is maybe the most serious threat that historic detractors of global warming could inflict on the prestigious community of scientists devoted to climate change studies.

The very detailed and extensive work done so far by thousands of experts in providing sound scientific bases for the fight against climate change could be compromised by an unprecedented and sudden media campaign at the very time when public awareness has reached unexpected levels. Whereas media coverage of the Copenhagen conference brought the issues of climate change into the homes of most people in the world, recent surveys indicate a loss of public confidence in climate science, in particular the scientific basis behind the position that global warming is happening as a result of human activity.