User:SEWilco/Workspace/IPCC TAR summary conflict

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A major issue about the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR) regarding climate change are claims that the final summaries do not match the details in the body of the reports.

As the example is in the report for "The Scientific Basis", this is of particular interest because this report examines what is known about how climate functions, and how well scientists can presently simulate and forecast climate. Many of the IPCC reports examine options if something occurs, while the "Scientific Basis" report, particularly Chapter 7, "Physical Climate Processes and Feedbacks", examines how well climate processes are understood.

Lindzen Statement
Richard S. Lindzen participated in creating IPCC Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis, Chapter 7. He said that the Summary seemed to have far too little detail. He stated in May 2001 before the United States Senate Commerce Committee :


 * "... That said, it has become common to deal with the science by referring to the IPCC &#8216;scientific consensus.&#8217; Claiming the agreement of thousands of scientists is certainly easier than trying to understand the issue or to respond to scientific questions; it also effectively intimidates most citizens. However, the invocation of the IPCC is more a mantra than a proper reflection on that flawed document. The following points should be kept in mind. ..."


 * "The summary does not reflect the full document ... . For example, I worked on Chapter 7, Physical Processes. This chapter dealt with the nature of the basic processes which determine the response of climate, and found numerous problems with model treatments &#8211; including those of clouds and water vapor. The chapter was summarized with the following sentence: &#8220;Understanding of climate processes and their incorporation in climate models have improved, including water vapour, sea-ice dynamics, and ocean heat transport.&#8221; [emphasis added]

The sentence Lindzen refers to does indeed appear in the "Summary for Policymakers", in the section summarising Section 7.

See also: meteorology.