Mountaineer Anecdotes in the UN IPCC AR4 Report of 2007

How many times have those of us who think the catastrophic anthropogenic global warming hypothesis based on man's emissions of CO2 is wrong been told that the UN IPCC AR4 report of 2007, based on 2,500 or more of the best climate scientists and peer-reviewed journal articles, could not be wrong?  Of course, there were not 2,500 scientists involved and we are now discovering that many of the citations of authority are to publications of little authority and sometimes are actually cited for a viewpoint at odds with the viewpoint of the published article.  See my earlier posts about citations on Himalayan glaciers, natural disasters, Amazon rainforest damage, fish welfare, glacier retreat, mud flows, and more issues referencing World Wildlife Fund reports, and Greenpeace reports on coral reef damage and alternative power issues.

Still another instance has turned up.  In this case, the ultimate authority on all things pertaining to man-made global warming cites a popular climbing magazine and an unpublished master's thesis by a student who interviewed mountain guides in the Alps as the authoritative references for a decrease in mountain snow cover.  The Telegraph of the UK discusses this here.  Of course, good science starts with good observations of reality and there is some reason to believe mountaineers would be a good anecdotal source for a possible research project on mountain snow cover.  In recent times, many of them have probably been sucked into the environmentalist and global warming camp and may be inclined to help them along with their stories.  Many may have little knowledge of the snow cover of several decades ago, so they may not have a long time-frame viewpoint.  But, others may be familiar with old tales and old maps made by previous generations of mountaineers.  They are worth listening to.  But if no scientist has checked this issue out and published on the matter, what are these references doing in the "authoritative" IPCC report treated as ordinary scientific citations?

The UN IPCC AR4 report of 2007 was touted as the state of scientific knowledge of man's effects upon global climate.  The report appeared to say that there were scientifically determined net reductions in mountain snow and ice in the Andes, Alps, and in Africa.  It is now clear that no such science backs its claim.

Clearly, the United Nations is a political entity, not a scientific entity.  It has an agenda which is based on the politics of hundreds of nation states, most of which care at most marginally or not at all for the rights of the individual.  Many of them must deny truth and suppress understanding for their leaders to remain in power.  Supporting ignorance and providing misinformation is the name of their game.  Even in the United States, we see a lot of that coming from our political leaders.  They use the public school system to spread and inculcate propaganda and they use the sound bite to try to mislead the American People.  They give a bill a nice-sounding name which hides the real intent and the real outcomes of the legislation.  They pretend to care about the People when all they care about is getting more campaign donations from special interests and getting re-elected.  Politicians and country leaders are the last people to turn to for good science.