It's a link to the post where I detailed the numerous sources showing that the IPCC admitted the error.
Yes, the statement about Himalayan glacial melt rates was in error and the IPCC admitted it. You're talking about one sentence out of hundreds of pages of reports and data compiled by hundreds of different people. And the IPCC admitted the mistake and made corrections to the review process to avoid such mistakes in the future. Just how much significance do you think should be put on that point? And we have certainly seen no such behavior from the IPCC's critics. When was the last time Watts or Spencer admitted any of the multitude of mistake they've made?
And, BTW, about the Himalayan glaciers:
Asia
[
Retreat of glaciers since 1850 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
The Himalayas and other mountain chains of central Asia support large regions that are glaciated. These glaciers provide critical water supplies to arid countries such as Mongolia, western China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. As is true with other glaciers worldwide, the glaciers of Asia are
experiencing a rapid decline in mass. The loss of these glaciers would have a
tremendous impact on the ecosystem of the region.
In the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan 28 of 30 glaciers examined
retreated significantly during the 1976–2003 period, the average
retreat was 11 m (36 ft) per year.[21] One of these glaciers, the Zemestan Glacier, has
retreated 460 m (1,510 ft) during this period, not quite 10% of its 5.2 km (3.2 mi) length.[22] In examining 612 glaciers in China between 1950 and 1970, 53% of the glaciers studied were
retreating. After 1990, 95% of these glaciers were measured to be
retreating, indicating that
retreat of these glaciers was becoming more widespread.[23] Glaciers in the Mount Everest region of the Himalayas are all in a state of
retreat. The Rongbuk Glacier, draining the north side of Mount Everest into Tibet, has been
retreating 20 m (66 ft) per year. In the Khumbu region of Nepal along the front of the main Himalaya of 15 glaciers examined from 1976–2007 all
retreated significantly and the average
retreat was 28 m (92 ft) per year.[24] The most famous of these, the Khumbu Glacier,
retreated at a rate of 18 m (59 ft) per year from 1976–2007.[24] However, in the second half of the last century the glacier melt in High Asia also showed interruptions. In the Inner Himalayas
slight advances took place from 1970 to 1980.[25] In India the Gangotri Glacier,
retreated 34 m (112 ft) per year between 1970 and 1996, and has averaged a loss of 30 m (98 ft) per year since 2000. However, the glacier is still over 30 km (19 mi) long. In 2005, the Tehri Dam was finished on the Bhagirathi River and it is a 2400 mW facility that began producing hydropower in 2006. The headwaters of the Bhagirathi River is the Gangotri and Khatling Glacier, Garhwal Himalaya. Gangotri Glacier has
retreated 1 km in the last 30 years, and with an area of 286 square kilometres (110 sq mi), provides up to 190 m3/second of water volume.(Singh et al., 2006). For the Indian Himalaya,
retreat averaged 19 m (62 ft) per year for 17 glaciers.[26] In Sikkim 26 glaciers examined were
retreating at an average rate of 13.02 m per year from 1976 to 2005.[27] For the 51 glaciers in the main Himalayan Range of India, Nepal and Sikkim, 51 glaciers are
retreating, at an average rate of 23 metres (75 ft) per year. In the Karokoram Range of the Himalaya there is
a mix of advancing and retreating glaciers with 18 advancing and 22 retreating during the 1980–2003 period.[28]
With the
retreat of glaciers in the Himalayas, a number of glacial lakes have been created. A
growing concern is the potential for Glacial Lake Outburst Floods—researchers estimate 20 glacial lakes in Nepal and 24 in Bhutan pose hazards to human populations should their terminal moraines fail. One glacial lake identified as potentially hazardous is Bhutan's Raphstreng Tsho, which measured 1.6 km (0.99 mi) long, .96 km (0.60 mi) wide and was 80 m (260 ft) deep in 1986. By 1995 the lake had swollen to a length of 1.94 km (1.21 mi), 1.13 km (0.70 mi) in width and a depth of 107 m (351 ft). In 1994 a GLOF from Luggye Tsho, a glacial lake adjacent to Raphstreng Tsho, killed 23 people downstream.[29]
Glaciers in the Ak-shirak Range in Kyrgyzstan experienced a slight loss between 1943 and 1977 and an accelerated loss of 20% of their remaining mass between 1977 and 2001.[30] In the Tien Shan mountains, which Kyrgyzstan shares with China and Kazakhstan, studies in the northern areas of that mountain range show that the glaciers that help supply water to this arid region, lost nearly 2 km3 (0.48 cu mi) of ice per year between 1955 and 2000. The University of Oxford study also reported that an average of 1.28% of the volume of these glaciers had been lost per year between 1974 and 1990.[31]
The Pamirs mountain range located primarily in Tajikistan, has many thousands of glaciers, all of which are in a general state of
retreat. During the 20th century, the glaciers of Tajikistan lost 20 km3 (4.8 cu mi) of ice. The 70 km (43 mi) long Fedchenko Glacier, which is the largest in Tajikistan and the largest non-polar glacier on Earth, lost 1.4% of its length, or 1 km (0.62 mi), 2 km3 (0.48 cu mi) of its mass, and the glaciated area was reduced by 11 km2 (4.2 sq mi) during the 20th century. Similarly, the neighboring Skogatch Glacier lost 8% of its total mass between 1969 and 1986. The country of Tajikistan and neighboring countries of the Pamir Range are highly dependent upon glacial runoff to ensure river flow during droughts and the dry seasons experienced every year.
The continued demise of glacier ice will result in a short-term increase, followed by a long-term decrease in glacial melt water flowing into rivers and streams.[32]
The Tibetan Plateau contains the world's third-largest store of ice. Qin Dahe, the former head of the China Meteorological Administration, said that the recent fast pace of melting and warmer temperatures will be good for agriculture and tourism in the short term; but issued a strong warning:
Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world ... In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows ... In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines for Asian rivers, including the Indus and the Ganges. Once they vanish, water supplies in those regions will be in peril.[33]
References
21 ^ Haritashya,; Bishop, Shroder, Andrew, Bush, Bulley (2009). "Space-based assessment of glacier fluctuations in the Wakhan Pamir, Afghanistan" (PDF). Climate Change 94 (1–2): 5–18. doi:10.1007/s10584-009-9555-9.
22 ^ a b Mauri S. Pelto. "Ice Shelf Instability". Retrieved 2009.
23 ^ Sandeep Chamling Rai, Trishna Gurung, et alia. "An Overview of Glaciers, Glacier Retreat and Subsequent Impacts in Nepal, India and China" (PDF). WWF Nepal Program. Retrieved March 2005.
24 ^ a b Bajracharya, Mool. "Glaciers, glacial lakes and glacial lake outburst floods in the Mount Everest region, Nepal". International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
25 ^ Achenbach, H. (2011): Historische und rezente Gletscherstandsschwankungen in den Einzugsgebieten des Cha Lungpa (Mukut-, Hongde- und Tongu-Himalaja sowie Tach Garbo Lungpa), des Khangsar Khola (Annapurna N-Abdachung) und des Kone Khola (Muktinath-, Purkhung- und Chulu-Himalaja). Dissertation, Universität Göttingen, 260 S. (elektronische Version)
Historische und rezente Gletscherstandsschwankungen in den Einzugsgebieten des Cha Lungpa (Mukut-, Hongde- und Tongu-Himalaja sowie Tach Garbo Lungpa), des Khangsar Khola (Annapurna N-Abdachung) und des Kone Khola (Muktinath-, Purkhung- und Chulu-Him
26 ^ Bishop, MP; Barry, RG; Bush, ABG; et al. (2004). "Global land-ice measurements from space (GLIMS): remote sensing and GIS investigations of the Earth’s cryosphere". Geocarto Int 19 (2): 57–84.
27 ^ V.K. Raina. "Himalayan GlaciersA State-of-Art Review of Glacial Studies,Glacial Retreat and Climate Change" (PDF). Geological Survey of India. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
28 ^ Hewitt, K. "The Karakoram anomaly? Glacier Expansion and the ‘Elevation Effect,’ Karakoram Himalaya". Mt Res Dev 25 (4): 332–340.
29 ^ United Nations Environment Programme. "Global Warming Triggers Glacial Lakes Flood Threat – April 16, 2002". UNEP News Release 2002/20. Retrieved April 16, 2002.
30 ^ T. E. Khromova, M. B. Dyurgerov and R. G. Barry (2003). "Late-twentieth century changes in glacier extent in the Ak-shirak Range, Central Asia, determined from historical data and ASTER imagery (Abstract)". American Geophysical Union 30 (16): 1863.
31 ^ Kirby, Alex (September 4, 2003). "Kazakhstan's glaciers 'melting fast'". BBC News.
32 ^ V. Novikov. "Tajikistan 2002, State of the Environment Report". Climate Change. Retrieved March 3, 2003.
33 ^ "Global warming benefits to Tibet: Chinese official". Google.com. AFP. 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
