Vitenskapsmenn på klimakonferansen mener Al Gore – med Jonas Gahr Støre ved sin side – ved å trekke frem de aller verste scenariene for issmelting gir argumenter til klimaskeptikerne. En forsker tok avstand fra Gores bruk av hans prognoser.

But his speech was roundly criticised by members of the climate science community. «This is an exaggeration that opens the science up to criticism from sceptics,» Professor Jim Overland, a leading oceanographer at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

«You really don’t need to exaggerate the changes in the Arctic.»

However, the climatologist whose work Mr Gore was relying upon dropped the former Vice-President in the water with an icy blast.

«It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at,» Dr Maslowski said. «I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this.»

Mr Gore’s office later admitted that the 75 per cent figure was one used by Dr Maslowksi as a «ballpark figure» several years ago in a conversation with Mr Gore.
……
Others said that, even if quoted correctly, Dr Maslowski’s six-year projection for near-ice-free conditions is at the extreme end of the scale. Most climate scientists agree that a 20 to 30-year timescale is more likely for the near-disappearance of sea ice.

«Maslowski’s work is very well respected, but he’s a bit out on a limb,» said Professor Peter Wadhams, a specialist in ocean physics at the University of Cambridge.

Dr Maslowki, who works at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, said that his latest results give a six-year projection for the melting of 80 per cent of the ice, but he said he expects some ice to remain beyond 2020.

He added: «I was very explicit that we were talking about near-ice-free conditions and not completely ice-free conditions in the northern ocean. I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this,» he said. «It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at, based on the information I provided to Al Gore’s office.»

Inconvenient truth for Al Gore as his North Pole sums don’t add up