To the gasps of the audience, former VP Al Gore gave alarming statistics whie quoting scientists at the climate change summit:
Mr Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years.
In his speech, Mr Gore told the conference: “These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.”
There was only on problem, Gore's statements were false:
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.”
You might remember that Gore also dismissed the Climategate emails,
Al Gore says the Climate-gate e-mails, which some say impugn global warming science, are silly and dated: "I haven't read all the e-mails, but the most recent one is more than 10 years old." About the e-mails, Gore used the "10 years old" line three times in recent interviews.
Unfortunately (for Gore), this statement was also false:
Reports indicate the earliest e-mail in Climate-gate was sent March of 1996, but the most recent was less than one month old. E-mails discussing the "recent lack of warming" were sent in October of this year. And the note sent by climate research unit director Phil Jones asking colleagues to delete e-mails was sent in May of last year.
I have to wonder how Al Gore expected to get away with these erroneous statements? Perhaps he was use to acting upon the reputations of a small group of conspirators, the ClimateGate scientists, who enjoyed immense respect, admiration, prestige and money. Gore trumpeted their wares and governments funded their research. Millions and millions were spent. Now, however, the illusion has been shattered and gross exaggerations are no longer par for the course.
What's terribly inconvenient (for taxpayers) is Al Gore's inconvenient loot.
[...] Copenhagen was supposed to be the crowning moment for the ecovangelist-in-chief, he even got to hang out with a man who won an election. Instead the world seemed more interested in Al’s gaffes: [...]
[...] Copenhagen was supposed to be the crowning moment for the ecovangelist-in-chief, he even got to hang out with a man who won an election. Instead the world seemed more interested in Al’s gaffes: [...]