The release of the second of four IPCC reports is imminent.
However, one is wondering about this detail in proceeding:
while the reports have been written by scientists and experts in their field, now a conference of political representatives is already cutting, editing and censoring it and tries to soften up the summary for policymakers. the cuts are severe, for example the report's conclusion that a raise in in temperature by merely 1.5-2.5 degree will lead to the extinction of 25-30% of the globe's botanical and zoological species is about to be not mentioned in the "corrected" version. Also, calculations about the financial and economical costs/damages, according to political delegates, should not be mentioned in the final version that is to be released to the public.
One is wondering why politicians can consider themselves to be more expert in scientific fields than scientists themselves who took together the data.
The delegate from Belgium compared the conference now to the conference of Munich in 1938. He said like in 1938 now is the time to decide wether one want to act, or not. His reminder of the appeasement policy wins in relevance when considering this political censoring of a scientific report taking place even before it got released.
http://www.welt.de/politik/article79...ssagen_ab.html
It also is not surprising who are the loudest voices to prevent the grim parts of the report being published: it is the US, Saudi Arabia, India, and China. All of them have high interests in preventing anything that could hinder their selling of oil, buying of oil, consuming of oil.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6532323.stm
All in all the report concludes that the poor of the world will be hit the worst by climate change. It is also pointed out that this report is not depending on assumptions on the future on the basis of models anymore, but on observed empirical data.