IPCC did not consult me; relied on press interview: Hasnain

NEW DELHI: The controversy over the IPCC observations on melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035 took a new turn with glaciologist Syed Hasnain contending that he has never mentioned the time in his research papers which the UN body had included in its climate change report.

He also said that he was not even consulted by the IPCC for including his research papers in the report.

"I am unnecessarily being dragged into the controversy. The IPCC did not even consult me or ask me for my research papers for inclusion in the fourth assessment report," Hasnain, a Fellow with The Energy and Resources Institute, said.

The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), headed by Rajendra K Pachauri, has triggered a controversy with claims that the Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035 due to global warming.

The Indian government had questioned the finding last year and come out with its own report doubting the glacier melt at the pace the IPCC had predicted.

The IPCC findings were based on Hasnain's interview to "New Scientist" magazine in 1999 which were used by Murari Lal who had edited the chapter on glaciers for the IPCC report.

Lal claimed Hasnain had "misled" the entire scientific community by making the claims and IPCC had relied on his remarks made in the interview "in good faith".

"I do not understand why they picked only the interview I had given to New Scientist. I have not mentioned the year 2035 in any of the research papers written by me," Hasnain said.