The AP's Angela Charlton had a chance to ask an AP reader's question during her interview with U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer at the World Economic Forum on Friday.
Joseph Abeles had noted the climate change skepticism after the recent admission that a report warning Himalayan glaciers could be gone by 2035 was hundreds of years off, and by leaked e-mails from University of East Anglia's climate science unit. Abeles asked: "Post-East-Anglia, whom are we to believe? ... A nagging concern is the enduring and pervasive use of the term "consensus" to describe experts' conclusions."
De Boer said "What's happened, it's unfortunate, it's bad, it's wrong, but I don't think it has damaged the basic science." He was unequivocal about the fact that global warming is real and is a clear threat to the planet. He said skeptics of such beliefs should not be claiming victory just because of the recent scandals.
"Concluding that the Himalayan glaciers are going to disappear later is like being happy about the fact that the Titanic is sinking more slowly than we had originally feared, even though it's still going to sink," he said.
De Boer also said he was "depressed" after the December climate talks in Copenhagen failed to produce a binding accord to cut global carbon emissions and pay poor countries to deal with higher sea levels.
Click here for AP's full story on climate talks at the forum, where participants are discussing ways that governments, big business and activists can work together to find a path that is effective environmentally but won't break the bank.
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