UN climate panel admits mistake

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a Nobel Prize winning scientific body tasked with assessing the risk of climate change caused by human activity, has come under fire in recent days for an error in its 2007 report.

The panel, which is considered the world's most reliable source of information on climate change, had falsely predicted that Himalayan glaciers would disappear by 2035.

Rajendra Pachauri, the head of IPCC, has now admitted to a mistake being in arriving at the 2035 prediction, but also defended the fact that the melting is a serious concern.

He has accused US lobbying groups for being behind the exaggerated criticism.

From New Delhi, Al Jazeera's Prerna Suri reports on the controversy.

[January 24. 2010]