Merchants of Doubt

by

Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Term Analysis

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a committee of thousands of scientists who advise the international community on the current state of climate research. It is widely considered the leading global authority on climate science.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Quotes in Merchants of Doubt

The Merchants of Doubt quotes below are all either spoken by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or refer to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
).
Introduction Quotes

Every scientific paper and report has to go through the critical scrutiny of other experts: peer review. Scientific authors are required to take reviewers’ comments and criticisms seriously, and to fix any mistakes that may have been found. It’s a foundational ethic of scientific work: no claim can be considered valid—not even potentially valid—until it has passed peer review.

Related Characters: Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway (speaker), Benjamin Santer
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Term Timeline in Merchants of Doubt

The timeline below shows where the term Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) appears in Merchants of Doubt. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Introduction
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Capitalism and the Environment Theme Icon
...1988, the United Nations and World Meteorological Organization founded the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Scientists had long known that burning fossil fuels could warm the planet, and by the... (full context)
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Media Bias Theme Icon
Certainty, Doubt, and the Scientific Method Theme Icon
After the IPCC published its report, a group of physicists at a Washington, D.C. think tank started publicly... (full context)
Chapter 6
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
In 1995, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that humans were significantly warming the planet. Ten years later, even though virtually all... (full context)
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Media Bias Theme Icon
...change, just as they had done for ozone a few years before. They formed the IPCC and named Bert Bolin as its first chair. The administration also began investing in climate... (full context)
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
In 1990, the IPCC’s first report confirmed that greenhouse gases were the main cause of global warming and explained... (full context)
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
...global warming. He was also the convening lead author for a chapter in the second IPCC report, which means he was responsible for coordinating with 35 other climate scientists. After an... (full context)
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Capitalism and the Environment Theme Icon
A copy of the IPCC report was leaked before its official meeting, and Republican leaders began attacking Santer’s findings. At... (full context)
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
At the IPCC meeting, delegates from fossil fuel companies and oil-producing states questioned Santer’s work. The IPCC reached... (full context)
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Capitalism and the Environment Theme Icon
Media Bias Theme Icon
...Seitz publicly accused Santer of fraud in the Wall Street Journal. Santer and 40 other IPCC scientists wrote the Journal to explain that the changes were part of peer review, but... (full context)
Conclusion
Science, Trust, and Public Policy Theme Icon
Media Bias Theme Icon
...to try to speak for the group. When organizations do publish collective statements (like the IPCC’s lengthy reports), almost nobody reads them. (full context)