Geneva, Feb 15: Under the public scanner for making erroneous prediction on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has admitted its mistake for stating that 55 per cent of Netherlands is under sea level in its key report, while the region was only at risk of flooding.

Earlier in Feb, IPCC was asked by the Dutch government to explain the figure which indicates that only 26 percent of the country is below sea level.

In a note sent to a news agency, the IPCC admitted that the figure of 55 percent includes the area of Netherland which was actually at the 'risks of being flooded'.

However, the panel added that the conclusion of the report remains unhampered by the imprecision.

Admitting the mistake, IPCC said in the note that the 938-page Fourth Assessment Report should actually mean "either the area below the highest sea-level reached during storms, or the total area of the country that is prone to flooding from the sea and rivers."

"Therefore, a preliminary analysis suggests that the sentence discussed should end with: 'because 55 per cent of The Netherlands is at risk of flooding'," the note said, adding that the figure was supplied by the Dutch government agency.

This shameful mistake by IPCC came just as the panel was trying to recover from an erroneous claim of the Himalayan glacier melting due to global warming by 2035, which is included in the same Climate Report.

On Feb 5, a news agency report quoted Dutch environment ministry spokesman Trimo Vallaart saying that IPCC had made use of figure which shows the area below sea level as 26 per cent and the area threatened by river flooding as 29 per cent.

OneIndia News