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GAO Finds Data Quality Problems With Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reports One hundred eighty eight countries, including the United States, have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under the Framework Convention, forty nations, including the United States, agreed to report annually on their greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide. The United States General Accounting Office recently issued a disturbing analysis of these reports. The GAO reviewed the greenhouse gas inventories submitted by four "economically developed nations": Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. It also tried to review inventories submitted by three "developing" nations: China, India and Mexico. Based on the GAO's initial review, its subsequent detailed analysis was a waste of time. There is no reason to believe the reported data are accurate, and any comparison of counties' reported emissions is pointless. In fact it is impossible. While the U.S. and U.K. data "were largely complete," Germany's and Japan's "lacked certain critical elements." At least they submitted something. Neither China nor India have submitted any inventory, and Mexico hasn't submitted one since 2001. Equally troubling is the fact that no one provided any "information on the quality assurance procedures used" in gathering the data and submitting them. This omission alone is enough to render all the data suspect and useless. Winston has heard a lot about global warming and its supposed cause by greenhouse gases emitted by humans. Winston is only a dog, but even he knows that you can't tell if there is a problem, how much of a problem, and who's causing it without reliable data. Based on the GAO Report, there are no such data at this time. |
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