Take more care over glacier facts

Abstract

We find it most unfortunate that as a leading journal you introduced crucial factual errors into an article on Himalayan glaciers (see J. R. Laghari Nature 502, 617–618; 2013, and Correction Nature 503, 464; 2013), particularly in light of lessons learned from the ‘glaciergate’ scandal that threatened the reputation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2010. Glaciers seem to be peculiarly at risk from careless errors (J. G. Cogley et al. Science 327, 522; 2010, and J. S. Kargel et al. The Cryosphere 6, 533–537; 2012), as well as from climate change. Editors should follow the IPCC’s example and sharpen up their fact-checking procedures. Alex S. Gardner Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. agardner@clarku.edu *On behalf of 4 co-signatories (see go.nature.com/gx2t9y for full list). Recycle