Misunderstandings in "Failure in communicating an environmental issue regarding melting ice in the polar regions and change of sea level"

Abstract

Endo et al. says that the sea level will be lower due to the ice in the polar region, and refers to the IPCC (Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change) assessment reports as if these reports would have supported the notion. The referred sections of IPCC reports, however, describe the effects of "polar ice sheets" of Antarctica and Greenland combined, and not "ice in the polar region" as Endo et al. says. The misinterpretations of these terms also lead to their unfounded and untenable criticism on the "White Paper on the Environment" published by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan. © 2010 The Japan Institute of Metals.