It's worth noting that the IPCC is considered by some to be too conservative in its estimates [1]. Just before they released their 2007 report, a paper was pub

It's worth noting that the IPCC is considered by some to be too conservative in its estimates [1]. Just before they released their 2007 report, a paper was published in Science comparing the predictions from the 2001 report with actual changes in global temperature and sea level. [2] While the 2001 report had forecasted a rise in temperature of 0.15C - 0.35C, the actual rise over that period was 0.33C. Meanwhile the rise in sea level over that period exceeded the IPCC's predicted maximums. So while the IPCC may be "dialing back" their predictions, they do have a known tendency to err on the side of conservatism. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change#Conservative_nature_of_IPCC_reports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Clim... [2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6321351.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6321351.stm