I know this story well about climate science. I am pretty sure it happens all the time in every scientific field that has social implications.
- The scientific paper details the uncertainties
- The IPCC chapter mentions the uncertainties
- The IPCC SPM (summary for policymakers) contains some indication of the uncertainties inside one item in the bibliography
- The Press Release doesn’t have space for the uncertainties apart from a side remark in the middle of the text
- The interviewed scientist is not asked about the uncertainties
- The journalistic article isn’t interested in the uncertainties
- The policymaker either doesn’t know the uncertainties exist, or pivots all his/her career about some of the uncertainties as reported to him/her third- or fourth-hand.
Broken telephones all around…
