University Promises Probe of Climate Data
A British university said Thursday it would investigate whether scientists at its prestigious Climatic Research Unit fudged data on global warming.
Thousands of pieces of correspondence between some of the world's leading climate scientists were stolen from the unit at the University of East Anglia and leaked to the Internet late last month. Skeptics of man-made global warming say the e-mails are proof that scientists have been conspiring to hide evidence showing that global warming was not as strong as generally believed.
Phil Jones, the director of the unit, stepped down Tuesday pending the result of the investigation.
The university had promised a probe when Jones stepped down, but didn't specify what the investigation would encompass. Thursday's announcement was the first acknowledgment that the research itself would be under scrutiny.
East Anglia said its review will examine the e-mails and other information "to determine whether there is any evidence of the manipulation or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific practice."
The theft of the e-mails and their publication online — only weeks before the U.N. summit on global warming — has been politically explosive, even if researchers say their content has no bearing on the principles of climate change itself.
There was further criticism following the revelation that the university had thrown out much of the raw temperature data on which some of its global warming research was based. The university said in a statement last week that the data, stored on paper and magnetic tape, was dumped in the 1980s to save space when the unit moved to a new location.
The release of the data has prompted some lawmakers in Britain to warn that critics of climate change want to wreck any global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that could be achieved at the Dec. 7-18 U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen.
Ed Miliband, Britain's climate change secretary, on Thursday called those challenging the mainstream scientific view on climate change irresponsible and dangerous.
"We have to beware of the climate saboteurs, the people who want to say this is somehow in doubt, and want to cast aspersions on the whole process," Miliband told reporters.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have grilled government scientists on the matter, with U.S. lawmaker James Sensenbrenner arguing that the e-mails show the world needs to re-examine experts' claims that the science on warming is settled.
Sensenbrenner, a Republican lawmaker from Wisconsin, read out loud some of Jones' e-mail messages at a hearing Wednesday in Washington, including one in which Jones wrote about a "trick of adding in the real temps" in an exchange about long-term climate trends. Another of Jones' e-mails reads, "I would like to see the climate change happen so the science could be proved right."
Scientists called before House's climate change committee countered that the e-mails don't change the fact that the earth is warming.
"The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus ... that tells us the earth is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity," said Jane Lubchenco, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
She said the e-mails don't negate or even deal with data from her agency or the U.S. space agency NASA, which keep independent climate records that show dramatic global warming.
In London, Miliband said he had read some of the leaked East Anglia e-mails, but insisted sections which appear to show that scientists had manipulated data, or attempted to suppress contradictory evidence, had been largely taken out of context.
"One chain of e-mails does not undo scientific consensus which is broadly based and relatively universal," Miliband said.
The University of East Anglia's investigation comes in addition to a probe by Penn State University, which is also examining e-mails by its own researcher, Michael Mann.
East Anglia said former civil servant Muir Russell would lead the inquiry. Russell said he "has no links to either the university or the climate science community."
The university has asked that the review be completed by spring 2010.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Thousands of pieces of correspondence between some of the world's leading climate scientists were stolen from the unit at the University of East Anglia and leaked to the Internet late last month. Skeptics of man-made global warming say the e-mails are proof that scientists have been conspiring to hide evidence showing that global warming was not as strong as generally believed.
Phil Jones, the director of the unit, stepped down Tuesday pending the result of the investigation.
The university had promised a probe when Jones stepped down, but didn't specify what the investigation would encompass. Thursday's announcement was the first acknowledgment that the research itself would be under scrutiny.
East Anglia said its review will examine the e-mails and other information "to determine whether there is any evidence of the manipulation or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific practice."
The theft of the e-mails and their publication online — only weeks before the U.N. summit on global warming — has been politically explosive, even if researchers say their content has no bearing on the principles of climate change itself.
There was further criticism following the revelation that the university had thrown out much of the raw temperature data on which some of its global warming research was based. The university said in a statement last week that the data, stored on paper and magnetic tape, was dumped in the 1980s to save space when the unit moved to a new location.
The release of the data has prompted some lawmakers in Britain to warn that critics of climate change want to wreck any global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions that could be achieved at the Dec. 7-18 U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen.
Ed Miliband, Britain's climate change secretary, on Thursday called those challenging the mainstream scientific view on climate change irresponsible and dangerous.
"We have to beware of the climate saboteurs, the people who want to say this is somehow in doubt, and want to cast aspersions on the whole process," Miliband told reporters.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have grilled government scientists on the matter, with U.S. lawmaker James Sensenbrenner arguing that the e-mails show the world needs to re-examine experts' claims that the science on warming is settled.
Sensenbrenner, a Republican lawmaker from Wisconsin, read out loud some of Jones' e-mail messages at a hearing Wednesday in Washington, including one in which Jones wrote about a "trick of adding in the real temps" in an exchange about long-term climate trends. Another of Jones' e-mails reads, "I would like to see the climate change happen so the science could be proved right."
Scientists called before House's climate change committee countered that the e-mails don't change the fact that the earth is warming.
"The e-mails do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus ... that tells us the earth is warming, that warming is largely a result of human activity," said Jane Lubchenco, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
She said the e-mails don't negate or even deal with data from her agency or the U.S. space agency NASA, which keep independent climate records that show dramatic global warming.
In London, Miliband said he had read some of the leaked East Anglia e-mails, but insisted sections which appear to show that scientists had manipulated data, or attempted to suppress contradictory evidence, had been largely taken out of context.
"One chain of e-mails does not undo scientific consensus which is broadly based and relatively universal," Miliband said.
The University of East Anglia's investigation comes in addition to a probe by Penn State University, which is also examining e-mails by its own researcher, Michael Mann.
East Anglia said former civil servant Muir Russell would lead the inquiry. Russell said he "has no links to either the university or the climate science community."
The university has asked that the review be completed by spring 2010.
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I agree that this puts science in a bad light, and was unfortunate. But it does not change the facts behind climate change...
They made their study unreproducable by deleting their data. That makes it impossible for the paper to be peer reviewed. One of the most important aspects of the scientific method is for work to be peer reviewed. The scientific method is nothing without the allowance for peer review.
Folks - we are about to have the most important news story in of 2009 and maybe much longer be buried by news organizations who sold their souls to global warming.
Write your congressman and demand an investigation.
I'm not sure what data from NASA you want with your lawsuit. The NASA GISS raw data is available online.
Since many of the most powerful corporations and countries on this planet will lose a bundle if GW remediation takes place after Copenhagen (not likely), I find it hard to believe this 'controversy' will go away anytime soon. There's just too much money to be made by blowing smoke over the truth.
We await with baited breath what molehill you're going to blow up into a mountain next.
[250ppm is the 'natural' value of CO2 in our atmosphere. Its where its been for the last 600,000 years, maintained by vegetation and ocean CO2 'breathing'. Thanks to humankind: CO2 levels are now at 390ppm, levels they haven't been at for 15 million years, when sea-level was 75-150ft higher than it is today.]
Basically, the GW deniers want you to believe that if you eat a burger a day and maintain a constant weight, you can eat a BURGER AND A HALF a day AND NOT GAIN ANY WEIGHT!!! This puts the GW deniers somewhere south of the Jenny Craig weightloss system, in the believability department.
It honestly seems to be a requirement: to join the GW deniers, you have to throw out the sense God gave you, and import the Limbaugh Lies directly to your brain.
Theses emails mean nothing in the big picture... they do not change the science at all.
You will just say anything you can to avoid feeling responsible for doing something about climate change!
ABC didn't cover it. CBS didn't either. And NBC apparently wouldn't go near it. The network news have ignored a growing scandal over evidence of a potential climate cover-up ? and now they've even been scooped by the fake news at Comedy Central.
Not one of the network weekday morning and evening news shows addressed Climate-Gate.... this marked 12 days since the information was first uncovered that they have ignored this global scandal. An examination of morning and evening news programs on ABC, CBS and NBC since Nov. 20 yielded zero mentions of the scandal, even in the Nov. 25 reports about Obama going to Copenhagen to discuss the need for emissions reductions. To pretend this story simply doesn?t exist is damning to journalism.
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" produced its "reporting" on Climate-gate Tuesday night, when Stewart quipped, ?Poor Al Gore. Global warming completely debunked via the very Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. you invented. Oh, oh, the irony!?
Stewart described leaked emails from Britain's University of East Anglia, including one referring to a researcher's "trick" to "hide the decline" in some temperature readings in recent decades. "It's just scientist-speak for using a standard statistical technique ? recalibrating data -? in order to trick you," Stewart said sarcastically.
"Why would you throw out raw data from the '80s? I still have Penthouses from the '70s!" he joked.
Nearly two weeks since news broke of the scandal, a leading climate scientist has resigned, at least one U.S. lawmaker has called for an investigation.
Climate Change Scientists Admit Dumping Data
Also, the IPCC estimated in 2007 that the cost of GW remediation would come to 0.12% of global GDP over the next 50 years. OK, that's still trillions of dollars, over 50 years, but its not the Armageddon that many deniers are painting.
Methinks the climate alarmists are the ones who we need to beware of. The "Chicken Little" syndrome which permeates from their political spin machine is in despearate need of a cure.
Possible Suppression of Data. Give me a break. How about criminal suppression of data. Throw the bums out.
"GLOBAL WARMING CRISIS BASED ON FABRICATED DATA" should be the headline - but nobody - nobody is running that fact.
Most people don't find anything in the emails to suggest CRU has been miscompiling their data significantly. Your 'lost' data may refer to tree ring proxy temperatures, which everyone now knows don't accurately trend instrument temperatures since 1960, and the scientists aren't sure why. CRU is only one of three sources of surface temperature compilations, so I hardly think 'climategate' is the magic bullet you deniers are looking for, especially since surface temperatures are only a small, even insignificant, piece of the data puzzle GW is affecting. If CRU is completely wrong, how does that affect ocean temperature measurements, which show warming? Measurements of Arctic ice loss? Greenland and Antarctic ice mass loss? Growing seasons expanding? Pine beetles expanding? Deserts growing? Sea levels rising? CRU doesn't deal with ANY of those data streams.