UN asks: Did British experts
exaggerate climate data?
05 December 2009 By BRIAN FERGUSON Scotsman.com
THE "Climategate" row threatening to overshadow
next week's international global warming summit
has taken a dramatic new twist.
• Nepal's cabinet meeting at the Mount Everest
base camp
The United Nations yesterday ordered a full
inquiry into claims leading British scientists
have been manipulating data to exaggerate climate
change.
A senior UN official on global warming intervened
the day after the University of East Anglia
unveiled its own investigation into allegations
its staff have been conspiring to hide key
evidence.
Saudi Arabia's lead climate negotiator said the
row was likely to have a "huge impact" on crucial
talks in Copenhagen, which start on Monday.
However, a colleague of one researcher forced to
stand down over the row accused sceptics of
launching a "tabloid-style character
assassination", while Climate Change Secretary Ed
Miliband hit out at "flat Earthers" trying to
undermine climate research.
Leaked e-mail exchanges from the university's
climate research unit (CRU) appear to show its
scientists discussing with peers around the globe
various ways to shield data from public scrutiny
and suppress the work of others.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) will investigate claims that the hacked
e-mails have revealed a conspiracy to boost the
evidence for man-made global warming.
Professor Phil Jones, head of the CRU, has stepped
down pending the university's own review, which
will be headed by former Glasgow University
principal Sir Muir Russell.
Prof Jones has strenuously denied claims –
published on websites run by climate-change
sceptics – that he has tried to have evidence
withheld from the summit in Copenhagen. And he
dismissed suggestions of a conspiracy to alter
evidence in support of a theory branding man-made
climate change "complete rubbish".
But Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, said
the claims were "serious" and could not be
"brushed under the carpet".
Sir Muir said: "Given the nature of the
allegations, it is right someone who has no links
to either the university or the climate science
community looks at the evidence and makes
recommendations based on what they find."
However, his inquiry – which will explore the
unit's policies and practices for acquiring,
assembling, reviewing and publishing data and
research – will not be completed until the spring.
A police investigation is also under way into the
theft of the data, which includes more than 1,000
e-mails sent from or to members of the CRU.
• United States president Barack Obama yesterday
abruptly altered the timing of his appearance at
the Copenhagen summit, hoping to capitalise on
steps taken by India and China and so build a more
meaningful political accord, the White House said.
The move means Mr Obama will be there on 18
December, instead of at the opening session. More
leaders will be in attendance on the revised date.
THE EMAILS AT THE CENTRE OF THE ROW, AND WHAT THEY
COULD MEAN
From: Phil Jones, Nov 1999
I've just completed Mike's Nature (the science
journal] trick of adding in the real temps … to
hide the decline
• CRITICS cite this as evidence that data was
manipulated to mask the fact that global
temperatures are falling. Prof Jones claims the
meaning of "trick" has been misinterpreted.
From: Phil Jones, March 2003
I will be emailing the journal to tell them I'm
having nothing more to do with it until they rid
themselves of this troublesome editor.
• PROF JONES appears to be lobbying for the
dismissal of the editor of Climate Research, a
scientific journal that published papers
downplaying climate change.
From Phil Jones, July 2004
I can't see these papers being in the next IPCC
report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow –
even if we have to redefine what peer-review
literature is!
• THE IPCC is the UN body charged with monitoring
climate change. The scientists did not want it to
consider studies that challenge the view that
global warming is genuine and man-made.
From: Michael Mann, August 2004
Phil and I are likely to have to respond to more
crap criticisms from the idiots in the near
future.
• THE scientists make no attempt to hide their
disdain for climate change sceptics who request
more information about their work.
From Phil Jones, May 2008
Can you delete any emails you may have had with
Keith re AR4? Keith will do likewise.
• CLIMATE change sceptics tried to use Freedom of
Information to obtain raw climate data submitted
to an IPCC report known as AR4. The scientists did
not want their email exchanges about the data to
be made public.
From: Kevin Trenberth, October 2009
The fact is that we can't account for the lack of
warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we
can't.
• PROF TRENBERTH appears to accept a key argument
of global warming sceptics – that there is no
evidence temperatures have increased over the past
10 years.
EX-CIVIL SERVANT TO HEAD PROBE
SIR Muir Russell, who will lead an investigation
into allegations regarding research by the
Climatic Research Unit, is a former civil servant
and former principal of the University of Glasgow.
The 60-year-old became principal of Glasgow
University in October 2003.
Prior to his appointment, he was permanent
secretary to the Scottish Executive since its
establishment in July 1999, following devolution.
In Lord Fraser of Carmyllie's report into the cost
of the Scottish Parliament building, Sir Muir was
criticised for not properly informing politicians
of the massive overspend.
He joined the Scottish Office in 1970. He was
secretary of the Scottish Development Agency on
its establishment in Glasgow in 1975, and was
principal private secretary to the secretary of
state for Scotland from 1981 to 1983.
Page 1 of 1
Last Updated: 05 December 2009 12:43 AM Source:
The Scotsman Location: Edinburgh Related Topics:
Climate change Bookmark: Del.icio.us Digg Facebook
reddit StumbleUpon
1 Cynicus Unbound,04/12/2009 23:53:16 The wheels
are coming off the manmade global warming banwagon.
Some of has known for years that anthropogenic
global warming (AGW) has been a massive con in
which science has prostituted itse;f to politics.
Now, at the University of East Anglia we find data
being rigged to screen out results out of line
with their model's predictions, repeated refusals
to allow other scholars access to raw data, the
actual DESTRUCTION of raw data sets, the exclusion
of "off-message" scholars from the IPCC input and
a bunch of cronies peer revieing each other's
"research."
At the UK level this is a disgrace far worse than
the fiddling of MPs' expenses. Like crooked MPs,
some of the UEA CRU scientists may end up in jail.
On an international level, tens, possibly
hundreds, of billions of dollars have been
miappropriated. It's never glad confident morning
again for the true believers of AGW. The US
Congress and the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia,
India, China) will ensure that.Report Unsuitable2
Cynicus Unbound,04/12/2009 23:58:56
"SIR Muir Russell... will lead an investigation
into allegations"
This mandarin turned academic is an inappropriate
choice. As the top civil servant in Scotland he
presided over the destruction of much of
Scotland's countryside by windfarm pollution.
Presumably, he took the "science" of AGW for
granted. How then can he conduct an impartial
inquiry into the fakers, fraudsters and academic
mafiosi in East Anglia?Report Unsuitable3 Stephen
Wayne Foster,Miami, Florida 05/12/2009 00:12:41
Antarctica shows no signs of global warming. This
has been explained away by saying that there is a
hole in the ozone layer there. Notice that this
hole is located in a region where nobody lives,
and we must take the evidence on faith, since none
of us will go there to see if the hole is really
there.Report Unsuitable4 Cynicus
Unbound,05/12/2009 00:26:46 "Antarctica shows no
signs of global warming"-#3 Stephen Wayne Foster
Correct.
On the contrary, the evidence points the other way
with the thickening of glacial ice-sheets.
The ozone layer baloney is a typical escape clause
of the sort wheeled out by AGW pseudo-science when
their pet hypothesis is discredited.
Their MODUS OPERANDI is to cherry-pick the
observational data compatible with the predictions
of their models and to conjure an AD HOC
hypothesis to explain away every contradiction.
This is no more science than is astrology or
palmistry.
It is time to show these charlatans the door. And
to boot out their political partners in crime
along with them.Report Unsuitable5 Anthony,Glasgow
05/12/2009 00:49:43 Ed Milliband said:
"We must resist that, and keep listening to the
science and not subscribe to people who are
frankly flat Earth-ers," he said.
From: Phil Jones, March 2003
"I will be emailing the journal to tell them I'm
having nothing more to do with it until they rid
themselves of this troublesome editor."
This demonstrates that the only scientists who are
going to be allowed to be left in post, are those
serving the climate change mafia. Right or wrong,
all others are clearly to be 'dealt with'.Report
Unsuitable6 Unimpressed one,05/12/2009 01:08:31
Just watched the disgraceful behaviour of a
professor Robert Watson from the UEA on Newsnight
who was put up to defend the actions of his
colleagues at the CRU (seems that no-one from the
actual CRU was willing to be interviewed). He was
joined by an American skeptic, Marc Marano in a US
studio.
When asked what was to be made of the most
infamous email, 'hide the decline, etc', Watson
parroted the usual gibberish that it had all been
taken out of context. Marano countered that a
number of IPCC reviewers had called the material
from the CRU to be investigated and how one of the
CRU's own scientists, Mike Hulme, had called for
the IPCC to be disbanded. The response from Watson
will certainly go down as one of the most
unedifying tirades ever witnessed by an
interviewee on the programme. He told Marano to
shut-up, viewers also saw him gesticulating
perhaps when he thought he was off camera, but on
the split screen could be seen mocking Marano. His
final insult was to say, "This guy's an asshole".
This was not the actions of a scientist defending
the cause of robust science but more the actions
of a rat caught in a trap spitting abuse at its
captors. He will have surely trashed any
credibility the UEA tried to retain over this
whole affair, and most probably sealed the fate of
Jones with his pathetic responses. No doubt this
gem of an interview will be aired on US networks
and, of course, will be on Youtube for the whole
world to see. Report Unsuitable7 Col. Blimp
IV*,05/12/2009 01:09:38 When the Vikings settled
in Greenland a thousand years ago...were they
being sarcastic when they named the place Green
Land?
Or was their Leader a guy called Eric the
Green?Report Unsuitable8 Col. Blimp IV*,05/12/2009
01:13:05 Hughie Green is the patron of the AGW
Inquisition, for them...Opportunity Knocks!Report
Unsuitable9 Unimpressed one,05/12/2009 01:20:17
Hello Scotsman, welcome to one of the greatest
scientific scams since Piltdown man. However this
is old news now.
Just for the sake of completeness, why not mention
the doctored computer code? You know, the stuff
that 'proves' to the UN, politicians, the greenies
(well maybe not the green bams they don't need
proof of anything) and the taxpayers? All experts
who have examined it agree is absolute garbage.
Get stuck in, root around. There's more liquid
brown stuff here than you'd find in a major
dysentery outbreak.Report Unsuitable10 Unimpressed
one,05/12/2009 01:22:03 #2, Did he not have
something to do with the poll tax as well? Lovely
man...Report Unsuitable11 Voldemort,Edinburgh
05/12/2009 01:25:59 I had to laugh tonight about
the BBC coverage on Climategate !
So utterly bias it is almost unspeakable. Only
when they REALLY had to after reams of complaints
have they put on a tiny bit of reportage.
I would love to see Lord Monckton get some
mainstream media on the Equally bias ITV and BBC
....
Climategate PROVES that the figures were
manipulated and falsified. it also proves that the
truth about global warming was suppressed and
those who tried to tell the truth were subjected
to the most indecent hate campaigns.
Media and government propaganda on climate change
has been relentless - particularly targeting
children.
If copenhagen goes ahead in light of this then it
discredits ALL who sign it as either Gullible
twits or sinister totalitarian twits !
Just the fact that Gordon Brown reckons it is a
good thing to sign over more power to another
unelected body means that it is definitely a bad
thing !!
Gogs Broon is desperate man doing desperate things
(did anyone else watch 'downfall' on Film4 tonight
? - watch it replayed in the Labour party bunker
as they try and poison the water for the incoming
tory party .... jut like they did when they
realised the SNP were going to win in Scotland --
they pushed through all sorts of stupidity and
malicious policy to try and make the incoming
administration look bad.
I dare the BBC/ITV to get Al Gore( or even that
twirp Ed Milliband) and Lord Monckton on a prime
time televised debate ..... Lord Monckton would
wipe the floor with them which why they will never
give us the pleasure nor allow their bubble to be
burst so publicly!
But questions do have to be asked as to how these
lies were told for so long and why the reporting
was so bias for years and our children have been
so aggressively fed this deception in their very
own schools !
Heads must roll and the madness must stop
immediately.Report Unsuitable12 Unimpressed
one,05/12/2009 01:35:11 #11, i believe AGW in the
beginning was a fairly plausible hypothesis and no
doubt before the gravy train started, many
researchers were probably quite unbiased. However
once the green movement smelt a cause to hijack
and convinced the politicians and the media to get
on board, there was no stopping the runaway train.
Climate scientists found themselves being plucked
from obscurity and thrust into the world stage and
their science was suddenly awash with hard cash.
Just look at what the CRU alone brought in over
less than 20 years:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ah4XLQCleuUYdFIxMnhMNnlXb2JQcDZUendjUXpWWUE&hl=en
Multiply this several times over and you begin to
understand why the myth must be protected at all
costs.Report Unsuitable13 Mallory,Edinburgh
05/12/2009 01:51:11 The BBC were sent the 'climategate'
documents over a month ago yet failed to report on
a major story affecting the world. Note that in
the USA the major TV networks have also been
remarkably lax in reporting or commenting on this.
Why?
According to Politiken Copenhagen's prostitutes
are offering free sex to delegates to COP15!Report
Unsuitable14 Thomas the Tank,Edinburgh 05/12/2009
08:14:58 Interesting this story isn't covered by
the Hootsmon's freelance 'Environment
Correspondent', Jenny Fyall/Haworth who provided
that hysterical piece in last week's Scotchland on
the Sabbath (4Bn will die unless we get a deal at
Copenhagen). Is she sulking, hands over ears going
'La La La can't hear you' And where's the
obnoxious Dr Dixon and the other moonhowlers for a
'comment'?Report Unsuitable
Comment on this Story
