DreamLucid (talk | contribs) →E-mail controversy: Neutral language...no charges have been filed to date |
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== E-mail controversy == |
== E-mail controversy == |
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{{Main|Climatic Research Unit email controversy}} |
{{Main|Climatic Research Unit email controversy}} |
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In November 2009, [[Hacker (computing)|hackers]] gained access to a server used by the CRU and |
In November 2009, [[Hacker (computing)|hackers]] gained access to a server used by the CRU and obtained a large quantity of data, anonymously posting online more than 1,000 emails and more than 2,000 other documents.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hackers target leading climate research unit|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8370282.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=20 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Climate Strife Comes to Light|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125883405294859215.html|publisher=The Wall Street Journal|date=23 November 2009}}</ref> Some climate change sceptics and bloggers have asserted that a number of the leaked e-mails contain evidence that scientists had [[Conspiracy (civil)|conspired]] to manipulate data<ref>{{cite web |author=Stringer, David |date=21 November 2009 |url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikaqlFpp9jCRHWN0zNuamKXfyeMgD9C441LG0 |title=Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate |publisher=Associated Press |quote=Some climate change skeptics and bloggers claim the information shows scientists have overstated the case for global warming, and allege the documents contain proof that some researchers have attempted to manipulate data.}}</ref><ref name = "RevkinNYT">Revkin, Andrew. (2009, Nov. 20). [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/science/earth/21climate.html?_r=1 Hacked E-Mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute]. New York Times. Global Edition: Environment. Accessed 11-23-2009.</ref> and to keep scientists who have contrary views out of peer-review literature.<ref name="wsj climate emails">Johnson, Keith. [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125883405294859215.html Climate Emails Stoke Debate] ''The Wall Street Journal''. 23 November 2009.</ref><ref name=cru-update>Bailey, Ronald. [http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/01/the-scientific-tragedy-of-clim The Scientific Tragedy of Climategate] ''Reason''. 1 December 2009</ref> Critics of the [[climate change consensus]] assert that the e-mails undermine the theory that global warming is being caused by human activities and have dubbed the incident "Climategate."<ref>{{cite news|title=Colleague defends 'ClimateGate' professor|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8396035.stm|date=4 December 2009|accessdate=4 December 2009|publisher=BBC News|quote="Critics of the scientific consensus have claimed that the e-mails undermine the case that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are causing global warming, and have dubbed the issue "ClimateGate"."}}</ref> All these accusations have been denied by CRU spokepersons, and the CRU's researchers stated that the e-mails had been taken out of context and merely reflect an honest exchange of ideas.<ref>{{cite news|last=Eilperin|first=Juliet|title=Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112004093.html|work=The Washington Post|date=21 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sceptics publish climate e-mails 'stolen from East Anglia University'|last=Webster|first=Ben|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6926325.ece|work=The Times|date=21 November 2009}}</ref> |
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Professor [[Phil Jones (climatologist)|Phil Jones]], Director of the Climatic Research Unit, temporarily stood aside from his post on 1 December 2009 pending an independent review.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-change-confe/6703400/Professor-at-centre-of-climate-change-email-row-stands-down-temporarily.html|title=Professor at centre of climate change email row stands down temporarily|date=1 December 2009|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> He has called the charges that the emails involve any "untoward" activity "ludicrous."<ref name=cru-update>{{cite web|url=http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2009/nov/CRU-update|title=CRU Update 1 December|date=1 December 2009|publisher=UEA CRU|accessdate=2009-12-01}}</ref> |
Professor [[Phil Jones (climatologist)|Phil Jones]], Director of the Climatic Research Unit, temporarily stood aside from his post on 1 December 2009 pending an independent review.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-change-confe/6703400/Professor-at-centre-of-climate-change-email-row-stands-down-temporarily.html|title=Professor at centre of climate change email row stands down temporarily|date=1 December 2009|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> He has called the charges that the emails involve any "untoward" activity "ludicrous."<ref name=cru-update>{{cite web|url=http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2009/nov/CRU-update|title=CRU Update 1 December|date=1 December 2009|publisher=UEA CRU|accessdate=2009-12-01}}</ref> |
Revision as of 02:38, 23 July 2010
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Hubert_Lamb_Building.jpg/220px-Hubert_Lamb_Building.jpg)
The Climatic Research Unit (CRU) is a component of the University of East Anglia and is one of the leading institutions concerned with the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change.[1]
It has around thirty research scientists and students and has developed a number of the data sets widely used in climate research, including the global temperature record used to monitor the state of the climate system,[2] as well as statistical software packages and climate models.[3]
History
The CRU was founded in 1971 as part of the university's School of Environmental Sciences. The establishment of the Unit owed much to the support of Sir Graham Sutton, a former Director-General of the Meteorological Office, Lord Solly Zuckerman, an adviser to the University, and Professors Keith Clayton and Brian Funnel, Deans of the School of Environmental Sciences in 1971 and 1972.[4][5] Initial sponsors included British Petroleum, the Nuffield Foundation and Royal Dutch Shell.[5] The Rockefeller Foundation was another early benefactor, and the Wolfson Foundation gave the Unit its current building in 1986.[4] Since the second half of the 1970s the Unit has also received funding through a series of contracts with the United States Department of Energy to support the work of those involved in climate reconstruction and analysis of the effects on climate of greenhouse gas emissions.[6]
The first director of the unit was Professor Hubert Lamb.[5] He had led research into climatic variation at the Met Office and was chair of the UN's World Meteorological Organisation, which already studied climate trends and the effect of pollution upon them.[5] The possibility of major weather changes and flooding attracted attention to the unit and sponsorship by major insurance companies wanting to mitigate their potential losses.[5] Prior to the Unit's establishment, it had widely been believed by the meteorological establishment that the climate was essentially constant and unvarying.[7] Lamb and others in the climatological community had for years argued that the climate system was in fact highly variable on timescales of decades to centuries and longer. The establishment of the CRU enabled Lamb and his colleagues to focus on this issue and eventually to win the argument decisively.[4]
Hubert Lamb retired in 1978. His successors were Tom Wigley (1978–93), Trevor Davies (1993–1998), Jean Palutikof and Phil Jones (jointly 1998-2004), Phil Jones (2004–2009) and Peter Liss as acting director (2009- ).[8][9] In 1984, the unit moved to a new cylindrical building designed by Rick Mather.[10] In 2006, this was named the Hubert Lamb Building in honour of the first director.
Activities
At the time of its establishment the CRU set out four key aims, which still remain valid:
- To establish firmer knowledge of the history of climate in the recent and distant past.
- To monitor and report on current climatic developments on a global scale.
- To identify the processes (natural and man-made) at work in climatic fluctuations and the characteristic timescales of their evolution.
- To investigate the possibilities of making advisory statements about future trends of weather and climate from a season to many years ahead, based on acceptable scientific methods and in a form likely to be useful for long-term planning purposes.[11]
One of the CRU's most significant products is the global near-surface temperature record compiled in conjunction with the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research. First compiled in the early 1980s, the record documents global temperature fluctuations since the 1850s. The CRU compiles the land component of the record and the Hadley Centre provides the marine component. The merged record is used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in all its publications.[6] It is also involved in a study of Eurasian climate over the last 10,000 years based upon tree ring data and a study of European climate in the last 200 years based upon temperature records.[12] It is a participant in MEDALUS — the Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use project.[12] The ultimate custodians of the raw data are the national meteorological services that originated the data; CRU retains most but not all the raw data.[13]
It published a quarterly journal, Climate Monitor.[12] This ceased publication in 1998, being replaced by an online version, Climate Monitor Online.[14]
The CRU collates data from many sources around the world. The CRU's director, Phil Jones, told the science journal Nature that he was working to make the data publicly available with the agreement of its owners but this was expected to take some months, and objections were anticipated from national meteorological services that made money from selling the data. It was not free to share that data without the permission of its owners because of confidentiality agreements, including with institutions in Spain, Germany, Bahrain and Norway, that restricted the data to academic use. In some cases the agreements were made orally, and some of the written agreements had been lost during a move. Despite this, the Climate Research Unit has been the focus of attention by climate change sceptics who have made numerous requests under the Freedom of Information Act for data used by the unit's scientists. Nature reported that in the course of five days in July 2009 the CRU had been "inundated" with 58 FOI requests from Stephen McIntyre and people affiliated with his blog Climate Audit requesting access to raw climate data or information about their use.[15]
E-mail controversy
In November 2009, hackers gained access to a server used by the CRU and obtained a large quantity of data, anonymously posting online more than 1,000 emails and more than 2,000 other documents.[16][17] Some climate change sceptics and bloggers have asserted that a number of the leaked e-mails contain evidence that scientists had conspired to manipulate data[18][19] and to keep scientists who have contrary views out of peer-review literature.[20][21] Critics of the climate change consensus assert that the e-mails undermine the theory that global warming is being caused by human activities and have dubbed the incident "Climategate."[22] All these accusations have been denied by CRU spokepersons, and the CRU's researchers stated that the e-mails had been taken out of context and merely reflect an honest exchange of ideas.[23][24]
Professor Phil Jones, Director of the Climatic Research Unit, temporarily stood aside from his post on 1 December 2009 pending an independent review.[25] He has called the charges that the emails involve any "untoward" activity "ludicrous."[21]
Sir Muir Russell has been named as the independent reviewer with a mandate to 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 and may therefore call into question any of the research outcomes."[26]
Three independent investigations have cleared the Unit of major improprieties, criticizing only its lack of transparency.[27]
References
- ^ Brown, Craig (8 February 2005). "The forecast for Scotland: wet, wet, wet". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
- ^ "Global temperature 2008: Another top-ten year". Met Office. 2008-01-03. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
- ^ "About the Climatic Research Unit". Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ^ a b c Lamb, H.H.; Clayton, K.M.; Wigley, T.M.L. (1997). "The Climatic Research Unit at Twenty-five Years". In Hulme, Michael; Barrrow, Elaine (eds.). Climates of the British Isles: present, past and future. Routledge. p. xxvii-xxix. ISBN 9780415130165.
- ^ a b c d e Michael Sanderson (2002), The history of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, p. 285, ISBN 9781852853365
- ^ a b Hulme & Barrow (1997), p. xxviii
- ^ Maunder, W.J. (1986). The uncertainty business: risks and opportunities in weather and climate. Taylor & Francis. p. 6. ISBN 9780416361001.
- ^ "History of the Climatic Research Unit". Climatic Research Unit. Retrieved 2009-12-18.
- ^ "CRU Update 3". 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
- ^ Michael Sanderson (2002), The history of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, p. 345, ISBN 9781852853365
- ^ Climate Research Unit Monthly Bulletin, 1972, vol. 1, p. 9
- ^ a b c David D. Kemp (1998), The environment dictionary, pp. 72–3, ISBN 9780415127523
- ^ Bravender, Robin (2009-10-14). "CLIMATE: Scientists return fire at sceptics in 'destroyed data' dispute". Greenwire.
- ^ Climate Monitor Online, 2004
- ^ "Climate data spat intensifies". Nature. No. 460. 12 August 2009. p. 787. Subscription or payment required to read article.
- ^ "Hackers target leading climate research unit". BBC News. 20 November 2009.
- ^ "Climate Strife Comes to Light". The Wall Street Journal. 23 November 2009.
- ^ Stringer, David (21 November 2009). "Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate". Associated Press.
Some climate change skeptics and bloggers claim the information shows scientists have overstated the case for global warming, and allege the documents contain proof that some researchers have attempted to manipulate data.
- ^ Revkin, Andrew. (2009, Nov. 20). Hacked E-Mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute. New York Times. Global Edition: Environment. Accessed 11-23-2009.
- ^ Johnson, Keith. Climate Emails Stoke Debate The Wall Street Journal. 23 November 2009.
- ^ a b Bailey, Ronald. The Scientific Tragedy of Climategate Reason. 1 December 2009 Cite error: The named reference "cru-update" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Colleague defends 'ClimateGate' professor". BBC News. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
Critics of the scientific consensus have claimed that the e-mails undermine the case that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are causing global warming, and have dubbed the issue "ClimateGate".
- ^ Eilperin, Juliet (21 November 2009). "Hackers steal electronic data from top climate research center". The Washington Post.
- ^ Webster, Ben (21 November 2009). "Sceptics publish climate e-mails 'stolen from East Anglia University'". The Times.
- ^ "Professor at centre of climate change email row stands down temporarily". The Daily Telegraph. 1 December 2009.
- ^ "University in climate flap details inquiry - Climate Change- msnbc.com". www.msnbc.msn.com. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
- ^ http://www.aolnews.com/article/climategate-scientists-honest-but-not-open/19545190