| A British university embroiled in
an email row has ordered a review of its climate researchers’
work after accusations that they distorted or hid evidence to
support the case for man-made global warming.
The University of East Anglia said external investigators
would check papers published by its Climatic Research Unit
(CRU)
- one of the world’s leading sources of data on changing temperatures.
The centre, which has contributed to UN climate reports,
is already under investigation after hackers broke
into its network and stole emails, which critics cite
as evidence that scientists manipulated, suppressed and hyped
climate data. More than 1,000 leaked emails were put on the
internet last November, leading to a police investigation
into who stole them and doubts about climate science’s accuracy
and reliability.
Britain’s most senior climate scientists say the row has
dented public confidence in the evidence that underpins man’s
role in raising global temperatures to dangerous levels. “It
is in the interests of all concerned that there should be
an additional assessment considering the science itself,”
Prof Trevor Davies, the university’s pro-vice chancellor for
research, said in a statement.
The Royal Society, Britain’s national academy of science,
said it would help find external reviewers to work on the
case. “It is important that people have the utmost confidence
in the science of climate change,” said the society’s president,
Martin Rees.
Another team of scientists, funded by the university, will
investigate the research centre’s working practices, handling
of data and its response to requests made under Britain’s
freedom of information laws.
Chairman Sir Muir Russell, a former government bureaucrat,
said his team must decide which of “tens of thousands” of
emails they will have to check in a review due to report in
spring.
Climate sceptics are unconvinced of a link between man-made
carbon emissions and rising temperatures. However, scientists
say there is overwhelming scientific data from scores of sources
which support their argument.
Source - The Irish Times
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