Times Of London - "There Is Little In Emails To Support Claims Dr. Jones Manipulated Data"

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Professor Phil Jones and his colleagues at the University of East Anglia have been hounded by climate sceptics for more than a decade. They were targeted because their research underpinned the conclusion by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the increase in temperature was likely to have been caused by man-made emissions.

The sceptics made dozens of demands for information under the Freedom of Information Act. They wanted to see e-mails sent between the scientists discussing their contributions to the IPCC. They also wanted the computer code used by scientists in constructing their climate change models. Professor Jones believed that they were fishing for information to try to destroy his work. He also feared that they were seeking to distract him from his research by making him spend his time responding to requests.

The leaked e-mails from Professor Jones and others reveal a culture of secrecy and a determination to release as little information as possible. In response to one request for data, Professor Jones wrote: “We have 25 or so years invested in the work. Why should I make the data available to you when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it?”

Sceptics also claimed that the e-mails show that Professor Jones attempted to manipulate data. There is little in the e-mails to support this.

In an interview in The Times on Wednesday Professor John Beddington, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, said that it was wrong for scientists to refuse to disclose their data to critics. He said: “There is a danger that people can manipulate the data, but the benefits from being open far outweigh that danger.” Many requests for data came from climate sceptics connected with the Climate Audit (CA) blog, which questions the IPCC’s conclusions. Climate Audit is edited by Steve McIntyre, a former mineral industry executive.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7005327.ece