Climate Researchers Respond To Email Hack

Hacked data from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU), which is being used by bloggers to allege a climate change conspiracy, may not be genuine, according to a statement.

Email data from the CRU, at the University of East Anglia, was stolen and posted online, and then used by bloggers eager to poke holes in the theory of man-made climate change.  The University has posted a statement which says the stolen data is being used out of context, and may not be genuine.

“The volume of material published and its piecemeal nature makes it impossible to confirm what proportion is genuine,” says the statement. The server in question is no longer online, so no further data should emerge in this way.

The email data is being misused and taken out of context, said CRU director Professor Phil Jones in the same statement, referring to an email which talks of using a “trick” to improve the quality of climate change data.

“The word ‘trick’ was used here colloquially as in a clever thing to do. It is ludicrous to suggest that it refers to anything untoward,” said Prof Jones. In fact, he says, the email just discusses the fact that actual data can be used after 1961, but only ‘proxy’ data is available before that date.