Climatewire: The recent release of hacked e-mails between climate scientists at the University of East Anglia has shed new light on the 2007 accusation that Phil Jones, director of the university’s Climatic Research Unit, helped cover up flawed data used in an article claiming to provide evidence for global warming.
The data in question came from a 1990 article written by Jones and Wei-Chyung Wang, a professor at the State University of New York, Albany. The article, published in the journal Nature, examined how much of the global warming measured recently has resulted from the spread of cities, which have higher temperatures than unpopulated areas.
Using data from meteorological stations in urbanizing China, the researchers concluded that the spread of cities had only a small effect on climate.
When pressed to reveal the locations of the study’s 84 meteorological stations, the researchers claimed not to have the information. British climate skeptic Doug Keenan accused the researchers of academic fraud when it was discovered that a majority of the weather stations were moved at some point over the course of testing, possibly undermining the data.
Some of Jones’ colleagues expressed concern about the validity of the data, the e-mails show, although the accusation was widely dismissed after its publication in Energy & Environment, a British journal largely known for publishing the work of climate change skeptics.
“I have always thought [Wang] was a rather sloppy scientist. I therefore would not be surprised if he screwed up here,” East Anglia climate professor Tom Wigley wrote to Jones in May. “Why, why, why did you and [Wang] not simply say this right at the start? Perhaps it’s not too late?” (Fred Pearce, London Guardian, Feb. 1) – GN