Stolen Data Provokes Global Attention

UEA is to launch an independent review into the theft and publication of hoards of data which  was illegally hacked from servers of the University’s globally renowned Climatic Research Unit  (CRU).

The data comprised of several thousand emails dating back to 1996 which contain exchanges  between UEA Professor and director of CRU, Phil Jones, and other world leading climatologists.

The phenomenon has catapulted the university onto the global stage, after accusations that the scientists involved colluded in manipulating and deleting data vital to the issue of anthropogenic climate change. Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and the BBC have all reported on the story, which is seen as an indicator of how influential the University’s CRU department is in relation to mitigation policy and global climate solutions.

The revelations have already caused divisions within the spheres of public and scientific debate over the issue of climate change.

Bob Ward, Director of Policy and Communications at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, called for an inquiry: “There has to be some process to assess the substance of the email messages as well,” he said. “The selective disclosure and dissemination of the messages has created the impression of impropriety, and the only way of clearing the air now would be through a rigorous investigation.”

Climate change deniers have seized on the emails, suggesting they are evidence that climate change is an elaborate hoax which is being constructed on manipulated data.

One particular email which has reverberated across the media network reveals Jones using the word “trick” in order to “hide the decline” in temperatures. Jones issued a statement directly in relation to the email insisting that “The word ‘trick’ was used colloquially as in a clever thing to do. It is ludicrous to suggest that it refers to anything untoward.”

Advocates of climate change have defended Jones and the integrity of the CRU’s research.

UEA’s Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research said: “The publication of a selection of stolen data is the latest example of a sustained and, in some instances, a vexatious campaign which may have been designed to distract from reasoned debate about the nature of the urgent action which world governments must consider to mitigate, and adapt to, climate change.”

The Met Office rejected calls for an inquiry: “If you look at the emails, there isn’t any evidence that the data was falsified and there’s no evidence that climate change is a hoax.” On the nature of climate change The Met added: “the UN’s panel (IPCC)… provided unequivocal evidence for a warming climate, and a high degree of certainty that human activities are largely responsible.”

UUEAS’ has pledged full support for CRU and its staff. Finance Officer Martin Jopp said: “We as students stand by good science and that’s what we think the Climatic Research Unit is providing. We would hate to see a situation where people like Phil Jones, who is a world leader, don’t work at UEA.”

Advocates have also pointed to the timing of the published data, claiming that it is a concerted campaign designed by sceptics to raise questions over the legitimacy of climatic science in the run-up to climate talks in Copenhagen.

Accusations of impropriety have also arisen over apparent intentions to delete data which may have been open to Freedom of Information requests. In his statement, Jones emphasised that the CRU has “responded to Freedom of Information requests appropriately and with the knowledge and guidance of the Information Commissioner.” But the findings have prompted calls from high profile commentators, such as The Guardian’s George Monbiot, for Phil Jones to resign from his post.

To exacerbate the situation, the way in which the university has dealt with the crisis has been severely criticised. The Director of Climate Outreach, George Marshall, described the UEA’s response as “frankly pathetic.” When asked by Concrete, the police press office said that they were notified of the theft on the 20th November. However, RealClimate stated, via their website, that they notified the University of the breach in security on the 17th November, when hackers attempted to upload the stolen data onto their website. The university issued no statement about the three day delay in informing the police and made no comment on their actions within the intermittent period.

David Churchill