Climate Scientist Hits Back At Fresh Attack
Professor Phil Jones, former head of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, has defended himself vigorously against the latest damaging accusations levelled at him and the CRU.
It has been a tumultuous two months for Professor Jones and his colleagues. Leaked emails hit the headlines in November and brought into question the central tenet of climate change theory. This was followed by revelations in The Guardian newspaper that Professor Jones was being investigated by the Information ombudsman for failing to disclose information made by climate-sceptic Douglas Keenan in a Freedom Of Information request. This allegation has been denied by Professor Jones but has seen him step down as Director of the CRU whilst an investigation continues. The latest allegations, however, could be the most serious of all.
The global climate data used by the UAE was obtained from weather stations around the world, including over 40 in China. It is now suggested that many of the so called ‘rural’ stations used in China were in fact located in large urban areas. Temperatures in cities are typically 1-2° C warmer than in rural areas and so if these urban figures had been represented as rural readings then it would have a significant upward effect on the average temperature used in the research.
Professor Jones has said that while a small number of Chinese stations may have been moved to warmer or cooler areas it would not affect the overall message of his research: that man-made influences are causing global warming. He further points out that several other key papers produced by universities in the USA have backed his findings.
Professor Jones expressed particular concern that the rapidity of attacks on the UAE’s findings was leading many people to question climate science altogether. This would be a dangerous path for the world to take, but the increasing pre-eminence of climate-sceptic thinking within the mass media surely means that Professor Jones is going to come under increasing scrutiny throughout the coming months.
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