Scientists at the University of East Anglia have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.
It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.
The UEA’s Climatic Research Unit CRU was forced to reveal the loss following requests for the data under Freedom of Information legislation.
The data were gathered from weather stations around the world and then adjusted to take account of variables in the way they were collected. The revised figures were kept, but the originals — stored on paper and magnetic tape — were dumped to save space when the CRU moved to a new building.
The admission follows the leaking of a thousand private emails sent and received by Professor Phil Jones, the CRU’s director. In them he discusses thwarting climate sceptics seeking access to such data.
In a statement on its website, the CRU said: “We do not hold the original raw data but only the value-added (quality controlled and homogenized) data.”
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Related:
Global Warming Consensus: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Updates:
1:44pm EST, November 30th, 2009 – Document Reveals U.N.’s Goal
1:45 pm EST, November 30th, 2009 – Leaked emails won’t harm UN climate body, says chairman
1:48 pm EST, November 30th, 2009 — Goldstein: ’Botch after botch after botch’
A person involved in research who throws out his raw data and only retains his own interpretation of the data is, quite obviously, either incompetent or engaged in a cover-up. In either case, he does not deserve the title “scientist”.
And, what is the response of our political leaders to Climategate? Obama and now Harper are off to Copenhagen to make commitments to stall global warming/climate change — an issue fueled in great measure by this pseudo-science.
It is scary that the fate of the world rests with the US Senate and it’s investigation into the CRU papers and if it will pass the governance bill that has come out of the House, in anything close to its current form.
It is also hard to believe that the US will give up it soverinty so easily.
Copenhagen is designed to give politicians, bureaucrats, big corporations and the wealthy more power and money through socialism. The only downside is that it will impoverish the middle class.
“We do not hold the original raw data but only the value-added (quality controlled and homogenized) data.”
Perhaps most disturbing is that a scientist has resorted to using corporate buzzwords. Value added? Value freaking added?
‘Value added’ entered the corporate vernacular about 20 years ago, and has been abused to death ever since. Like any other meaningless corporate jargon, it has been adopted and embraced by government bureaucracies. (This I know first hand.)
Next thing you know, he’ll be telling us that his lab is a “client-focused” organization, with a “results-based” orientation and that “our people are our greatest strength”.
If this scientist is using the language of windbag CEOs and fatuous bureaucrats to justify his actions, we ought to be very concerned.
Canadians are subsubsidizing the CBC to the tune of $1B+ to not report one of the biggest stories in recent history. Private broadcasters can ignor stories that don’t fit their agenda all they want at their own peril. But a public broadcaster should have no such literary licence nor should any be tolerated by taxpayers.
To underline the seriousness of this, imagine this scenario:
A bunch of people have severe reactions to the H1N1 vaccine. The government responds by asking Glaxo Smith-Klein to turn over their raw data on the vaccine tests. The GSK CEO responds as follows:
“We do not hold the original raw data but only the value-added (quality controlled and homogenized) data.”
Need I say more?
Excellent comparison and people would rightfully be outraged! The MSM would be all over such a scandal like a Tiger Woods auto accident. There would be criminal investigations, arrests and people would be going to jail. The double standard is breath taking.
Then CBC does NOT report the issue. CBC then blames the recipients for their reaction to the vacine, when forced to “make a statement” after, 9-10 days of silence.
Why are Canadians so complacent when somone steals money from them, givse it to undeserving, opinionated government employees, who then lie to your face? Are their lies representative of the governmet of the day, or are they doing it on their own? These people could be construed as parties to a crime, if so. If investigations are ongoing with parties to this event, why are they allowed to speak on the subject while an investigation is ongoing? To do so, they would have to have a stake in the results of these investigations or in the results of the scientific calculations these scientists were engaged in.
Thanks to bloggers like Jack for keeping the story front and centre when the MSM and liberals would rather it died quietly.
These are interesting times when people can disseminate information without the MSM.
I’m sure bureacratic fat cats are observing the evolution of this online story to develop a strategy to maintain their monopoly on providing information to the public.
Prepare to fight for free speech on the internet.
“Value-added”? Value to who, exactly?
Because the raw data apparently no longer exists, the “science” that relies on it cannot be duplicated. Therefore, it is not the least bit valid.
As I commented on another similar report about Climategate there is a new ” GATE” of being selective about what is reported by CBC, CTV and it being also a scandal in it’s own right !
Some of Climategate is starting to leak into parts of the MSM but the fact that it is being completely ignored by the CBC and CTV is a story in itself as they should normally be talking about Climategate even if only to try to discredit the so-called ” AGW Deniers ” and minimize the significance of leaked e-mails !
So this hiding of the Elephant in the room ” scandal ” I call SHUSHGATE ( I’m hoping it catches on as the Non-reporting of Climategate scandal ! )
Shush being defined as the MSM saying: ” Be quiet ! Do you want to wake everyone ? “
Shushgate? I like that!!