It does not shock us that the first of several British investigations into the leaked e-mails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit exonerated the scientists this week.
In case you forgot, last November before the Copenhagen climate change summit, more than 1,000 e-mails were stolen from the research center and published in an attempt to prove that the threats of global warming were exaggerated. Some people went as far to claim that the e-mails proved that global warming does not exist at all.
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee led the first of three investigations into the stolen e-mails and the data conducted by the research unit.
Their conclusion is that despite the embarrassing nature of some of the e-mails, the research unit and its director, Phil Jones, are not guilty of tampering with data or altering the peer review process to exaggerate the existence of global warming.
Phil Willis, the committee's chairman, told the Associated Press that they only found "a blunt refusal to share data."
Although we are not surprised that they came to this conclusion, we are happy that the investigation occurred. It was infuriating to hear that global warming doesn't exist because scientists wrote snide e-mails about their critics. Who doesn't harbor a negative thought or two about their adversaries? Clearly, Jones and his staff should not have e-mailed them to each other, though.
All of this could have been avoided but will ultimately help scientists in the long run. Willis told journalists the entire situation would force universities and research institutions to quit hoarding their data.
Jones and his colleagues spent time worrying about what their critics would say, which is not their job. Their responsibility is to conduct and publish research on climate change, and let the data deal with the critics.
is a member of the 
2 comments