Letter from the Vice Chancellor, University
of East Anglia, to the Chairman of the Committee, 10 December
2009
Thank you for your letter of 1 December 2009.
As you point out there has been considerable
press coverage concerning an amount of data, emails and documents
relating to the work of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) which
have been published on various websites. You ask a number of questions,
which I will seek to address:
(a) Your account of what has taken
place
A significant amount of material including emails
and documents appears to have been accessed illegally from a back-up
server in CRU and downloaded in whole, or possibly in part, on
to the Real Climate website. Whilst it was removed promptly from
that website, it was not before it had been widely accessed and
distributed across a number of other websites. The method by which
the material was obtained from CRU is the subject of a police
enquiry. Substantial resources from the Norfolk Constabulary are
being brought to bear but clearly this is a complex and technical
forensic investigation, and must be expected to take time.
The contents of some of the emails, all of which
were thought to be private exchanges between close collaborators,
and phrased accordingly, have been publicised as calling into
question the robustness of the scientific outputs of CRU ie the
now commonly accepted view that the past fifty years have shown
significant increases in global temperature, which can only be
explained by human activity. This has largely been evidenced by
a data-set (HadCRUT) of meteorological observations from around
5000 stations worldwide, compiled and analysed by CRU.
(b) The steps that have been taken
to investigate the allegations and to test the integrity of the
data held and used by the CRU
The University has commissioned Sir Muir Russell,
previous Vice-Chancellor of Glasgow University and prior to that
the first permanent secretary to the Scottish Executive, to undertake
an independent review. Sir Muir is extremely experienced in public
life, has an understanding of the conduct of universities and
research, and is entirely independent of any association with
this University and with the climate change debate. The terms
of reference for the Review are:
"The Independent Review will investigate
the key allegations that arose from a series of hacked e-mails
from CRU. The Review will:
1.Examine the hacked e-mail exchanges, other
relevant e-mail exchanges and any other information held at CRU
to determine whether there is any evidence of the manipulation
or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific
practice and may therefore call into question any of the research
outcomes.
2.Review CRU's policies and practices for acquiring,
assembling, subjecting to peer review and disseminating data and
research findings, and their compliance or otherwise with best
scientific practice.
3.Review CRU's compliance or otherwise with
the University's policies and practices regarding requests under
the Freedom of Information Act ("the FOIA") and the
Environmental Information Regulations ("the EIR") for
the release of data.
4.Review and make recommendations as to the appropriate
management, governance and security structures for CRU and the
security, integrity and release of the data it holds.
Sir Muir will have the discretion to amend
or add to the terms of reference if he feels necessary, devise
his own methods of working, and call on appropriate expertise
in order to investigate the allegations fully.
The University has asked for the Review to
be completed by Spring 2010 and this will be made public along
with UEA's response."
(c) How the CRU can justify its commitment
to academic transparency
CRU's research outcomes have been published
in peer-reviewed journals of the highest standing. All adjustments
to data where this has been necessary (for example to account
for the move of a meteorological station), have been explained.
CRU has undertaken, with the good offices of the Met Office, to
seek permission from the various national meteorological services
which have provided the original station data to publish it. This
is not a simple undertaking as some 150 meteorological services
were involved in the collection of the original data, and some
see the data as having economic value or are otherwise sensitive
to its release. It should be noted that over 95% of the data has
for some years been in the public domain, such as on the NOAA
site.
(d) How you propose to restore confidence
in the CRU and its handling of data
None of the adjusted station data referred to
in the emails that have been published has been destroyed.
When we receive Sir Muir's findings we will
understand which if any of the allegations stand and which fall
and we will accordingly. We will publish the findings and the
University's response.
To provide you with some further detail, I enclose
a Briefing Paper and the Press Statement announcing the Independent
Review.
I hope that his response is helpful to you and
will give the Committee full confidence that this episode is being
treated very seriously by the University, and that our response
is both considered and appropriate. I would welcome the opportunity
to provide evidence to the Committee in due course.
Professor Edward Acton
Vice-Chancellor
University of East Anglia
December 2009
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