Climategate Shocker: Nothing Wrong With The Science!

Posted on 14. Apr, 2010 by Ross in Climate Change, United Kingdom

Five months ago the field of climate research was set alight by a media frenzy, focused upon hacked/leaked email communications between senior climate researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and their academic peers.

The emails led climatic change sceptics and deniers to claim that the science behind climate change was wrong, and that the scientists involved were refusing to respond to Freedom of Information requests in order to cover up the truth. The accusations were made across media outlets worldwide, denting public and corporate confidence in climate change science and its impact upon global government policy.

However, the conclusion of an inquiry into the affair has concluded that whatever the content of the emails, the science being carried out by the researchers involved was indeed sound and they have been cleared of any deliberate malpractice.

The inquiry panel, led by the former chair of the House of Lords science and technology select committee Lord Oxburgh, concluded:

We saw no evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice in any of the work of the Climatic Research Unit and had it been there we believe that it is likely that we would have detected it. Rather we found a small group of dedicated if slightly disorganised researchers who were ill-prepared for being the focus of public attention. As with many small research groups their internal procedures were rather informal.

Whilst the report clears the scientific reputation of the researchers involved, as did the previous inquiry which focused upon the Freedom of Information request denials, climate change sceptics and deniers will argue that Oxburgh was not a fit chair for the investigation since he has business interests in the field of carbon capture and storage. However, those sceptics were never likely to be happy with anything less the complete refutation of climate change. They are happy though with the reputational damage caused by the affair, which has led to an increase in climate scepticism amongst the general public around the world.

It’s not peoples opinion which counts towards whether the prospect of catastrophic climate change is real: that’s down to the science. What matters is what the public - and hence the politicians - are willing to do about it, and therein lies the real damage. Despite the growth in public scepticism, European politicians still seem eager to confront the problem of climate change fully. Whether the USA, where public opinion is everything to politicians looking for their next election victory, can move towards proper climate legislation with this backdrop of concern fuelled by a dominant right-wing media is another matter entirely.

Image of a fire under a magnifying glass by spacepleb @ Flickr