Phil Jones. Photo: CRULONDON — A British climate expert has temporarily stood down pending a probe into claims he helped cover up data suggesting the threat from global warming is exaggerated.
Professor Phil Jones has stood aside as director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, following a row over leaked emails which climate change sceptics say support their cause.
The row erupted last month after emails by Jones were published on websites run by climate change sceptics, calling into question the scientific basis for climate change fears, ahead of this month’s landmark Copenhagen summit.
In one private email stolen by hackers from the world-renowned research’s servers, Jones referred to a “trick” being employed to massage temperature statistics to “hide the decline.”
The academic said the emails had been taken out of context to suggest that scientists were trying to suppress data which did not support the view that climate change is happening, and is man-made.
“The word ‘trick’ was used here colloquially as in a clever thing to do. It is ludicrous to suggest that it refers to anything untoward,” he said last month.
And on Monday, Jones announced he was standing aside pending an independent review of the allegations:
What is most important is that CRU continues its world-leading research with as little interruption and diversion as possible.
After a good deal of consideration I have decided that the best way to achieve this is by stepping aside from the Director’s role during the course of the independent review and am grateful to the university for agreeing to this.
The review process will have my full support.
The university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Edward Acton, said:
I have accepted Professor Jones’s offer to stand aside during this period. It is an important step to ensure that CRU can continue to operate normally and the independent review can conduct its work into the allegations.
The row comes as world leaders including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown prepare to gather in Copenhagen on Dec. 7-18 to draft a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
