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Congressman Demands Records on Climate Research X-Accept-Language: en
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline
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Friday=2C July 1=2C 2005
http=3A//chronicle=2Ecom/daily/2005/07/2005070101n=2Ehtm
Congressman Demands Complete Records on Climate Research by 3 Scientists
Who Support Theory of Global Warming
=3Cmailto=3Arich=2Emonastersky=40chronicle=2Ecom=3EBy RICHARD
MONASTERSKY=
Washington
In a sign of how climate science has grown increasingly political=2C the
chairman of the U=2ES=2E House of Representatives Committee on Energy
and=
Commerce is investigating three professors whose work suggests that the
earth=27s climate is warmer now than at any time in many centuries and
that increasing levels of greenhouse gases from burning fossils fuels
are largely to blame=2E
In letters to the three scientists last week=2C Rep=2E Joe Barton=2C a
Te= xas Republican=2C demanded detailed documentation about the hundreds
of studies on which they were an author or co-author=2E Mr=2E Barton
also se= nt a letter to the director of the National Science Foundation
that requests information about the work of the three professors=2C as
well as=
a list of all grants and awards in the area of climate and paleoclimate
science=2C which number 2=2C700 in the past 10 years=2E
Several climate scientists reached by The Chronicle expressed dismay at
the investigation and described it as harassment=2E
The investigation focuses on studies by Michael E=2E Mann=2C an
assistant=
professor of environmental science at the University of Virginia=3B
Raymond S=2E Bradley=2C a professor of geosciences at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst=3B and Malcolm K=2E Hughes=2C a professor in
the=
Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research of the University of Arizona=2E
Several independent studies have come to conclusions similar to
theirs=2E=
But the work of Mr=2E Mann and his colleagues has served as a lightning
rod for attacks by skeptics of greenhouse warming=2C in part because
thei= r early studies in 1998 and 1999 figured prominently in a 2001
report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change=2C a
U=2EN=2E-sponsored gro= up known as the IPCC=2E
In
=3Chttp=3A//energycommerce=2Ehouse=2Egov/108/Letters/06232005=5F1570=2E=
htm=3Ethe letters=2C Mr=2E Barton says he started the investigation
because =22this=
dispute surrounding your studies bears directly on important questions
about the federally funded work upon which climate studies rely and the
quality and transparency of analyses used to support the IPCC assessment
process=2E=22
Mr=2E Mann said he would comply with the congressman=27s requests=2C but
because of the legal issues involved=2C he said he could not comment in
detail=2E =22I am pleased that the U=2ES=2E Congress has shown in
interes= t in the issue of climate change=2C=22 he told The Chronicle=2E
=22I am confid= ent that when members of Congress take a look at the
science=2C they will joi= n with the consensus of the world=27s
scientists that the earth is indeed warming=2C and that human activity
has played a primary role in the warming observed in recent
decades=2E=22
But climate scientists in the United States and in Europe said they were
shocked by Mr=2E Barton=27s requests=2E
=22It=27s a technical form of harassment by people in Congress who are
opposed to global warming and basically want to discredit the science so
they don=27t have to worry about the policy alternatives=2C=22 said
Thoma= s Crowley=2C a professor in the Nicholas School of the
Environment and Eart= h Sciences at Duke University=2E
Mr=2E Barton worked in the oil-and-gas industry before being elected to
Congress=2C in 1984=2E In the past decade=2C he has consistently ranked
a= s one of the top five recipients of campaign contributions from that
industry=2C=
according to the Center for Responsive Politics=2C a nonpartisan
research=
group that tracks money in politics=2E
Mr=2E Barton could not be reached for comment on Thursday=2E A staff
memb= er in his office said the letters spoke for themselves=2E
In their first study=2C published in Nature in 1998=2C Mr=2E Mann and
his=
colleagues examined long-term records of glacial ice layers=2C coral
growth layers=2C and tree rings=2C all of which store information about
h= ow climate has changed=2C year by year=2C at specific spots around
the globe=
=2E By mathematically combining records from various sites=2C the
researchers=
developed a temperature history of the Northern Hemisphere dating back
six centuries=2E They subsequently extended their analysis to cover the
last two millennia=2E
In graphical form=2C the data show temperatures going up and down over
th= e centuries by small amounts and then shooting upward in the 20th
century -- a shape that has been dubbed =22the hockey stick=2E=22
In writing its 2001 report=2C the IPCC considered Mr=2E Mann=27s first
tw= o studies and several other separate analyses to draw the conclusion
that the late 20th century was likely to have been warmer than any time
in the past millennium=2E Mr=2E Mann was one of 10 lead authors of the
chapt= er in the report that dealt with such data -- a connection that
Mr=2E Barton=
wants to investigate=2E He wrote a letter to the chairman of the IPCC
asking for clarification concerning Mr=2E Mann=27s role in drafting the
r= eport=2E
Mr=2E Mann=27s work drew the attention of Steven McIntyre=2C an
independe= nt researcher who has worked in the mining industry=2E Over
the past several=
years=2C Mr=2E McIntyre has held long-running correspondences with Mr=2E
= Mann and other climate researchers=2C requesting data and computer
codes in order to check their work=2E
Mr=2E McIntyre=2C working with Ross McKitrick=2C an associate professor
o= f economics at Canada=27s University of Guelph=2C has published
several pap= ers accusing Mr=2E Mann and his co-authors of making errors
in their analyses=
=2E In the meantime=2C the two groups have waged a war over those issues
on two Web sites=2C =3Chttp=3A//www=2Erealclimate=2Eorg=3ERealClimate
and
=3Chttp=3A//www=2Eclimateaudit=2Eorg=3EClimate Audit=2E
According to Mr=2E Crowley=2C the Duke professor=2C he received repeated
e-mail messages from Mr=2E McIntyre demanding data and documentation=2C
which grew increasingly threatening=2E =22I=27m usually happy to send
peo= ple some stuff=2C=22 said Mr=2E Crowley=2E However=2C he added=2C
=22McIntyre= comes back time and again=2E He could take up a huge amount
of time=2E It=27s like y= ou have nothing better to do in your life than
answer questions from Steven McIntyre=2E=22
Mr=2E McIntyre was unavailable on Thursday to talk about his dispute
with=
Mr=2E Mann=2E On his blog=2C he says that Mr=2E Mann has released data
bu= t not the computer code from his studies=2E
According to David Stonner=2C of the Congressional-affairs office at the
National Science Foundation=2C Mr=2E McIntyre contacted the foundation
la= st year to ask for Mr=2E Mann=27s computer code=2E Mr=2E Stonner
said the ag= ency had told Mr=2E McIntyre that the code was the
intellectual property of Mr=
=2E Mann and that it was up to him whether to release it=2E
Critics of the letters said they were clearly intended for political
purposes=2C not scientific ones=2E Stefan Rahmstorf=2C a professor of
phy= sics of the oceans at Potsdam University=2C in Germany=2C said that
=22when yo= u read these letters=2C it becomes clear this is not a
genuine interest in getting the best scientific information but rather
this is an attempt to intimidate individual scientists=2E=22 James E=2E
Hansen=2C director of NASA=27s Goddard Institute for Space Stu= dies=2C
in New York City=2C said =22there is something rotten in
Washington=2E=22=
=22These requests from Representative Barton=2C=22 Mr=2E Hansen said=2C
=22= seem to be harassment and a threat to researchers and agencies that
deliver scientific results that displease politicians=2E=22
Hans von Storch=2C a professor of meteorology at the University of
Hambur= g and director of the Institute of Coastal Research of the GKSS
Research Center=2C in Geesthacht=2C Germany=2C has published his own
report that criticizes the studies by Mr=2E Mann and his colleagues=2E
He said Mr=2E = Mann made some mistakes in his analyses and did not
explain his methods well enough to allow other scientists to
independently check his work (=3C=3ET= he Chronicle=2C September 5=2C
2003)=2E
But Mr=2E von Storch distinguished between publishing a description of
methodology and releasing computer codes=2E =22If I did get such a
letter=
=2C I would become desperate=2C=22 he said=2E His colleagues often write
the co= de for his studies=2C and he said=2C =22if I asked my colleagues
whether the= y still had the code=2C I=27m not sure they would=2E=22
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