Greatest Scandal in Science History?

I don't understand you're attitude. I simply posted an article and wanted to hear peoples opinions. I agree with the second to last paragraph of your post, these
emails have indeed created an "impression of impropriety," and that nothing short of a thorough investigation will clear it up.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/hackers-show-desperate-timing-20091124-jheu.ht...

Hackers 'show desperate timing'

THE theft of British researchers' private emails on climate change reveals how desperate the sceptics have become in the lead-up to the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen, Australian scientists say.

Other researchers, while agreeing the emails do not cast doubt on the science of global warming, have called for an investigation to rule out inappropriate conduct by the University of East Anglia scientists.

The university will investigate the hacking incident, in which extracts from hundreds of emails dating back more than 10 years were published online amid claims of a scientific global warming ''conspiracy''.

Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, professor of marine science at the University of Queensland, said a few out-of-context quotes gained by illegally trawling through ''electronic garbage'' did not undermine the huge amount of peer-reviewed scientific data on climate change.

''I think the denialist movement is so desperate, given the overwhelming conclusions of the science, that they'll do anything,'' he said.

The British unit's head, Phil Jones, has been criticised for saying in a 1999 email that he had used a ''trick'' to analyse some temperature data.

Dr Hoegh-Guldberg said researchers often used this expression. ''It means you've got an algorithm or methodology for dealing with it [a data set].''

Tim Flannery, chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council, said the timing of the theft was suspicious. ''It reveals the depth to which climate sceptics will go to influence the course of events.''

He said the email ''smear campaign'' showed only that scientists were people with egos who criticised others in private correspondence. ''It does nothing to throw any doubt on the climate science.''

The emails, however, have created an ''impression of impropriety'', Bob Ward, of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change in London, said. ''The only way of clearing the air now would be through a rigorous investigation.''

David Griggs, director of the Monash University Sustainability Institute, said Professor Jones was a respected scientist and his research had been openly scrutinised in the scientific literature. The emails, some of which were copied to Professor Griggs, revealed no conspiracy or influence from green lobbyists, but rather scientists challenging each others' ideas, he said.