My own email from CRU (this one was not hacked)

A few days ago I sent an inquiry to East Anglia University. I had been getting information that the "destroyed" data wasn't destroyed at all - it was just housed on a central government server. Which, to put it mildly, is a complete non-issue. I had heard the research unit at East Anglia made a statement to this effect in response to requests, but I couldn't find it online. So I wrote:

"Hi - I was wondering if you had a press release or link on your website explaining that the raw data that CEI is so concerned about is actually being housed at NOAA. I'm trying to respond to questions from readers on my blog about this, and I've heard you quoted in articles suggesting that the raw data is still available - but it would be much better to see a statement to that effect on your website. Thanks"

I got this response today:

Thank you for your message and many apologies for not getting back to you more quickly. The University of East Anglia will make all the data accessible as soon as they are released from a range of non-publication agreements. Publication will be carried out in collaboration with the Met Office Hadley Centre. Please see our statement at http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2009/nov/CRUupdate for more information. As you may be aware, the University of East Anglia (UEA) has announced that Sir Muir Russell KCB FRSE will head an independent review into allegations that arose from a series of hacked e-mails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU). Colleagues in CRU have confirmed their commitment to the quality and veracity of the science that relates to global warming. Their academic standing is a matter of public record and their work has been extensively peer-reviewed. The hacking is subject to a police investigation with which the University and its staff are fully cooperating. You will find all current information at www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/CRUstatements These pages will be updated with news as it is available.

Just thought people might be interested in the update. My understanding was that all their station data is (and has always been) available here. Now - how much do you want to bet the guys at Cato and CEI that were pestering them for this data will never actually look at or analyze it?

In other Climategate news, Ezra Klein had a great piece yesterday on the more mundane climate research that is going on. And guess what - it all points to a warming planet. Maybe the bigshots are hyperbolic and deceptive, but you can't seriously think everyone drawing these conclusions is pulling the wool over our eyes.

My feeling on climate change is that human produced carbon is warming the Earth at a pace faster than normal processes operate. It seems to me there's very little doubt that we're heading for a warmer planet, and that we are making that happen. Does that mean Florida will be under water, crops will fail, and billions will die? I suppose "it could happen", but I don't think we have any evidence to convince us that we're facing doomsday. But we are facing significant change. Given my economics training, I recognize that we burn more carbon than we should because we don't bear the costs of burning that carbon. When you don't bear all the costs and benefits of a choice, you won't make the optimal choice - and when somebody else bears the costs of your consumption you're going to consume more of that product than is optimal. For that reason, I think cautiously embracing policies like a carbon tax or cap and trade is an eminently reasonable thing to do. However, humans also have a tendancy to innovate our way out of problems. So I don't think draconian measures now are justified, because twenty years from now (when collectively we'll be considerably smarter) we may have an even better, and a much less painful solution.

So I don't like to think of myself as an "alarmist", but I'm not apathetic either, and I try not to second guess the people who have spent their lives working on this.

Enjoy the email and the links.