'CRU cherrypicked Russian climate data', says Russian
Eric Gisin
A prominent Russian climate sceptic and free-market economist says that the British HadCRUT global
temperature database - much of which has now been released to the public following the
"climategate" email scandal - has been manipulated to show greater warming in Russia than is
actually the case.
Andrei Illarionov, a former economic adviser to then-Russian President Putin, is head of his own
thinktank in Moscow, the Institute of Economic Analysis (IEA). He is also a senior fellow at the
Cato Institute, a libertarian American thinktank. He has always been a climate sceptic, having
vigorously opposed Russia's signing up to the Kyoto protocols.
On Tuesday, Illarionov released the following report (pdf in Russian), comparing the newly-released
HadCRUT data to records from the Russian meteorological service, which supplied the parts of
HadCRUT covering Russia.
According to Russian newpaper Kommersant, as relayed via the RIA Novosti news wire, Illarionov says
that the HadCRUT dataset doesn't include the records from many of Russia's meteorological stations.
He adds that the missing records, if they had been included by the British climate scientists,
would have significantly reduced the amount of warming shown for Russia by the HadCRUT database.
As Russia accounts for 12.5 per cent of the world's land mass, according to Illarionov the use of
complete Russian records would significantly reduce the figures on global warming in recent times.
Climatologists at the Climate Research Unit (CRU) had long been criticised for refusing to reveal
the raw data on which their global-warming figures and graphs were based. Last month an anonymous
hacker posted a large amount of data, including private emails sent to and from CRU personnel,
triggering the so-called "climategate" brouhaha.
The emails didn't appear to show that the CRU scientists had actually falsified any figures in an
attempt to strengthen the case for human-created, CO2-driven global warming. However they did show
that the climatologists were extremely keen to push that case and to suppress scientific dissent on
the matter.
The affair has so far led Phil Jones, head of the CRU, to "step aside" form running the unit
pending an "independent review"; and the announcement by the UK Met Office - in charge of climate
change research in the UK - that it will publish all its raw data as soon as it can. Some was
released nine days ago, and it is this which Illarionov has been examining.
The HadCRUT dataset is very important in the climate change debate. It was used by the UN in
determining that exceptional global warming is taking place, and that this is caused by human
activity - primarily thought to be greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2.
The CRU has always defended the HadCRUT results on the grounds that the two other comparable global
databases - both in America, one run by NASA and one by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) - agree with it. However it's perhaps worth noting that the NASA database is
under the control of Dr James Hansen, head of the Goddard Institute in New York. Hansen is the
world high priest of human-caused global warming, a man whose personal beliefs are well-known: he
has travelled to the UK for the purpose of joining protests against new power plants, for instance.
(Even Hansen, however, has lately admitted that greenhouse gas emissions may not be the dominant
factor in climate change.)
More studies of this type - though not necessarily clashing with the HadCRUT figures, of course -
may appear in coming weeks, as analysts around the world trawl through the newly-released data. �
Blue
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/17/russian_data_cherrypicked_says_sceptic/
>
>
> A prominent Russian climate sceptic and free-market economist says that
> the British HadCRUT global
> temperature database - much of which has now been released to the public
> following the
> "climategate" email scandal - has been manipulated to show greater
> warming in Russia than is
> actually the case.
http://www.express.co.uk/ourpaper/view/2009-12-17
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/146517/Climate-change-lies-by-Britain-
Tom P
Wow, a British tabloid. There's nothing like quoting real science, right?
Incidentally, is that the same European Foundation as this one
http://www.europeanfoundation.org/, the right wing think tank opposed to
Britain's membership of the EU? It matches the Daily Express political
position.
Blue
Membership lol, try commies took power and handed my country over to russia.