New York City Tourism in a Blink

By: Harlem Fine
More than 1000 emails and 2000 other documents were stolen a week ago when hackers broke into the computer system at the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University. It isn't discovered who has done it, but the files were posted on a Russian server.

The emails were accompanied by the anonymous statement: 'We feel that climate science is, in the current situation, too important to be kept under wraps. We hereby release a random selection of correspondence, code and documents. Hopefully it will give some insight into the science and the people behind it.'"

The content of these emails is said to draw into question the validity of global warming facts and the claims that have been made by climate change researchers.

The emails were sent by the top climate change scientists in the nation and they are purported to contain lots of references to attempts to silence those who deny climate change .

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In one email, a researcher says that he hopes to "keep [climate change skeptics] out somehow -- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!" The exact context of this quote isn't known, so it should be noted that drawing conclusions based on this short excerpt is probably not very wise. That hasn't stopped climate change deniers from attempting to use this story to further their agenda, though.

The emails suggested that data was overlooked when it disputed the claim or additional data was included to support it. Additionally efforts were made to conceal the information that didn’t support the claim or disputed it.

The Republican National Committee has no comment on the emails that suggest that manmade climate change is a hoax perpetrated by biased “scientists.”

The hacked emails involve both American and European researchers, and according to the New York Times they include "discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual comments -- in some cases derisive -- about specific people known for their skeptical views."

The emails also suggest "bitter feelings" involved in the debate between those on both sides of the issue of global warming and the seriousness of the threat.

One reputable group of scientists, Real Climate, has posted a response on its blog to the allegations about what information is actually contained in the hacked emails:

More interesting is what is not contained in the emails. There is no evidence of any worldwide conspiracy, no mention of George Soros nefariously funding climate research, no grand plan to 'get rid of the MWP', no admission that global warming is a hoax, no evidence of the falsifying of data, and no 'marching orders' from our socialist/communist/vegetarian overlords. The truly paranoid will put this down to the hackers also being in on the plot though.

Despite the lack of evidence of some sort of conspiracy in the scientific community, this criminal activity has created fodder for right-wing groups and websites to promote their own agenda that global warming is a myth. This comes at a time when international attention is more and more focused on the climate change in advance of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in December.