Independent, 9 December 2009:
The credibility of the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change was crucial in the run-up to Copenhagen, so the leaked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia could not have come at a worse time.
However the CRU provides only one set of data on global temperature. There are two other organisation which independently provide temperature data: NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. All three sets confirm that global temperatures have been increasing and all three are consistent with man-made emissions being the likely cause.
It is therefore dishonest of Saudi Arabia to claim that the debacle at East Anglia invalidates the need for action on climate change. Emissions of carbon dioxide have increased by an alarming 41 per cent since 1990, so the need for clear leadership and political action has never been greater.
Dr Robin Russell-Jones
Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire
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