CRU says leaked data is real

UPDATE: The link to TGIF is further down this email, but we have now posted a new story on this growing scandal which you can read here after you've finished perusing the information below.

The director of Britain's leading Climate Research Unit, Phil Jones, has told Investigate magazine's TGIF Edition tonight that his organization has been hacked, and the data flying all over the internet appears to be genuine.

In an exclusive interview, Jones told TGIF, "It was a hacker. We were aware of this about three or four days ago that someone had hacked into our system and taken and copied loads of data files and emails."

"Have you alerted police"

"Not yet. We were not aware of what had been taken."

Jones says he was first tipped off to the security breach by colleagues at the website RealClimate.

"Real Climate were given information, but took it down off their site and told me they would send it across to me. They didn't do that. I only found out it had been released five minutes ago."

TGIF asked Jones about the controversial email discussing "hiding the decline", and Jones explained what he was trying to say….

More on this breaking story in TGIF Edition tonight…

UPDATE: to save any further emails from the eager as our deadline looms…TGIF will be out in about two hours…midnight NZDT

UPDATE: Just burning PDF and Flash documents, moments away

UPDATE FINAL: The link is now live at the TGIF Edition link above, underneath the Breaking News heading

For your viewing pleasure...here's why you don't need to take these climate clowns seriously:

Comments

[vg]

publish now

[getstaffed]

I've been tracking this for quite a few hours now. There is, apparently, enough evidence in the papers & emails to be seriously embarrassing to the climitista alarmists. But will the MSM (who still largely control public opinion) pay this story more than lip service? I doubt it.

[Mike Lorrey]

In politics, where there is smoke, there is always fire. Always.

I am only surprised that Jones had the intelligence to not try to deny and cover up the breach. Perhaps he thinks it doesn't really matter, that he and his alarmists have enough momentum politically to force a socialist revolution in the name of climate upon us...

[NikFromNYC]

File:

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5171206/Hadley_CRU_Files_%28FOI2009.zip%29

[Ross]

Someone give that 'hacker' a Nobel Prize!

[Eloi]

I'm not surprised that Jones hasn't called the police. Too afraid he'd be taken away in handcuffs, I guess.

[Geckko]

These reads like a spoof.

Is that a genuine quote from Phil Jones?

[Ian Wishart]

No spoof. Taped i/v. Story in 30 mins.

[getstaffed]

Ian, well done getting this one. There must be a lot of spin being created to counter the impending dose of sunlight

[Ezzthetic]

This is sounding more and more ridiculous. Jones "hasn't talked to the police", but for some reason gave an exclusive interview to a web site known for its hostility to climate science.

Is there any evidence their site was hacked into at all? Isn't it more likely the files are just files already released under an FOI request?

And how were they ever on RealClimate's site? I didn't see them.

Even if the files are real, how do we know they haven't been doctored? Some original extracts sounded plausible. Now they're sounding as if they were concocted to confirm familiar right-wing talking-points.

You would have to be crazy to base any conclusions on this information.

[Dave]

Phil will be more embarrassed when
pdj_grant_since1990.xls hits wide
circulation.

13 million quid.

[getstaffed]

Dave - low-carbon, low-emission, eco-friendly estates don't come cheap. What's a top scientist supposed to do?

[Nimby]

I don't see any relevance or proof in that quoting. It's all absurd, a hoax probably: with this bombshell, someone wants to delegitimate sceptic science. Be very careful with those emails, they sound so strange to me.

[WestWright]

A very smart IT guy has verified this as legitimate, see here: http://motls.blogspot.com/2009/11/hacked-hadley-cru-foi2009-files.html#more

[melanie]

It looks like a leaker ive read the files but have lots to go ,the info fits the actions and the findings of lord monckton ,even the temps were correct as was the cancelled game ,its true alright .

[Boballab]

Well some of the emails have been confirmed as 100% Authentic. Steve McIntyre on ClimateAudit says the ones that are in the zip are his.

[larry Weitzman]

The best question is "Have you alerted the police?" Was that a double entendre? The police should be arresting the scientists in the emails for fraud and conspiracy on stealing the public's money based on lies and fraud.

[ayrdale]

This is real, and it's a major scientific and political scandal. The BBC, Guardian, Telegraph, WSJ are all carrying it.

This hacker, or inside leaker has pointed the smoking gun at the green left.

Watch how the lefties at Hot Topic handle it, see comments at...

http://hot-topic.co.nz/rudd-brooks-no-denial/

[Freezer]

TGIF is referenced everywhere, incl Fox:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,576009,00.html
Weel done Ian on getting a response from this non scientist.

[R2D2]

Real Climate is claiming that the decline is simply the divergence problem and it is all fine.

The question I would ask is, if the proxy doesn't match the temperature record now, how do you know the proxy would have matched the instrumental record in 1000AD?