Jones cleared of charges of scientific malpractice: there goes claims of “fraud”

Phil Jones, cleared again

HOT OFF THE PRESS: CLICK TO READ

[Hat tip to Hot topic NZ]

The reports are just coming in, but it’s very good news for Professor Phil Jones, the head of the East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU) that was the centre of the Climategate “non” affair. From the UK’s Guardian:

The climate scientists at the centre of a media storm over emails released on the Internet were disorganised but did not fudge their results, an independent inquiry into the affair reported today.

The inquiry, the second of three set up in the wake of the controversy, found “absolutely no evidence of any impropriety whatsoever”, according to Lord Oxburgh, who led the investigation.

Chaired by Professor Ron Oxborough, Jones practices where scrutinized and found to be above board. The Panel investigating included:

• Prof Huw Davies, ETH Zürich
• Prof Kerry Emanuel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Prof Lisa Graumlich, University of Arizona.
• Prof David Hand FBA, Imperial College, London.
• Prof Herbert Huppert FRS, University of Cambridge

Once again the charges of the denial movement have been found to be baseless. Conspiracy?

Here is the report in full. I note some of the conclusions:

We saw no evidence of any deliberate scientific malpractice in any of the work of the Climatic Research Unit and had it been there we believe that it is likely that we would have detected it. Rather we found a small group of dedicated if slightly disorganised researchers who were ill-prepared for being the focus of public attention. As with many small research groups their internal procedures were rather informal.

Add this result to the growing list of investigations, reports and inquiries that have cleared scientists of all wrong doing.

• Climate scientist Michael Mann cleared by Penn State
• UK Parliamentary Committee finds no evidence of fraud committed by CRU
• Amazongate was a journalistic “beat up”
• Rajendra Pachauri, the IPCC chairman has been audited by accounting giant KPMG and found to be clear of any charges of financial irregularities

 More analysis to follow once I’ve had time to digest the report’s conclusions.

However, for Professor Jones I hope this brings some much needed relief. The campaign of intimidation and harrassement has placed a heavy toll on this honourable and talented scientist.