Fred Pearce, the New Scientist of "Glaciergate" fame (his 1999 article having been quoted by the WWF 2005 paper), is in The Guardian today, with two linked stories, based on an analysis of the "Climategate" e-mails.
The stories can be found here and here, questioning the work done by Jones et al, of CRU fame, on the Chinese urban heat island effect.
The remarkable aspects of these reports are, firstly, that Pearce is a staunch "warmist" who has been in the forefront of hyping up climate alarmism. Secondly, this appears to be the first occasion where an MSM journalist has initiated his own investigation on the "Climategate" e-mails. Thirdly, the stories are published in the temple of "warmism", The Guardian.
Pearce, as one might expect, stresses that the findings do not change the global picture of temperature trends, quoting his source saying, "My interest in all this arises from concern about research integrity, rather than about global warming per se. Jones knew there were serious problems with the Chinese research, yet continued to rely upon the research in his work, including allowing it to be cited in the IPCC report."
This, nevertheless, is another major crack in the dam, a damning indictment of Jones, the CRU and, indirectly, the IPCC. The edifice is tottering.
CLIMATE CHANGE – FINAL PHASE THREAD
