Professor John Mitchell, in his role on the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, approved the inclusion of the infamous “hockey stick” graph – which portrays Earth as hotter than any time in the last 1300 years – into an IPCC report.
In the “hockey stick” graph, and it’s related text, the Medieval Warm Period, when Vikings established settlements and farms in Greenland, is minimized. According to some scientists, the Medieval Warm period was as warm, or warmer than, today.
According to a Daily MailOnline article, the Met Office is refusing requests related to Professor Mitchell’s IPPC papers and correspondence.
Early drafts of the report were fiercely contested by official IPCC reviewers, who cited other scientific papers stating that the 1,300-year claim and the graph were inaccurate.
But the final version, approved by Prof Mitchell, the relevant chapter’s review editor, swept aside these concerns.
Now, the Met Office is refusing to disclose Prof Mitchell’s working papers and correspondence with his IPCC colleagues in response to requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
The block has been endorsed in writing by Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth – whose department has responsibility for the Met Office.
Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal that the Met Office’s stonewalling was part of a co-ordinated, legally questionable strategy by climate change academics linked with the IPCC to block access to outsiders.
Last month, the Information Commissioner ruled that scientists from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia – the source of the leaked ‘Warmergate’ emails – acted unlawfully in refusing FOI requests to share their data.
Warmergate is also known as Climategate.
Read the rest of the Daily MailOnline article.
