View source for Climatic Research Unit

{{Short description|UK Climate Change research body}}
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[[File:Hubert Lamb Building.jpg|right|thumb|The Hubert Lamb Building, University of East Anglia, where the Climatic Research Unit is based]]
The '''Climatic Research Unit''' ('''CRU''') is a component of the [[University of East Anglia]] and is one of the leading institutions concerned with the study of natural and [[human impact on the environment|anthropogenic]] [[climate change]].<ref>{{cite news | last = Brown | first = Craig | title = The forecast for Scotland: wet, wet, wet | work = The Scotsman | date = 8 February 2005 | url = http://news.scotsman.com/weather/The-forecast-for-Scotland-wet.2601547.jp | access-date = 1 November 2008}}</ref>

With a staff of some thirty research scientists and students, the CRU has contributed to the development of a number of the data sets widely used in [[Climatology|climate research]], including one of the [[Global temperature record|global temperature records]] used to monitor the state of the climate system,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/about/ |title=About the Climatic Research Unit |access-date=9 May 2008 |archive-date=30 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430145555/http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/about/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Global temperature 2008: Another top-ten-year | publisher = Met Office | date = 3 January 2008 | url = http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2008/pr20080103.html | access-date = 1 November 2008 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511184106/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2008/pr20080103.html | archive-date = 11 May 2008 }}</ref> as well as statistical software packages and [[climate model]]s.<ref name="UEA Climatic Research Unit">{{cite web|url=http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/about/|title=About the Climatic Research Unit|access-date=5 May 2008|archive-date=30 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430145555/http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/about/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==History==
The CRU was founded in 1972 as part of the university's School of [[Environmental science]]s. The establishment of the Unit owed much to the support of Sir [[Graham Sutton]], a former Director-General of the [[Meteorological Office]], Lord [[Solly Zuckerman]], an adviser to the University, and Professors [[Keith Clayton]] and [[Brian Funnel]], Deans of the School of Environmental Sciences in 1971 and 1972.<ref name="Hulme-xxvii">{{cite book|editor=Hulme, Michael|editor2=Barrow, Elaine|author1=Lamb, H.H.|author2=Clayton, K.M.|author3=Wigley, T.M.L.|title=Climates of the British Isles: present, past and future|chapter=The Climatic Research Unit at Twenty-five Years|page=xxvii–xxix|publisher=Routledge|year=1997|isbn=978-0-415-13016-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZVVkhW8wL8C&pg=PR27}}</ref><ref name=HistUAE285/> Initial sponsors included [[BP|British Petroleum]], the [[Nuffield Foundation]] and [[Royal Dutch Shell]].<ref name=HistUAE285>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50HjSi5o8J0C&pg=PA285 |title=The history of the University of East Anglia, Norwich |author=Michael Sanderson |page=285 |year=2002 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-336-5}}</ref> The [[Rockefeller Foundation]] was another early benefactor, and the [[Wolfson Foundation]] gave the Unit its current building in 1986.<ref name="Hulme-xxvii" /> Since the second half of the 1970s the Unit has also received funding through a series of contracts with the [[United States Department of Energy]] to support the work of those involved in climate reconstruction and analysis of the effects on climate of [[greenhouse gas emissions]].<ref name="Hulme-xxviii">Hulme & Barrow (1997), p. xxviii</ref> The UK Government ([[Margaret Thatcher]]) became a strong supporter of climate research in the mid-1980s.<ref name = HistoryCRU />

The first director of the unit was Professor [[Hubert Lamb]], who had previously led research into climatic variation at the [[Met Office]].<ref name=HistUAE285/> He was then known as the "''ice man''" for his prediction of [[global cooling]] and a coming [[ice age]] but, following the UK's exceptionally [[1976 United Kingdom heat wave|hot summer of 1976]], he switched to predicting a more imminent [[global warming]].<ref name=HistUAE285/> The possibility of major weather changes and flooding attracted attention to the unit and sponsorship by major insurance companies wanting to mitigate their potential losses.<ref name=HistUAE285/> Prior to the Unit's establishment, it had widely been believed by the meteorological establishment that the climate was essentially constant and unvarying.<ref>{{cite book|last=Maunder|first=W.J.|title=The uncertainty business: risks and opportunities in weather and climate|page=6|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1986|isbn=978-0-416-36100-1}}</ref> Lamb and others in the [[climatological]] community had for years argued that the climate system was in fact highly variable on timescales of decades to centuries and longer. The establishment of the CRU enabled Lamb and his colleagues to focus on this issue and eventually to win the argument decisively.<ref name="Hulme-xxvii" />

Hubert Lamb retired in 1978. His successors were [[Tom Wigley]] (1978–1993), [[Trevor Davies (environmental scientist)|Trevor Davies]] (1993–1998), [[Jean Palutikof]] and [[Phil Jones (climatologist)|Phil Jones]] (jointly 1998–2004), Phil Jones (2004–2016), and [[Tim Osborn]] (from January 2017);<ref name=HistoryCRU>{{cite web|title = History of the Climatic Research Unit|publisher = Climatic Research Unit, [[University of East Anglia]]|url = http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/about-cru/history|access-date = 21 January 2017|archive-date = 18 January 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170118234215/http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/about-cru/history|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url = https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/tim-osborn-to-take-over-leadership-of-cru|title = Tim Osborn to take over leadership of CRU|publisher = [[University of East Anglia]]|date = 21 December 2016|access-date = 20 January 2017|archive-date = 29 July 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190729153546/https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/tim-osborn-to-take-over-leadership-of-cru|url-status = dead}}</ref> [[Peter Liss]] was acting director during investigations between December 2009<ref>{{cite press release|url = http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2009/dec/CRUphiljones|title = CRU Update 3|date = 1 December 2009|access-date = 14 April 2010|archive-date = 2 December 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141202075038/http://www.uea.ac.uk/mac/comm/media/press/2009/dec/CRUphiljones|url-status = dead}}</ref> and July 2010.<ref name="McCarthy2010-07-08">{{cite news|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/conspiracy-theories-finally-laid-to-rest-by-report-on-leaked-climate-change-emails-2021222.html|last = McCarthy|first = Michael|title = 'Conspiracy theories finally laid to rest' by report on leaked climate change emails|date = 8 July 2010|newspaper = [[The Independent]]|access-date = 20 January 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160307144651/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/conspiracy-theories-finally-laid-to-rest-by-report-on-leaked-climate-change-emails-2021222.html|archive-date = 7 March 2016|url-status = dead}}</ref> In 1984, the unit moved to a new cylindrical building designed by [[Rick Mather]].<ref name=HistUAE345>{{cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=50HjSi5o8J0C&pg=PA345|title = The history of the University of East Anglia, Norwich|first = Michael|last = Sanderson|page = 345|year = 2002| publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-336-5}}</ref> In 2006, this was named the ''Hubert Lamb Building'' in honour of the first director.<ref name="Pearce">{{cite book|author-link = Fred Pearce|last = Pearce|first = Fred|title = The Climate Files: The Battle for the Truth about Global Warming|year = 2010|publisher = [[Guardian Books]]|isbn = 978-0-85265-229-9|page = 32}}</ref>

==Activities==

At the time of its establishment the CRU set out four key aims, which still remain valid:

* To establish firmer knowledge of the history of climate in the recent and distant past.
* To monitor and report on current climatic developments on a global scale.
* To identify the processes (natural and man-made) at work in climatic fluctuations and the characteristic timescales of their evolution.
* To investigate the possibilities of making advisory statements about future trends of weather and climate from a season to many years ahead, based on acceptable scientific methods and in a form likely to be useful for long-term planning purposes.<ref>''Climate Research Unit Monthly Bulletin'', 1972, vol. 1, p. 9</ref>

CRU produces a range of climate datasets, covering temperature, [[precipitation]], pressure and circulation, both global and regional.<ref name="Data">{{cite web |title=Data | website=CRU | url=http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/data | access-date=17 September 2015}}</ref> One of the CRU's most significant products is the CRUTEM global dataset of land near-surface temperature anomalies on a 5° by 5° grid-box basis, which is compiled in conjunction with the [[Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research]] and its sea-surface temperature dataset to produce the [[HadCRUT]] [[Instrumental temperature record|temperature record]].<ref name="CRUTEM">{{cite web | title=Temperature data (HadCRUT4) | website=CRU | date=27 August 2015 | url=http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temperature/ | access-date=17 September 2015}}</ref> First compiled in the early 1980s, the record documents global temperature fluctuations since the 1850s. The CRU compiles the land component of the record and the Hadley Centre provides the marine component. The merged record is used by the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] in all its publications.<ref name="Hulme-xxviii" /> 

Other products include the CRU TS high resolution gridded land surface dataset of multiple factors including precipitation, vapour pressure and cloud cover as well as temperatures.<ref name="CRU TS">{{cite web | title=High-resolution gridded datasets | website=CRU | date=1 September 2015 | url=http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/hrg/ | access-date=17 September 2015}}</ref> This type of dataset can be used to monitor [[drought]] conditions, for example.

CRU is also involved in a study of Eurasian climate over the last 10,000 years based upon [[dendroclimatology|tree ring data]] and a study of European climate in the last 200 years based upon temperature records.<ref name=ed/> It is a participant in MEDALUS – the [[Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use project]].<ref name=ed>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/environmentdicti0000kemp |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/environmentdicti0000kemp/page/72 72]–3 |title=The environment dictionary |publisher=Psychology Press |author=David D. Kemp |isbn=978-0-415-12752-3 |year=1998}}</ref> The custodians of the raw data are the [[:Template:National Meteorological Organisations|National Meteorological Organisations]] that originated the data; CRU retains most but not all of the raw data, which continues to be held by the originating services.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bravender|first=Robin|title=CLIMATE: Scientists return fire at sceptics in 'destroyed data' dispute|work=Greenwire|url=http://www.eenews.net/public/Greenwire/2009/10/14/3|date=14 October 2009}}</ref>

It published a quarterly journal, ''Climate Monitor''.<ref name=ed/> This ceased publication in 1998, being replaced by an online version, ''Climate Monitor Online''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/climon/ |title=Climate Monitor Online |year=2004 |access-date=27 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604225349/http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/climon/ |archive-date=4 June 2009 }}</ref>

===Release of raw meteorological data === 
{{main|Freedom of Information requests to the Climatic Research Unit}}
The CRU collates data from many sources around the world. In August 2009 its director, Phil Jones, told the science journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' that he was working to make the data publicly available with the agreement of its owners but this was expected to take some months, and objections were anticipated from National Meteorological Organisations that made money from selling the data. It was not free to share that data without the permission of its owners because of confidentiality agreements, including with institutions in Spain, Germany, Bahrain and Norway, that restricted the data to academic use. In some cases, the agreements were made orally, and some of the written agreements had been lost during a move. Despite this, the CRU was the focus of numerous requests under the [[Freedom of Information Act 2000|Freedom of Information Act]] for data used by the unit's scientists. ''Nature'' reported that in the course of five days in July 2009 the CRU had been "inundated" with 58 FOI requests from [[Stephen McIntyre]] and people affiliated with his [[Climate Audit]] blog requesting access to raw climate data or information about their use.<ref name="Nature 20090812">{{cite news|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090812/full/460787a.html|title=Climate data spat intensifies|date=12 August 2009|issue=460|page=787|work=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]}} Subscription or payment required to read article.</ref>

In early 2011 a large amount of raw weather station data had been released by the Met Office and the US [[Global Historical Climatology Network]], but around two-thirds of the data owners did not respond to the CRU requests for agreement, and both [[Poland]] and [[Trinidad and Tobago]] declined. Two FOIA requests for data shared with another researcher were refused by the university, and the requestors appealed this to the [[Information Commissioner's Office]] (ICO). In its decision released on 23 June 2011, the ICO required CRU to release the remaining raw data irrespective of the wishes of the meteorological organisations which owned the data. This decision included data from Trinidad and Tobago but did not cover Poland. The raw data release was completed by 27 July 2011.<ref name="beeb 27 July 2011">{{Cite web |last = Black | first = Richard | title = Climate unit releases virtually all remaining data | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14315747 |work=BBC News|date = 27 July 2011 | access-date =15 November 2012 }}</ref>

== CRU email controversy ==
{{Main|Climatic Research Unit email controversy}}
In November 2009, [[Hacker (computer security)|hackers]] gained access to a server used by the CRU and stole a large quantity of data, anonymously posting online more than 1,000 emails and more than 2,000 other documents.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hackers target leading climate research unit|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8370282.stm|work=BBC News|date=20 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Climate Strife Comes to Light|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125883405294859215|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=23 November 2009 | first=Keith | last=Johnson}}</ref> Some [[climate change deniers]] including bloggers falsely asserted that a number of the leaked e-mails contain evidence supporting their [[global warming conspiracy theory]] that scientists had allegedly conspired to manipulate data<ref>{{Cite web|last=Henig|first=Jess|date=2009-12-10|title=Climategate|url=https://www.factcheck.org/2009/12/climategate/|access-date=2020-06-21|website=FactCheck.org|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Stringer, David |date=21 November 2009 |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikaqlFpp9jCRHWN0zNuamKXfyeMgD9C441LG0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091124195427/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ikaqlFpp9jCRHWN0zNuamKXfyeMgD9C441LG0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 November 2009 |title=Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate |agency=Associated Press |quote=Some climate change skeptics and bloggers claim the information shows scientists have overstated the case for global warming, and allege the documents contain proof that some researchers have attempted to manipulate data.}}</ref><ref name = "RevkinNYT">Revkin, Andrew. (20 November 2009). [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/science/earth/21climate.html?_r=1 Hacked E-Mail Is New Fodder for Climate Dispute]. ''The New York Times''. Global Edition: Environment. Retrieved 23 November 2009.</ref> and to keep scientists who have contrary views out of peer-review literature.<ref name="wsj climate emails">Johnson, Keith. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125883405294859215 Climate Emails Stoke Debate] ''The Wall Street Journal''. 23 November 2009.</ref><ref name=cru-update>Bailey, Ronald. [http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/01/the-scientific-tragedy-of-clim The Scientific Tragedy of Climategate] ''Reason''. 1 December 2009</ref> This controversy was dubbed "Climategate".<ref>Chameides, Bill. "[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climategate-redux Climategate Redux] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307091137/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climategate-redux |date=7 March 2012 }}." ''Scientific American'', 30 August 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2011.</ref><ref>"[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7322/full/468345a.html Closing the Climategate]." ''Nature''. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2011.</ref>

A series of independent public investigations of the allegations found no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct.<ref>The six major investigations covered by secondary sources include: [http://www.deccanherald.com/content/61233/uk-climategate-inquiry-largely-clears.html House of Commons Science and Technology Committee] (UK); [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/science/earth/08climate.html Independent Climate Change Review] (UK); [http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/04/oxburgh-report-clears-controvers.html International Science Assessment Panel] (UK); [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704031346/http://views.washingtonpost.com/climate-change/post-carbon/2010/07/by_juliet_eilperin_a_pennsylvania.html Pennsylvania State University] (US); [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-10899538 United States Environmental Protection Agency] (US); [https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/u-s-scientists-cleared-in-climategate-1.1031242 Department of Commerce] (US).</ref> The Muir Russell report exonerated the scientists, but found "a consistent pattern of failing to display the proper degree of openness, both on the part of CRU scientists and on the part of the UEA".<ref>Jonsson, Patrik. "Climate scientists exonerated in 'climategate' but public trust damaged". ''The Christian Science Monitor'', 7 July 2010. p. 2. Retrieved 17 August 2011.</ref><ref>Russell, Sir Muir. ''The Independent Climate Change E-mails Review.'' July 2010. p. 11. Retrieved 17 August 2011.</ref> The scientific consensus that global warming is occurring as a result of human activity remained unchanged.<ref>Biello, David (Feb. 2010). "[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=negating-climategate Negating 'Climategate']". ''Scientific American''. '''(302)''':2. 16. {{ISSN|0036-8733}}. "In fact, nothing in the stolen material undermines the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and that humans are to blame"; See also: Lubchenco, Jane (2 December 2009) House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (House Select Committee). "[http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg62520/html/CHRG-111hhrg62520.htm The Administration's View on the State of Climate Science]". House Hearing, 111 Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. "...&nbsp; the e-mails really do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus and the independent scientific analyses of thousands of scientists around the world that tell us that the Earth is warming and that the warming is largely a result of human activities." As quoted in the report published by [https://web.archive.org/web/20110330133202/http://www.oig.doc.gov/OIGPublications/2011.02.18_IG_to_Inhofe.pdf Office of Inspector General].</ref>

In 2011, a new analysis of temperature data by the independent [[Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature]] group, many of whom had stated publicly that they thought it was possible that the CRU had manipulated data, concluded that "these studies were done carefully and that potential biases identified by climate change sceptics did not seriously affect their conclusions".<ref name=bbcBlack>{{Cite news|title=Global warming 'confirmed' by independent study |author=Richard Black|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15373071 |work=[[BBC News]]|date=21 October 2011|access-date=15 November 2012}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Climate change in the United Kingdom]]
* [[Deutscher Wetterdienst]] (German weather service)
* [[NASA]] [[Goddard Institute for Space Studies]]
* [[NCAR]] [[Community Climate System Model]]
* [[NOAA]]
* [[Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research]] (PIK)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/ Climatic Research Unit]

{{University of East Anglia}}

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[[Category:Climate change organisations based in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:University of East Anglia]]
[[Category:Environmental research institutes]]
[[Category:Earth science research institutes]]
[[Category:Research institutes in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Environmental organizations established in 1971]]
[[Category:1971 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Research institutes established in 1971]]