Climate data thrown away
Who?
Scientists at the University of East Anglia in Britain said a lot of the raw data they collected to prove global warming had been thrown away. The admission came after thousands of e-mails from Professor Phil Jones at the university's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) were leaked. The e-mails seemed to suggest that scientists were shielding their data.
What?
The University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit is the leading centre for research into past temperatures and weather conditions.
Other experts have long wanted to look at the data the unit has collected proving that the world's temperature has warmed by 0.8 degrees Celsius over the past 157 years. Now they cannot.
When?
The unit admitted the data was lost late last week. But the data was actually thrown away in the 1980s. It was stored on floppy disks and files and was taking up a lot of space, the CRU says. It was thrown away when the unit moved to a new building.
Where?
The controversy over the scientists apparently protecting their data from people who doubted their claims, and finally admitting they had thrown it away, erupted in Britain. It quickly spread around the world.
Why?
Not everybody believes the planet is getting warmer. Such cynics want to see the data used by the world's leading climate research centre.
How?
Officials at the CRU say the leaked e-mails were copied from computers there. They are calling it a 'criminal breach'.
