Climate scientist Phil Jones 'regrets' emails

THE scientist at the centre of the "climategate" scandal says he regrets writing emails that undermined confidence in the theory of man-made climate change.

THE scientist at the centre of the "climategate" scandal says he regrets writing emails that undermined confidence in the theory of man-made climate change.

Phil Jones told London newspaper The Times yesterday that publication of the stolen emails - in which he referred to tricking the science to "hide the decline" in global temperatures - was designed to sabotage negotiations for a climate change treaty in Copenhagen.

He said it would take years for the damage from publication of the emails to be repaired.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change relied on Professor Jones's research for its most recent report, which found that human activities were very likely to be the cause of global warming.

On the first anniversary of publication of the emails, Professor Jones said he regretted saying he would prevent research that questioned the link between human emissions and global warming from being included in the IPCC's report.

"That was something I said on the spur of the moment. I do regret saying that," he said.

Professor Jones admitted he should not have asked a colleague to delete correspondence but denied deliberately wiping his own emails to prevent them being published under the Freedom of Information Act.

In what was his first significant interview since being reinstated at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, Professor Jones said he regretted some of the language in emails, which had been "sent in haste".

An independent inquiry dismissed claims of an attempt to manipulate data.

Professor Jones will contribute to the next IPCC report, in which he said he expected to reach the same conclusion on man-made climate change.

Despite Professor Jones's exoneration, the "climategate" scandal raised serious concerns among some scientists about the standards applied to some global warming research and the IPCC report.

The Royal Society responded to concerns from members that it had become too politicised by revising the tone of its guide to climate change to highlight the uncertainties.

Harold Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, resigned from the American Physical Society after 67 years, claiming the climategate scandal had exposed "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist".

Professor Jones told The Times he had received more than 400 abusive emails after the scandal broke: "There were some saying 'You should kill yourself' and others saying 'We know where you live'. I did feel physically threatened at times," he said.

"I tried to forward them to the police but they were bounced back by their computer because they were too obscene. So I had to print them."

Professor Jones said sceptics offered a reassuring message that people wanted to hear.

"Some people want to believe that we are not able to affect the climate and want to use any bit of evidence to promote the case for doing nothing. They think that (to do something) might lead to such a change in our lifestyles," he said.

"If you want to be deceived on some issues, you preferentially take all those reports that go along with your particular perceptions."

Additional reporting: The Times