A group of hackers recently broke into the email system at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), one of the leading climate research centers in the world.
The emails have been leaked to the public, and are being touted by global warming deniers, including the website Climate Depot, as evidence of an alarmist global warming conspiracy.
Climate Depot is an anti-global-warming website, which promotes skepticism and disbelief about the realities of climate change. The website is similar in format to The Drudge Report, and has a particular focus on criticizing former Vice President Al Gore.
One reputable group of scientists, Real Climate, has posted a response on its blog to the allegations about what information is actually contained in the hacked emails:
More interesting is what is not contained in the emails. There is no evidence of any worldwide conspiracy, no mention of George Soros nefariously funding climate research, no grand plan to 'get rid of the MWP', no admission that global warming is a hoax, no evidence of the falsifying of data, and no 'marching orders' from our socialist/communist/vegetarian overlords. The truly paranoid will put this down to the hackers also being in on the plot though.
Some computer security experts, such as Graham Cluley, who was interviewed by the BBC, speculate that this hack was carried out now due to the increased worldwide focus on climate issues and global warming in advance of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen this December.
Check out our recent slideshow on the most dangerous climate change deniers.
You can read more about "ClimateGate" at Think Progress.
-- Filed By Katherine Goldstein