Another of Ken's liberal truths exposed as a lie...
February 7, 2010
I thought of killing myself, says climate scandal professor Phil Jones
Richard Girling, The London Times
THE scientist at the centre of the “climategate” email scandal has revealed that he was so traumatised by the global backlash against him that he contemplated suicide.
Professor Phil Jones said in an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times that he had thought about killing himself “several times”. He acknowledged similarities to Dr David Kelly, the scientist who committed suicide after being exposed as the source for a BBC report that alleged the government had “sexed up” evidence to justify the invasion of Iraq.
In emails that were hacked into and seized upon by global-warming sceptics before the Copenhagen climate summit in December, Jones appeared to call upon his colleagues to destroy scientific data rather than release it to people intent on discrediting their work monitoring climate change.
Jones, 57, said he was unprepared for the scandal: “I am just a scientist. I have no training in PR or dealing with crises.”
Background
The IPCC's Synthesis Report (See section 3.3.2)
International Institute for Sustainable Development - report on how climate change might affect crop yields
Climate change speech by Ban Ki-Moon, UN secretary-general
Related Links
Scientist says UN panel is losing credibility
The leak was bad. Then came the death threats
The incident has taken a severe toll on his health. He has lost more than a stone in weight and disclosed he is on beta-blockers and using sleeping pills. He said the support of his family, and especially the love of his five-year-old granddaughter, had helped him to shake off suicidal thoughts: “I wanted to see her grow up.”
He remains at risk, still receiving death threats from around the world including two in the past week: “I was shocked. People said I should go and kill myself. They said that they knew where I lived. They were coming from all over the world.”
Jones has temporarily stood down as director of the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia. He fiercely defends the unit’s science — “I stand by it 100%” — but now accepts that he did not treat Freedom of Information (FoI) requests for the data as seriously as he should have done. Jones believes that the unit was maliciously targeted with multiple FoI requests by climate change sceptics determined to disrupt its work.
Last week Graham Smith, the deputy information commissioner, ruled that by failing to release requested data Jones and his colleagues breached FoI regulations. The affair is now the subject of a review led by Sir Muir Russell, former vice-chancellor of Glasgow University.
Your Comments
36 Comments
Comment:
Peter Kennedy wrote:
Hey Don't take yourself too seriously life is short enough try to enjoy it while you can....Maybe try to help some unfortunate people in some way... They should not be too too hard to find in Nu Labour Britain.
February 7, 2010 12:42 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (2) Report Abuse Permalink
John Catley wrote:
A man with his career in ruins is not pretty sight and I do have some sympathy for Prof. Jones. I imagine that once he was a good and diligent researcher and scientist. Unfortunately he has allowed his standards to slip and the results speak for themselves.
Perhaps he could regain some self respect and credibility by giving a full and frank interview to explain what he did wrong and why he regrets doing what he did.
February 7, 2010 12:39 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (6) Report Abuse Permalink
Adrian Vance wrote:
Jones, Mann and Hansen should all lose their degrees for what they have done to science. They have taken over $100 billion, ruined every new science book for two generations, poisoned science education with environmental BS and political correctness. These guys should be pushing brooms and driving cabs.
February 7, 2010 12:29 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (46) Report Abuse Permalink
Richard Lawson wrote:
Jones, 57, said: “I am just a scientist."
Oh really.
Did you know Phil that real scientists always remain objective and don't manipulate the data to fit preconceptions.
Real scientists don't manipulate the peer review process.
Real scientists allow other scientists to publish work unhindered.
Real scientists encourage other scientists to replicate and thereby prove their work.
REAL scientists remain apolitical.
Clearly you are not a scientist. I wish you no ill and I hope you learn to live with your mistakes but please don't play for sympathy.
February 7, 2010 12:28 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (45) Report Abuse Permalink
Simon Newbold wrote:
"I am just a scientist."
It would appear, Prof. Jones, that you are not.
Any true scientist is more than happy to have his(or her) work subjected to peer review,(prior to publication) if they are able to demonstrate any degree of confidence in their initial research, and the conclusions that they have come to from said research.
Is it only when one has been discovered to have lied, not only to the to the public, but also to the scientific community,and that mistake is going to cost the taxpayer trillions of pounds over the the next few decades, on the basis of unverifiable science, that one feels suicidal.
Just don't expect any sympathy!
February 7, 2010 12:25 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (35) Report Abuse Permalink
Thomas Fagan wrote:
Sometimes it is hard to conceive the full extent of the potential pain and suffering caused by one’s actions. Take President Obama of the USA, by his actions he is responsible for between 5 and 20 percent unemployment (approx 30 million people). Because of the majority of the USA media, he enjoys the silence of the suffering caused by his ideology. Of course he may not care but the silent pain of the unemployed is deafening.
Jones case is similar in that the extent of the potential pain and suffering resulting from his fraudulent science could be truly beyond imagination. Those of us that have nothing to gain, now understand that Co2 has nothing to do with Global warming but much more to do with scamming money from the population at large. All the talk about sequestering Co2, shutting down coal fired power plants, the reduction of burning fossil fuel to reduce Co2 and the payment of carbon credits would have the effect of sending us all back to the dark ages. One can only guess at the per capita amount of money assessed on the population of the world.
After all the fear mongering we now know that doubling or tripling the level of Co2 in the atmosphere would be beneficial to the world because Co2 acts like a fertilizer and would promote greater vegetation growth thus providing more food for the world population. We also know that an increase of one degree per one hundred years would be welcome in most parts of the world and certainly nothing to fear.
Finally, burning more fossil fuels (Coal, shale, oil, natural gas) not only would provide more and cheaper energy but would also help provide a better lifestyle for all the people of the world for the next several hundred years, providing sufficient time to develop a hydrogen economy which would be the cleanest of all possibilities.
February 7, 2010 12:23 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (35) Report Abuse Permalink
ta NKY wrote:
this just feels more and more like a cult.
February 7, 2010 12:13 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (31) Report Abuse Permalink
Martin Bright wrote:
No scientist should be involved with the Man Made Global Warming fraud.
It is politically motivated, & as in the Soviet Union, scientists are expected to endorse politically correct lies. Eg the Soviet version of Evolution.
It is time for decent scientists to stand up for real science
& recognize openly that the only people whose views on AGW are worth hearing are historians of the Earth's climate, notably Prof Ian Plimer.
February 7, 2010 12:12 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk Recommend? (34) Report Abuse Permalink
James Anderson wrote:
Professor Phil Jones underestimated his opponents and the general public. Knowing that he held authority, in climate research, he used it to push an unscientific money spinner, probably to the point of almost believing it himself. Requests for information and his reaction to opponents shows his arrogance. Now his plans are beginning to unwind he's in denial, unable to comprehend how it could all go so wrong and confused by the responses of those about him.
From personal experience - Never underestimate the power of a few committed people or 'fools' in large groups Professor Jones!
February 7, 2010 12:10 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk
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