Now that we all have time to take a breath from the whirlwind of Climategate, Copenhagen, and the Christmas/New Year holiday, Steve McIntyre has written up a timeline on how the Climategate emails came to be public knowledge on the climate blogs.
Titled The Mosher Timeline, for our well known and frequent commenter Steven Mosher, it ties all of the blogs together that received the Russian FTP server link to the FOIA2009.zip file as a comment from the person(s) who leaked the file.
There are familiar but disassociated bits of knowledge tied together with new information to create a complete picture.
It is well worth the read, here.
For those who didn’t know, our own Charles The Moderator figured greatly in this timeline, props to him.
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“In my view, the most contentious part of the timeline has always been the very first event related to the zip file being uploaded to Real Climate. I admit I don’t post very often to RC, but I don’t recall there being a file upload option. Assuming there is not such an option, this implies that our whistle blower must have had login credentials to the RC server (via FTP, SSH, etc). Has this point ever been clarified to anyone’s satisfaction?”
During september and october the mails were flying fast and furious between CRU and Gavin. One of the mails contains a password and login. I was gunna try it when I found that, but didnt. I theorized ( mc wrote about this) that RC may have comprimised themselves by this practice. In this time frame RC was trying to get somebody at CRU to help them counter steves stuff on Yamal. RC has not commented on this theory. FWIW.
“Interesting so that is where Mosher got the CD he mentions. Charles gave it to him after checking out a held comment. Very good and very smart to research the claims before jumping in and saying anything.”
We checked a lot of things in the file. names, dates, places, references to CA threads, addresses, timelines, I read mails to Mc, mails that he wrote that were captured in the files, dates of published articles.
Martin Brumby (00:42:02) :
Completely OT, sorry!
But this looks as if it will be fun!
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/south-america-mainmenu-37/2724-bolivia-to-host-alternative-climate-conference
That will be even more air miles for all the greenie useful idiots! I’m sure the BBC will be making their block booking right now
Looks like WW3 just around the corner, either that or it’s just Developed World v Undeveloped World. We live in interesting times. Anyway, if Ugo Cheves from oil rich Venezuela (the only rich socialist country I know) & Robert Mogabe from oil poor Zimbabwe can turn up at Copenhagen & get what amounted to a standing ovation who knows what can happen in this crazy world in which we “all” unfortunately live! (Nothing personal against either of those kind, caring, compassionate, understanding, sympathetic, considerate, thoughtful blokes, I am sure they send money to their grey haired elderly mothers too!)
Tokyoboy 🙂 I think you could be right about the pronunciation, although that spelling of Sayers is very unusual & I have never seen it before. Perhaps a better man (or woman) that I could help out!
steven mosher (01:35:24) :
DANG, thats some pretty secret data there. temperature data that will harm international relations if its given to a researcher.
Did Jones say that international relations would be harmed or did he say that relations between WMOs would be harmed and data may not be passed so freely?
To tokyoboy
Regarding the name “Saiers”. Is its pronunciation close to that of “say” + “-ers”, or ?
I’m not familiar with the name but I would probably pronounce it that way.
My personal ClimateGate timeline:
http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2010/01/climategate-timeline.html
Off-topic, but you might like to know the leading headline in the BBC’s rolling marquee weather headlines.
On a day when another couple of inches of snow is falling across the SE of the UK, disrupting transport yet again, and when we have had salt/grit rationing announced, the BBC ran with:
“Melbourne bakes in warmest night for a century”
So global warming is still alive? The bias is becoming so counterproductive. Perhaps they’re employing Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf? You may know him better as ‘Comical Ali’….
tokyoboy (23:10:10) :
Heavily OT, but I need a help from an English native. I am now proofreading my article on the Climategate, to be published in mid-February, in Japanese language, where the proper names should be written, in letters quite strange to you folks, in accordance to their pronunciation. One name I’m not certain about is “Saiers”. Is its pronunciation close to that of “say” + “-ers”, or ?
Thanks.
Your, “say” + “-ers”, is the way I would pronounce the name.
Whoever released these documents did so in the hope or knowledge that such a revellation would expose AGW as an elaborate scam/hoax. At this point it seems that the release has not had the desired result. The Chinese and Indian reaction at Copenhagen may have been influenced by the disclosure but it wasn’t mentioned as a factor. The MSM generally have tried to ignore both the release and the ramifications of the content. Governments, particularly those with a strong AGW agenda, are still in denial. Of interest is the partial collapse of the Voluntry Carbon Trading market which indicates that the money men are starting to have doubts. In a market economy that is quite revealing and portents a lack of faith in Cap and Trade not necessarily the loss of faith in the “science”.
My question is “do you honestly think that Climategate will seal the fate of AGW?”
To become a Saint requires 2 miracles. Nov 17 2009 at 5.24 blog time was one.
I’d regard Miracle Two as widespread reporting by the MSM.
Steven, thanks for the info. I just grep’d through the emails for various potential phrases that might match the email you mentioned (e.g., login, password, pw, realclimate, RC, yamal, etc) and so far I haven’t located any emails from Sept/Oct of 2009 that contain any explicit or obvious login credentials. Perhaps you could provide a file name for the email in question? I’d like to see the user name that was mentioned and the context because it could provide additional information about potential audit trails.
Also, related to my last comment, it just occurred to me that there is another inconsistency with the RealClimate story that is now bothering me. On or around December 1st, the media reported that police were “working with a team from Scotland Yard amid speculation that hackers also tried to break into a second climate institution in Canada.” The Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis would neither confirm nor deny that a hack attempt had taken place (see link below). In any event, this is curious because I’m not aware of any such joining of forces (between Scotland Yard and the Norwich Police) ever being mentioned in the media in relation to the investigation of the alleged RC server hack (which is clearly related to the CRU hack but also separate and independent).
It’s worth noting that realclimate.org appears to be hosted by a UK hosting provider called WebFaction.com. Hence, some might argue that the alleged RC security breach was a local UK issue and need not involve international police forces. However, WebFaction.com is in reality a web hosting reseller for the much larger Houston, Texas based megahosting company called ThePlanet.com. WebFaction.com is therefore bound by Texas laws and this is stated clearly on their web site under their legal terms of service. Applicable Texas laws would ostensibly include any investigations of a criminal nature. So what gives?
Does anyone know if there was ever any mention in the media of the FBI being involved in the CRU case? If the RC server was implicated in the CRU investigation–and it *should* have been (based on the CRU statement that I noted previously)–then Scotland Yard must either be working with the FBI or the FBI must be investigating this independently. It’s possible that I’ve simply over analyzed these events but the facts seems clear, if not incongruous, and I felt obliged to mention these issues because they’re annoying.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=NOED30%20Nov%202009%2017%3A02%3A26%3A850
Moshpit,
It was funny looking back over my timeline and I found I had contacted you in the early AM on the night of the 19/20th and told you what a bombshell I had found. And you never let on in your e-mail to me that you were at the center of it.
You dog. 🙂
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/live_debate/article6986034.ece
Off Topic! The London Times online are having a live debate titled thus:-
“Surprise snow: just as the thaw begins, it starts to snow. Times weatherman explains why, live today at 12.15pm(GMT)”
The subtitle is an open invite for some of the smarter kids on this block to ask tough questions…
“The snow returned with a vengeance today on what is traditionally the chilliest day of the year – so are we out of the woods yet? Join Times weatherman Paul Simons today at 12.15 pm and pitch your questions on weather patterns, global warming and the forecast. “
Steven, thanks for the info. I just grep’d through the files for various potential words that might match the email you mentioned (e.g., login, password, pw, realclimate, RC, yamal, etc) and so far I haven’t found any emails from Sept/Oct of 2009 that contain any explicit or obvious login credentials. Perhaps you could provide a file name for the email in question? I’d like to see the user name that was mentioned and the context because it could provide additional information about potential audit trails.
Also, related to my last comment, it just occurred to me that there is another inconsistency with the RealClimate story that is now bothering me. On or around December 1st, the media reported that police were “working with a team from Scotland Yard amid speculation that hackers also tried to break into a second climate institution in Canada.” The Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis would neither confirm nor deny that a hack attempt had taken place (see link below). In any event, this is curious because I’m not aware of any such joining of forces (between Scotland Yard and the Norwich Police) ever being mentioned in the media in relation to the investigation of the alleged RC server hack (which is clearly related to the CRU hack but also separate and independent).
It’s worth noting that realclimate.org appears to be hosted by a UK hosting provider called WebFaction.com. Hence, some might argue that the alleged RC security breach was a local UK issue and need not involve international police forces. However, WebFaction.com is in reality a web hosting reseller for the much larger Houston, Texas based megahosting company called ThePlanet.com. WebFaction.com is therefore bound by Texas laws and this is stated clearly on their web site under their legal terms of service. Applicable Texas laws would ostensibly include any investigations of a criminal nature. So what gives?
Does anyone know if there was ever any mention in the media of the FBI being involved in the CRU case? If the RC server was implicated in the CRU investigation–and it *should* have been (based on the CRU statement that I noted previously)–then Scotland Yard must either be working with the FBI or the FBI must be investigating this independently. It’s possible that I’ve simply over analyzed these events but the facts seems clear, if not incongruous, and that is annoying.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=NOED30%20Nov%202009%2017%3A02%3A26%3A850
Alan the Brit (22:53:59) :
OT but interesting as part of the general malaise from the BBC. Last night on BBC 1’s magazine show “The One Show”, Historian Dan Snow (honest) did a little piece linked to the current cold spell reciting much colder times in the “Little Ice Age” 400 years ago. Of course this was limited to have affected only “part” of Europe at the time, but nevertheless, it’s a step in the right direction. No explanation as to why etc. Just can’t work out what the BBC is playing at, at the moment. It is so duplicitous. Are they really just hedging their bets?
I watched that report on the BBC’s One Show and I would suggest that they are trying to put across the new theme of “background warming still increasing” as in this winter is still warmer than we had in the UK in th LIA, therefore “proving” that it is getting warmer.
Even Reuters carries a similar theme with this report:-
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE60B3TX20100112
with John Hammond, a meteorologist at the UK Met Office saying
“Colder winters become less likely because overall the background warming will reduce the severity of them, certainly for our part of the world.”
So it’s not another LIA then….
PS Great work to everyone involved in exposing to the COLD light of day the contents of the Climategate data.
Steven, thanks for the info. I just grep’d through the files for various potential words that might match the email you mentioned (e.g., login, password, pw, realclimate, RC, yamal, etc) and so far I haven’t found any emails from Sept/Oct of 2009 that contain any explicit or obvious login credentials. Perhaps you could provide a file name for the email in question? I’d like to see the user name that was mentioned and the context because it could provide additional information about potential audit trails.
Also, related to my last comment, it just occurred to me that there is another inconsistency with the RealClimate story that is now bothering me. On or around December 1st, the media reported that police were “working with a team from Scotland Yard amid speculation that hackers also tried to break into a second climate institution in Canada.” The Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis would neither confirm nor deny that a hack attempt had taken place (see link below). In any event, this is curious because I’m not aware of any such joining of forces (between Scotland Yard and the Norwich Police) ever being mentioned in the media in relation to the investigation of the alleged RC server hack (which is clearly related to the CRU hack but also separate and independent).
It’s worth noting that realclimate.org appears to be hosted by a UK hosting provider called WebFaction.com. Hence, some might argue that the alleged RC security breach was a local UK issue and need not involve international police forces. However, WebFaction.com is in reality a web hosting reseller for the much larger Houston, Texas based megahosting company called ThePlanet.com. WebFaction.com is therefore bound by Texas laws and this is stated clearly on their web site under their legal terms of service. Applicable Texas laws would ostensibly include any investigations of a criminal nature. So what gives?
Does anyone know if there was ever any mention in the media of the FBI being involved in the CRU case? If the RC server was implicated in the CRU investigation–and it should have been (based on the CRU statement that I noted previously)–then Scotland Yard must either be working with the FBI or the FBI must be investigating this independently. It’s possible that I’ve simply over analyzed these events but the facts seems clear, if not incongruous, and that is annoying.
http://tinyurl.com/yaswkjo
Thanks to all who are keeping the spotlight of public attention focused on the dirty climate-gate iceberg!
Decades of filth will be exposed as this melts away.
The modern scientific community eats well from the trough of public funds distributed by the politicians that make funding decisions on research funds.
There is a long-term Democratic Representative from West Virginia that is Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee for Science in the US House of Representatives. Alan Mollohan seems to be on unusually good terms with the climatologist who is President of the National Academy of Sciences, Ralph Ciscerone.
Heat from your spotlight may even reveal some of the truths that NASA has hidden from the public since the 1969 Apollo Mission returned lunar samples for analysis.
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
Former NASA PI for Apollo
Just the reproduction of these timelines, thoughts (from key players) and resultant blog comments would make for a great book on the subject. I’ve been bouncing around the various sites listed and reading the follow-on comments and it reads like an international political/science thriller with many of the key people interacting in real time.
When one considers the real magnitude of this subject ( control of the world via eco governance ) it deserves a book and a movie if it indeed plays out as a turning point on AGW – which it may…
Maybe the reason the Warmists are always spewing charges of corruption and “on the take” at the Denialists/Realists is because they (the Warmists) are so very adept at it. Absolute pros, in fact.
The same goes with their charges that Denialists/Realists are pitching bogus science while they themselves are the ultimate purveyors of truth. Well, we really know now who has been pitching bogus science and distorting truth beyond the breaking point–the Warmists.
When a dinner guest blatently touts his honesty, always count the silverware.
Heh, heh, … nixie tubes. Man, I haven seen those since the ’70s. Funny, the stupid stuff you can get nostalgic about.
REPLY: I chose that, because it represented the state of computing about the time Watergate broke. Plus, I’m sure that Mosh has stared at more than a few nixie tubes in his career. – Anthony
Climategate may be all the rage where you are but here in Arctic UK it is having no effect at all. In the media, parliament (or government), science journals it is as though it never happened. As instructed by the IPCC and EU our government has given the go ahead to construct massive wind farms miles offshore at a cost of £100 billion operating costs unknown. This unnecesssary impracticle scheme will make electric power so costly that most of us especially old age pensioners will probably freeze to death.
OT
Sorry for this but reported on the BBC website: 8 January 2010
and
Lancet May 13, 2009
and I thought Mojib Latif said 2 or 3 decades of cooling while CRU were engaged in manipulation of data and witholding data. Would seomeon at the Lancet buy a drug from these guys or are their different standards?
Thanks Steven (and Anthony) for your replies. I didn’t realise that you were joking about Phil Jones being the mole after he leaked some of his ‘sensitive’ data by mistake.
Still, there may be some connection between the Climategate leak and the earlier inadvertant one. Indeed, none other than Charles The Moderator speculated nearly two months ago that climategate files may also have been released by mistake:
BTW, Steven, I hear you have a book coming out on the Climategate leak, and that we may learn more about how the emails and computer codes fell into public domain in the next few days. Can’t wait to see how this saga evolves.
Anthropogenic global warming -> Global warming -> CLimate change ->
Background warming -> ?
what’s next ?
I confess I was puzzled about why these files had not shown up on WUWT.
Now we know – and many thanks are due to all of you who spent so much time checking and re-checking the authenticity of these files.
Because of this diligence none of the Team and none of their MSM lapdog were able to claim that these were just made up by the usual ‘denialist’ suspects.
And its good to learn how Steve Mosher got that CD – that was something else which puzzled me, because the police would surely have wanted the envelope, to trace where it was posted from, look for fingerprints, even DNA …
(Yeah, I know, I read too many thrillers.)