date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 15:31:20 +0000 from: Tim Osborn subject: RE: Invitation to speak to the U.S. NRC Committee on Surface to: "Kraucunas, Ian" Dear Ian, I would be happy to respond to written questions after the meeting (depending, of course, on the extent of such questions -- not wanting to make an open-ended commitment). I have attached one paper that is currently in press with Climate Dynamics. It's relevance to the topic is indirect, in that it discusses issues related to the ECHO-G "Erik" model simulation used in the pseudo-proxy study of von Storch et al. (2004). In our conclusions we note the relevance of our work in this way: "Though our results do not discount the bias in climate reconstructions identified by von Storch et al. (2004), which is an inherent property of the reconstruction methods, it is likely that the magnitude of this bias depends on the magnitude of long-term temperature variability (Osborn and Briffa 2004). If the ECHO-G Erik run overestimates this, then the bias in climate reconstructions found by von Storch et al. (2004) will also be overestimated." I don't have any other submitted/accepted material to provide. Best regards Tim At 16:48 17/02/2006, you wrote: >Tim, > >Thank you for the reply. I am sorry that you will not be able to speak >to the committee, and again I apologize for the short notice. If the >committee has any questions that it feels you are uniquely qualified to >answer, would you perhaps be willing to respond to written questions >after our meeting? As I mentioned in my previous message, the committee >would also be interested in any recently submitted or accepted papers >that you feel might be relevant. > >Again, thanks for your time, >Ian > >-----Original Message----- >From: Tim Osborn [mailto:t.osborn@uea.ac.uk] >Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 11:01 AM >To: Kraucunas, Ian >Subject: Re: Invitation to speak to the U.S. NRC Committee on Surface >Temperature Reconstructions > >Dear Dr. Ian Kraucunas, > >thank you for the very interesting invitation to speak at the NRC >committee meeting. Unfortunately I am declining the invitation. The >primary reason is that it would be difficult for me to commit time to >it at a very busy time for me, in the final two months of a >three-and-a-half-year multi-national project that I am >coordinating. The time necessary to do it justice, in terms of >preparation of material and attending the meeting itself, is more >than I have available. > >Best regards > >Tim > >At 19:48 16/02/2006, you wrote: > >Dear Dr. Osborn, > > > >The National Research Council of The National Academies of the United > >States is empanelling a committee to study "Surface Temperature > >Reconstructions for the Past 1,000-2,000 Years". The committee will be > >asked to summarize the current scientific information on the >temperature > >record over the past two millennia, describe the proxy records that >have > >been used to reconstruct pre-instrumental climatic conditions, assess > >the methods employed to combine multiple proxy data over large spatial > >scales, evaluate the overall accuracy and precision of such > >reconstructions, and explain how central the debate over the > >paleoclimate temperature record is to the state of scientific knowledge > >on global climate change. I have attached the complete study proposal > >(Word document). > > > >Since this issue has been the subject of considerable controversy, we > >have taken great care to assemble an unbiased panel of scientific > >experts with the appropriate range of expertise to produce an > >authoritative report on the subject. Jerry North (Texas A&M >University) > >will be chairing the committee, and NAS Members Mike Wallace, Karl > >Turekian, and Bob Dickinson will be on the panel, in addition to a > >half-dozen other scientists with expertise in statistics, climate > >variability, and several different types of paleoclimate proxy data. > >The full committee slate is available at the following website: > >http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/CommitteeDisplay/BASC-U-06-01-A > > > >The committee would like to invite you to come to Washington DC on > >Thursday, March 2nd to speak about your extensive work in this area and > >to discuss your perspective on the issues noted above and in the study > >proposal. The committee will be familiar with the relevant > >peer-reviewed literature, including your recent paper with Dr. Briffa >in > >Science, but is also interested in any recently submitted or accepted > >papers. We will be inviting 10-11 other experts to speak; a complete > >agenda will be made available prior to the meeting, and the meeting >will > >be open to the public. Speakers will be reimbursed for travel expenses > >and invited to stay for the entire open session of the meeting (which > >will include a reception on Thursday evening and a few speakers on > >Friday morning). > > > >Thank you in advance for your time and interest, I hope that you are > >available and willing to meet with our committee on such short notice. > >Please let me know if there is a convenient time that I could call you > >tomorrow (Friday) to discuss details and answer any questions you might > >have (or feel free to call me directly). > > > >Sincerely, > > > >Ian Kraucunas > > > >~~~ > >Ian Kraucunas, Ph.D. > >Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate > >National Research Council of The National Academies > >500 Fifth Street NW, Keck 705 > >Washington, DC 20001 > >Email: ikraucunas@nas.edu > >Phone: (202) 334-2546 > >Fax: (202) 334-3825 > > > >Dr Timothy J Osborn >Climatic Research Unit >School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia >Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK > >e-mail: t.osborn@uea.ac.uk >phone: +44 1603 592089 >fax: +44 1603 507784 >web: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~timo/ >sunclock: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~timo/sunclock.htm Dr Timothy J Osborn Climatic Research Unit School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK e-mail: t.osborn@uea.ac.uk phone: +44 1603 592089 fax: +44 1603 507784 web: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~timo/ sunclock: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/~timo/sunclock.htm