cc: "Preece Alan Mr (MAC)" , "Palmer Dave Mr (LIB)" , "Mcgarvie Michael Mr (ACAD)" date: Wed Aug 5 10:26:43 2009 from: Phil Jones subject: RE: just a thought to: "Colam-French Jonathan Mr (ISD)" , "Ogden Annie Ms (MAC)" Jonathan, Here's the link. Also one to show you more about Christopher Booker. [1]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/5955955/Weather-records- are-a-state-secret.html [2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Booker Making the data available involves writing to a lot more people than just the Met Office. We can start this soon, but we need to give the Met Services time to reply. We're also working on a newer version with more data in it, so would be best if this version got released and not the current one. Cheers Phil At 08:25 05/08/2009, Colam-French Jonathan Mr (ISD) wrote: Dear Annie, I must admit I had not really appreciated the point that CRU / The Met Office plan to make the full data available next year and agree with your assessment that it would make sense to try and bring this forward if at all possible and avoid the publicity. I am not certain what this would involve, is it as simple as writing to the Met Office and requesting permission? It would be useful to know if there are any other reasons why the release of the data could not be brought forward. Incidentally, I missed the piece in the Telegraph, is there a link you could post? With regards, Jonathan _____________________________________________ From: Ogden Annie Ms (MAC) Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 4:37 PM To: Palmer Dave Mr (LIB); Jones Philip Prof (ENV); Mcgarvie Michael Mr (ACAD); Colam-French Jonathan Mr (ISD) Cc: Preece Alan Mr (MAC) Subject: just a thought Dear all, I spoke to the Met Office press office yesterday about whether to respond to a piece in the Telegraph. As I have since discussed with Phil, we were both of the same opinion - that it was better to let it lie. As previously discussed, if we are actually contacted by the press for a comment, our line would be based on the text now on the CRU website (see below). Just a thought - if we are hoping to get permission from met services so the raw data can be published in 2010, can we not just expedite this and avoid a lot of unwanted negative publicity? Best, Annie The Climatic Research Unit has made available full gridded datasets of surface temperature data and averages since 1982 (on its website since the late 1990s). These datasets have been compiled from data acquired from weather stations around the world, courtesy of Meteorological agencies such as the UK's own Met Office. Some of these organisations give us this information on the understanding that it is used solely for the compilation of our gridded datasets and may only be used with the full permission of the relevant agency. We receive numerous requests for the raw data provided to us. The data are not ours to pass on without the full permission of the relevant Met Services, but we hope in future that we may be able to provide this information, jointly with the Hadley Centre, subject to obtaining consent for publication from the rights holders. ------------------------------- Annie Ogden, Head of Communications, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ. Tel:+44 (0)1603 592764 [3]www.uea.ac.uk/comm ............................................ Prof. Phil Jones Climatic Research Unit Telephone +44 (0) 1603 592090 School of Environmental Sciences Fax +44 (0) 1603 507784 University of East Anglia Norwich Email p.jones@uea.ac.uk NR4 7TJ UK ----------------------------------------------------------------------------