Britain's top statistician absolved U.K. scientists following the climate-data scandal -- and blasted U.S. researcher Michael Mann for exaggerating the size of global warming.
An inquiry by a panel of scientists into the behavior and methodologies of researchers at Britain's East Anglia University found Britain's climatologists scatterbrained and sloppy, but ultimately innocent of intentionally skewing climate data. But one of the top scientists selected for the panel slammed the methodologies used by Penn State climatologist Michael Mann to devise his infamous "Hockey Stick."
Geology professor Mann's 1998 climate study, which showed a sharp increase in the world's temperatures in the past century, was seen by many as proof that climate change was rapidly occurring and that humans played a significant role in the change. And despite ongoing criticism, the study formed the backbone of global warming theories.
Professor David Hand, president of the Royal Statistical Society, told the Telegraph that Mann's research would have shown less dramatic results if more reliable techniques had been used to analyze the data.
"The particular technique they used exaggerated the size of the blade at the end of the hockey stick. Had they used an appropriate technique the size of the blade of the hockey stick would have been smaller," he said. "The change in temperature is not as great over the 20th century compared to the past as suggested by the Mann paper." Read more.
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