'Climategate' expert admits: I considered killing myself

Published on Sunday 7 February 2010 21:55

THE scientist at the centre of the "climategate" scandal said last night that he received death threats and contemplated suicide after leaked e-mails were seized on by sceptics.

Professor Phil Jones agreed that it became his "David Kelly moment" – a reference to the scientist who killed himself in the aftermath of the "sexed up" Iraq intelligence dossier claims.

In e-mails that were hacked into and seized upon by global-warming sceptics before the Copenhagen climate summit in December, Prof 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.

Climate-warming sceptics said the e-mails provide evidence of collusion by climatologists.

The leak got the Copenhagen meeting off to a gloomy start and allowed sceptics to claim that the scientific community was being selective in the information it released in order to exaggerate the extent of climate change.

Earlier this year, Prof Jones confirmed that all of the leaked e-mails that had provoked heated debate – including the now infamous e-mail from 1999 in which he discussed a "trick" to "hide the decline" in global temperatures – appeared to be genuine. "The use of the term 'hiding the decline' was in an e-mail written in haste," he said. "CRU (Climatic Research Unit] has not sought to hide the decline."

Prof Jones admitted that he had chosen the wrong words and sent "in the heat of the moment".

He also acknowledged that he had not dealt with requests for data in "the right way".

But he added that he was provoked by those obstructing his work into writing messages that his detractors claim called on colleagues to destroy or withdraw information.

"It was just frustration. I thought the requests were just distractions. It was taking us away from our day jobs. It was written in anger," he said.

But the man at the centre of the scandal denied he had deleted any data.

He said: "We have no data to delete. It comes to us from around the world. We interpret data. We don't create or collect it. It's all available from other sources."

Meanwhile, the impact on his personal life was great.

"I did think about it, yes. About suicide. I thought about it several times, but I think I've got past that stage now," he said.

The 57-year-old – who has stepped aside from the his role as director of the unit while an inquiry takes place – said he still suffered as a result of the pressure of the scandal.