New Cache of Emails Leaked In Advance of Durban Climate Talks

An anonymous source has released a new cache of private emails from some of the world’s leading climate scientists, a leak apparently timed to disrupt international climate talks beginning next week in Durban, South Africa. While it remains unclear who shared the 5,000 emails — which are available for download on a Russian server — the unauthorized release echoes the online posting of hundreds of similar emails in the days leading up to Copenhagen climate talks in 2009. Those emails, which purported to show scientists attempting to silence dissenting views in the climate debate, were a setback to climate talks; however, a later series of U.S. and UK inquiries largely vindicated the scientists. The emails released this week seem to be from the same period as the emails released in 2009. They include a list of excerpts that apparently suggest disagreements between the scientists and efforts to block the release of documents in response to freedom of information requests.