UEA asked to explain climate emails

The university at the centre of a row over emails which sceptics claim show global warming data has been manipulated has been called on to explain the incident to the committee of MPs responsible for science.

The university at the centre of a row over emails which sceptics claim show global warming data has been manipulated has been called on to explain the incident to the committee of MPs responsible for science.

The material was taken from servers at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit before it was published on websites run by sceptics, possibly in a bid to undermine the global climate summit in Copenhagen.

Phil Willis, chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, has written to Professor Edward Acton, vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia, requesting a "comprehensive note" setting out what had happened.

The letter also calls for the university to set out the steps taken to investigate the allegations and test the integrity of the data held by the unit, how the centre can "justify its commitment to academic transparency' and how the university proposes to restore confidence in the research.

The committee, which said it may ask the university to appear to give oral evidence, also asked for an assurance that none of the data referred to in the emails which have been published has been destroyed.

The University of East Anglia has already launched an independent review into the allegations, while the head of the UN's expert panel on climate change, Rajendra Pachauri, has said it will look into what has happened.

The director of the Climatic Research Unit, Professor Phil Jones, has stood down while the investigation takes place, but has said he “absolutely” stands by the science the centre has produced.