2002 ClimateGate email to Keith Briffa: Another trick, more hiding, and for me, more doubt that we should spend $45 trillion and change our lifestyles based on the notion that trees are reliable thermometers

Email 4387

ddate: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 17:58:49 +100 from: hleusch@gwdg.de subject: Kelly-paper to: Keith Briffa <k.briffa@uea.ac.uk>

Keith, I now found the time to read the paper more carefully, together with the figures. I think except of my basic critics (no regard of replication) the results are astonishing good. The trick to substract pdsi-values and to calculate significance in comparison to the previous year  does pretty nice hide the information how many of the negative signature years in the 20th century had really been dry years - at least in 1956 the opposite is true. However astonishing interesting results, especially for me the 3-4 years ring widt suppressions following cold winters which you explain by climatic reasons and which I see as medium term reaction on damage in cold winters. So - from my side no hints for changes in the hurry (this week I am overbusy with an everyday course in Dendrochronology for students) but the hope that we will one day find the time to repeat the study a bit more carefully. Cheers Hubert Dr. Hanns Hubert Leuschner Univ. Goettingen -Labor f. Dendrochronologie u. Dendroklimatologie- Von-Siebold-Str. 3a D-37075 Goettingen Phone: +49-551-3912153