Lawmaker Seeks NOAA Documents

A powerful member of Congress is demanding internal documents from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration regarding a reanalysis of global surface temperature data. That work, published by Science in June, corrected raw data for biases (DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa5632). The adjusted data show no pause in the rise in worldwide temperatures since the turn of the century, refuting the notion that there has been a slowdown in the rate of global warming in recent years. Now, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the House Science, Space & Technology Committee and a skeptic of human-caused climate change, is subpoenaing NOAA internal documents related to the analysis. NOAA officials say the data and methods are publicly available and its internal documents are confidential. In a Nov. 4 letter to Smith, the American Meteorological Society says singling out specific studies implicitly questions the integrity of the researchers involved and “can be viewed as a form of intimidation.” Smith continues to press NOAA for the information.