University of East Anglia (Climatic Research Unit)
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| University of East Anglia (Climatic Research Unit) | |
|---|---|
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| Name | Climatic Research Unit |
| Established | 1971 |
| Type | Research unit |
| Location | Norwich, England |
| Parent | University of East Anglia |
University of East Anglia (Climatic Research Unit)
The Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia is a research centre focused on historical climate reconstruction, climate modelling, and climate variability. Founded in 1971 within University of East Anglia, the unit has contributed to assessments such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and engaged with institutions including the Met Office, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and British Antarctic Survey. Staff have interacted with figures and bodies such as James Hansen, Michael E. Mann, Gavin Schmidt, the Royal Society, and the European Space Agency.
History
The unit was established by Bryan Lovell and Mike Hulme with early links to Tom Wigley and Phil Jones, building on heritage from Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research and collaborations with Clive Granger and Roger Revelle. Early work drew on archives associated with Charles David Keeling and datasets from Royal Meteorological Society collections and the Met Office Hadley Centre. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the CRU's staff engaged with the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, and contributors to the IPCC Second Assessment Report and IPCC Third Assessment Report.
Research and Programs
CRU research spans paleoclimatology, instrumental climate records, and model evaluation, building on methods developed by Lennart Bengtsson, James Hansen, and Michael E. Mann. Programs have produced temperature series comparable to outputs from the Met Office Hadley Centre and NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, integrating proxy records such as tree rings used by Phil Jones and ice cores studied by Paul Mayewski and Eric Wolff. The unit has provided data and expertise to projects like PAGES (Past Global Changes) and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), and contributed to reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and advice to bodies such as the Committee on Climate Change.
Data and Methods
CRU compiles instrumental datasets including the widely used CRUTEM and HadCRUT series, employing statistical techniques influenced by work from Edward Lorenz, Hendrik van Loon, and Nicholas Shackleton. Proxy calibration methods reference research by Briffa, Keith, Mike Baillie, and Raymond Bradley, while homogenization and quality-control methods align with procedures from the International Surface Temperature Initiative and practices used at NOAA and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. CRU analyses have incorporated gridded datasets, statistical infilling, and uncertainty quantification techniques common to CMIP and paleoclimate syntheses by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committees.
Controversies and CRU Email Leak ("Climategate")
In 2009 a series of emails and documents were leaked from CRU servers, provoking investigations by entities including the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, the University of East Anglia administration, the National Science Foundation, and the UK Information Commissioner's Office. The episode, labelled "Climategate" by commentators and covered by media such as The Guardian, The Times (London), and The New York Times, led to reviews by panels chaired by figures like Muir Russell and Sir Nicholas Stern, and independent inquiries by institutions including the National Academy of Sciences. Findings cleared researchers of data fabrication but prompted reforms in data sharing and transparency, reflecting recommendations aligned with practices endorsed by Royal Society statements and the IPCC Secretariat.
Collaborations and Funding
CRU has collaborated with universities such as University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh, Columbia University, University of Colorado Boulder, and University of Arizona, and with agencies including the Met Office, NOAA, NASA, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, and CSIRO. Funding sources historically include grants from the Natural Environment Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the European Commission, and philanthropic awards from foundations like the Wellcome Trust and the Carnegie Institution for Science. CRU researchers have also participated in EU framework programmes such as Horizon 2020 and in bilateral projects with organizations like the World Bank.
Facilities and Infrastructure
Located on the University of East Anglia campus in Norwich, the CRU has office and laboratory space integrated with the university's School of Environmental Sciences, computational facilities tied to national supercomputing resources such as the ARCHER system and cloud services used by Met Office collaborations, and archive holdings including historical station records and proxy collections shared with British Antarctic Survey and National Oceanography Centre. The unit maintains data repositories that interact with systems at NOAA NCEI and UK Met Office archives and follows data management guidance like that from the UK Data Service.
Impact and Legacy
CRU's long-term instrumental series and proxy syntheses have influenced international policy dialogues at venues such as United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations, IPCC assessments, and reports by the Committee on Climate Change. Its datasets are cited alongside contributions from NOAA, NASA, and the Met Office Hadley Centre in scientific literature by authors including Michael E. Mann, Phil Jones, Tom Wigley, and Gavin Schmidt. The unit's experience with the 2009 email controversy led to wider adoption of open-data standards across institutions such as Royal Society and encouraged transparency practices embraced by modelling consortia like CMIP and data initiatives tied to the PAGES community. Category:Climate research institutes