Climate scientists cleared of manipulating research

The scientists at the centre of the

The panel, chaired by Lord Oxburgh, was convened to examine the conclusions of research published by the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.

It began its review after hacked emails from research unit scientists were published on the web, leading climate sceptics to claim the statistical methods used were inadequate.

The panel said it might be helpful if researchers worked more closely with professional statisticians in the future to avoid problems.

"We cannot help remarking that it is very surprising that research in an area that depends so heavily on statistical methods has not been carried out in close collaboration with professional statisticians," the panel said.

The emails were put on the web in November. Critics said the exchanges revealed an attempt by the researchers involved to manipulate data.

A recent House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report into the emails also concluded that the scientists involved had no intention to deceive.

Leading scientists welcomed the finding. Dr Myles Allen, head of the Climate Dynamics Group at Oxford University, said: "Anyone familiar with the way science works would know it would be quite impossible for a group of scientists to maintain a conspiracy for 20 minutes, never mind 20 years."