Salinger denies deliberate record loss

Prominent climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger has dismissed claims by ACT leader Rodney Hide that some records used to back Niwa's claim of temperature rises were deliberately destroyed.

The outspoken scientist defended the accuracy and methodology of his work, saying Mr Hide needed only to read the PhD thesis produced by Dr Salinger when was a Victoria University student to verify information.

Mr Hide's party has been probing Science Research and Technology Minister Wayne Mapp over the availability of worksheets and computer records used in Niwa's Seven Stations Temperature Series, which outlined an upward trend in New Zealand's temperatures over the last century.

The data for the series was collected from seven sites across the country and then adjusted to take into consideration the changes to the area of collection.

The latest stoush is part of an on-going row over climate change statistics, which sceptics - including ACT and the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition - claim have been doctored to support Niwa scientists' belief New Zealand temperatures have risen.

ACT has put parliamentary questions to Dr Mapp, one asking whether Niwa holds copies of the original records.

Dr Mapp's office said Niwa had the "raw" climate data in the National Climate Database but the original worksheets and computer records used by Dr Salinger were no longer available, having been held on a superseded computer system.

Mr Hide claimed Niwa had deliberately destroyed key data and the basis of the Government's $1 billion Emissions Trading Scheme could not be justified or replicated.

Niwa was "playing silly buggers with the data", and Mr Hide called for an independent inquiry.

But Dr Salinger rubbished Mr Hide's claims of destroyed data as "a lot of bull...". Dr Salinger said he worked on the original NZ Meteorological Service records.

"It's all on Niwa's database: it's the same data anybody can get, because it is freely available," he said.

Dr Salinger said he had done "all sorts of calculations, from the original records". He challenged Mr Hide to "go and look up my PhD thesis, it's all in there, and it's all documented".

Niwa backed Dr Salinger.

"What was lost were any hand calculations Jim Salinger did while he was working on his thesis and his original computer programme," it said in a statement.

"These were on a Victoria University computer, not at Niwa. Niwa is not responsible in any way for the fact that this computer was superseded, and Jim Salinger was not employed by Niwa at the time."

Niwa principal climate scientist Dr Brett Mullan said Niwa "had the original data, knew the method of the calculations, and we have the answers". There was "no scientific issue from our perspective", and Dr Salinger's work had stood the test of time.

- © Fairfax NZ News