According to a press release from Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia, a UK ruling forces the release of other nations property, in this case climate data. We are talking about some legal left-overs in the so-called Climategate case where scientists were wrongfully accused of refusing to share data (national and international).
A couple of days ago, data from all but 19 stations in Poland, were published on CRU's home pages. From my time as a Director of the European Sea Level Service, I know very well that Poland has very strict rules on their Earth observation data. They do allow their data to be used for research purposes. However, CRU deciding to respect Poland's refusal of data sharing but not Trinidad and Tobago's is odd. Is it because the UK is in more need of a close nation's data for their own weather forecasts that they come to this conclusion? We can only speculate of course, but this decision is, from how I know the UK, not very British diplomacy-like - at all.
Hemispheric and global averages graph, CRU 2011.
In this case we are only talking about temperature data, but I fear that the way this parameter is treated, temperature being one of the 50 essential climate variables, will influence the very delicate discussions on data sharing principles that takes place in Group of Earth Observations (GEO).
One essential requirement for constructive and successful negotiations that will result in a sustainable international data sharing policy, is respect for every nation's sovereignty. That is a given, if you ask me, no matter how frustrating that can be at times. As much as I want to have, and have fought for, not only an open data sharing policy, but also that the data should be FREE, I cannot ignore the fact that most of the Earth observation data is national property.
Moreover, when sharing data you need to develop data citation standards. Which is currently still being developed under the GEO umbrella for later negotiations. One nation's ruling will not help solve this problem. On the contrary.
UK just committed a ruling that demanded that one of their governmental bodies should facilitate burglary of other nations property; property given to the UK in trust. Rather radical, I'd say.
Earlier I have pointed out that most of the data was freely accessible to the public long before the 'invention' of Climategate. In that perspective, the ruling seems even more unnecessary and destructively redundant.
Let us make Earth observation data accessible to all - the right way!
Further reading: Do you believe in global warming? Climategate revisited - again.
