May 19, 2012

There is an interesting exchange in the comments to Steve McIntyre's recent post on the updated Yamal data he has recently received from Rashit Hantemirov, the Russian climatologist who originally sampled the Yamal trees.

The new data, which now extends right up to 2005, does not have a hockey stick shape - yet another extraordinary turn in this most extraordinary story.

In the comments, there is what purports to be a comment from Hantemirov himself:

Steve, I’m horrified by your slipshod work. You did not define what you compare, what dataset used in each case, how data were processed, and what was the reason for that, what limitation there are, what kind of additional information you need to know. Why didn’t you ask me for all the details? You even aren’t ashamed of using information from stolen letters. Do carelessness, grubbiness, dishonourableness are the

necessary concomitants of your job? With disrespect…

Readers were rather taken aback by this comment and there appears to be some doubt over its authenticity - Anthony Watts noted that it was posted from a proxy server. Nevertheless Steve M seems convinced that it is genuine.

The question is, what on Earth has brought this rush of blood to Hantermirov's head (if indeed it is him). Has he been got at?