Thousands of pieces of correspondence among some of the world's leading climate scientists were stolen from the unit at the University of East Anglia and leaked to the Internet last month. Skeptics of man-made global warming contend that the e-mails are proof that scientists have been conspiring to hide evidence showing that global warming was not as strong as generally believed.
Phil Jones, the unit's director, stepped down Tuesday pending the result of an investigation. Thursday's announcement was the first acknowledgment that the research itself would be under scrutiny.
East Anglia said its review will examine the e-mails and other information "to determine whether there is any evidence of the manipulation or suppression of data which is at odds with acceptable scientific practice."
The theft of the e-mails and their publication online -- only weeks before the U.N. summit on global warming in Copenhagen-- has been politically explosive, even if researchers say their content has no bearing on the principles of climate change itself. AP
