Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:42p.m.
By Dan Satherley
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) has said it will investigate claims that some scientists have manipulated data to over-represent the climate change threat.
The controversy erupted about two weeks ago, after computer hackers acquired emails and documents from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and published them on the internet.
Sceptics claim the leak shows that climate scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change and sought to hide crucial information from interested parties.
IPCC chairman Dr Rajendra Pachauri told BBC's Radio 4 he wants the allegations investigated.
"We certainly don't want to brush anything under the carpet. This is a serious issue and we will look into it in detail."
CRU head Phil Jones has already stood aside in the wake of the controversy, dubbed 'Climategate'.
Scientists in support of the view that humanity's activities are influencing the climate have dismissed the scandal, saying the emails have been taken out of context and that nothing released undermines the conventional view on global warming.
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