Here we go again. Two years almost to the day after it first happened ? and six days before this year's UN climate talks kick off in Durban, South Africa ?- a second batch of private emails between climate scientists has been posted online.
Several dozen excerpts have been gathered into a single "read me" file, and are being widely circulated by climate sceptic bloggers.
An initial examination by New Scientist found that the content of the emails is similar to the 2009 release, and features climate scientists debating the merits of different studies and discussing the text to be used in major reports.
No evidence of impropriety
A series of inquiries into the 2009 release found no evidence of scientific impropriety, but criticised some of the scientists for their unwillingness to share their data.
As in 2009, the emails have been uploaded to a Russian server. Included in the release are roughly 5000 files, each containing multiple emails.
The emails are exchanges between some familiar names, such as Phil Jones of the University of East Anglia. Jones, director of research for the University's Climatic Research Unit, was at the centre of the controversy over the 2009 release.
Michael Mann of Penn State University in University Park, the author of the original "hockey stick" graph showing a steep rise in global temperatures over the last century, also features, as do a host of other top climate scientists.
Confuse the public
Mann called the new batch of emails "truly pathetic" and said they reflect desperation among climate deniers, who have failed to pick holes in the science. "They have instead turned to smear, innuendo, criminal hacking of websites, and leaking out-of-context snippets of personal emails in their effort to try to confuse the public about the science and thereby forestall any action to combat this critical threat."
Regarding the content of the emails, he said: "I hardly see anything damning at all, despite these snippets all being taken out of context. I guess they had very little left to work with, having culled, in the first round, the emails that could most easily be taken out of context to try to make me look bad."
In a statement, the University of East Anglia said: "This appears to be a carefully timed attempt to reignite controversy over the science behind climate change when that science has been vindicated by three separate independent inquiries and number of studies ? including, most recently, the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature group."
The BEST group consists of scientists well-known for their sceptical views. Last month, it published an independent analysis of global temperatures showing strong evidence that they are warming
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