date: Fri, 23 May 2008 20:52:52 +0100
from: David Thompson <davet@atmos.colostate.edu>
subject: Fwd: Your Nature paper - press release details
to: Phil Jones <p.jones@uea.ac.uk>, Mike Wallace <wallace@atmos.washington.edu>, John Kennedy <john.kennedy@metoffice.gov.uk>

   All,

   Here is Nature's press release. They note they can't change any of the text, but I've
   argued they need to change one word at the end of the last paragraph (see my email below,
   and the release below that).

   Please also see the warnings about the embargo on this press release.

   -Dave

   Begin forwarded message:

   From: David Thompson <[1]davet@atmos.colostate.edu>

   Date: May 23, 2008 8:50:23 PM BDT

   To: "Twinn, Rachel" <[2]r.twinn@nature.com>

   Subject: Re: Your Nature paper - press release details

     Rachel,

   The release looks OK. But I think you should change one word in the first paragraph.

   Right now the last 4 words of the paragraph state:  "from the mid-twentieth century."

   They should state: "in the mid-twentieth century"

   The difference is very, very important. What is currently written suggests the record will
   change from the mid century to now. That's not correct, and it will cause a lot of
   confusion in the general public. The record will change in the mid century, but not in the
   recent decades.

   I hope you can change this one word.

   Thanks,

   -Dave

   On May 23, 2008, at 12:12 PM, Twinn, Rachel wrote:

   Dear Author,

   We are pleased to inform you that your paper entitled A large discontinuity in the
   mid-twentieth century in observed global-mean surface temperature has been featured in this
   week's press release for Nature. A copy of the press release entry about your paper, which
   has already been distributed to the media, is included below for your interest and to
   assist you if you receive any enquiries from journalists.

   You may redistribute this press release to your coauthors and press officers of your and
   your coauthors institutions and funders, but you must ensure that they are aware that the
   content of the press release and paper is embargoed until 1800 London time / 1300 US
   Eastern Time on 28 May, and that distribution beyond these recipients must wait until after
   that time. You and your coauthors are free to discuss your work with the media before then,
   but we ask you to ensure that Nature's embargo conditions are understood in each case, and
   to remind journalists to specify Nature as the source of their information in any material
   they produce as a result of receiving the press release.

   The press release is an independent summary of your work written in a style and at a level
   appropriate for the media. Press releases advertise the interest of a paper in an
   attention-catching manner, and are not abstracts of it. Please be aware that we are unable
   to correct minor inaccuracies or discuss questions of emphasis; but do contact us as
   quickly as possible if you believe that the summary contains an inaccuracy that is both
   factual and significant.

   The release is sent by Nature only to members of the media who are registered for our press
   site, and contains links to the full papers to ensure accurate reporting. If journalists
   contact you about your current Nature paper, you are advised to ask whether they have read
   it and, if they have not, to suggest they do so (you may send them a copy yourself under
   embargo conditions, or refer them to Natures press site or to one of the press offices
   below) so that they have a more complete picture of your work than can be obtained from the
   press release alone. After publication, you may check the online media coverage your paper
   has received [3]here.

   [4]http://npg.nature.com/npg/servlet/Content?data=xml/05_google.xml&style=xml/05_google.xsl


   Please note that Nature encourages self-archiving of the accepted version of your
   manuscript in your funders or institutional repository, six months after publication. This
   policy compliments the recently announced policies of the US National Institutes of Health,
   the Wellcome Trust and other research funding bodies around the world. Nature Publishing
   Group recognizes the efforts of funding bodies to increase access to the research they
   fund, and we strongly encourage authors to participate in such efforts.

   For further general information on issues relating to publicity, please refer to the
   details in our earlier correspondence notifying you of your publication date, or contact
   one of the Nature offices listed below.


   From North America
   Katherine Anderson, Nature New York
   Tel: +1 212 726 9231; Fax: +1 646 563 7117
   E-mail: [5]k.anderson@natureny.com

   Katie McGoldrick, Nature Washington
   Tel: +1 202 737 2355; E-mail: [6]k.mcgoldrick@naturedc.com

   From Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan
   Mika Nakano, Nature Tokyo
   Tel: +81 3 3267 8751; E-mail: [7]m.nakano@natureasia.com

   From UK, Europe, other countries not listed
   Rachel Twinn, Nature London
   Tel: +44 207 843 4658; E-mail: [8]r.twinn@nature.com


   Yours sincerely,

   Rachel Twinn
   Assistant Press Officer, Nature


   Featured press release entry:

   Climate records: A cold snap explained (pp 646-649; N&V)

   Scientists have spotted a large discontinuity in the record of twentieth-century
   global-mean surface temperature. A study in Nature this week suggests that an abrupt
   temperature drop in 1945 previously interpreted to be part of a larger cooling trend is
   actually due to uncorrected instrumental biases introduced when measuring temperatures at
   sea. The discovery solves a long-standing mystery in climate change research and will have
   a significant impact on the historical record of temperatures from the mid-twentieth
   century.
   The record of global-mean temperatures from the last 100 years is the most widely
   recognized time series in climate change research, providing key evidence for global
   warming and a crucial tool used to distinguish between anthropogenically induced warming
   and natural climate variability. Until now it was thought to be largely free of substantial
   uncorrected instrument biases.
   David Thompson and colleagues reanalysed the record while filtering out background noise
   from natural events such as El Nio. They then studied all the prominent drops in
   temperature and managed to match all except one in late 1945 to a volcanic eruption
   occurring at the time. This marked drop in temperature was not associated with any known
   climate phenomenon but did coincide with a significant change in shipboard instrumentation
   used to collect data. After the Second World War, measurements were transferred from US
   ships, which relied on engine room intake measurements, to UK ships, which used a different
   method known as uninsulated bucket measurements.
               The authors suggest that although correcting this error is likely to change the
   form of parts of the overall record, particularly in the middle twentieth century, it is
   unlikely to significantly affect estimates of century-long trends in global-mean
   temperatures.
   CONTACT
   David Thompson (Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA)
   Tel: +1 970 491 3338; E-mail: [9]davet@atmos.colostate.edu

   Chris Forest (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earth, Cambridge, MA, USA) N&V author
   Tel: +1 617 253 6958; E-mail: [10]ceforest@mit.edu

   Richard Reynolds (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Asheville, NC, USA) N&V
   author
   Tel: +1 828 271 4302; E-mail: [11]Richard.W.Reynolds@noaa.gov

   ______________________________________________________________________________
   Any feedback or suggestions about this service can be sent by email to [12]press@nature.com

   Nature, the worlds leading scientific journal, [13]www.nature.com/nature

********************************************************************************
DISCLAIMER: This e-mail is confidential and should not be used by anyone who is
not the original intended recipient. If you have received this e-mail in error
please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other storage
mechanism. Neither Macmillan Publishers Limited nor any of its agents accept
liability for any statements made which are clearly the sender's own and not
expressly made on behalf of Macmillan Publishers Limited or one of its agents.
Please note that neither Macmillan Publishers Limited nor any of its agents
accept any responsibility for viruses that may be contained in this e-mail or
its attachments and it is your responsibility to scan the e-mail and
attachments (if any). No contracts may be concluded on behalf of Macmillan
Publishers Limited or its agents by means of e-mail communication. Macmillan
Publishers Limited Registered in England and Wales with registered number 785998
Registered Office Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke RG21 6XS
********************************************************************************

   --------------------------------------------------------------------
   --------------------------------------------------------------------
   David W. J. Thompson
   www.atmos.colostate.edu/~davet
   Dept of Atmospheric Science
   Colorado State University
   Fort Collins, CO 80523
   USA
   Phone: 970-491-3338
   Fax: 970-491-8449

   --------------------------------------------------------------------
   --------------------------------------------------------------------
   David W. J. Thompson
   www.atmos.colostate.edu/~davet
   Dept of Atmospheric Science
   Colorado State University
   Fort Collins, CO 80523
   USA
   Phone: 970-491-3338
   Fax: 970-491-8449

