Panel seeks probe in climate e-mail row

LONDON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Claims British scientists altered global warming data to support arguments it is man-made should be investigated, the U.N. climate change panel said.

The allegations came to light after e-mails written by members of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, were posted on the Internet, prompting an investigation into whether computers were hacked, the BBC reported Friday.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, said the claims were serious and he wanted them investigated.

"We will certainly go into the whole lot and then we will take a position on it," Pachauri said. "We certainly don't want to brush anything under the carpet. This is a serious issue and we will look into it in detail."

One of the leaked e-mails suggested Climatic Research Unit chief Phil Jones wanted some papers omitted from the United Nation's next major assessment of climate science, the British broadcaster reported. Jones has denied the allegation.

The matter erupted two weeks ago when hundreds of messages between CRU scientists and their counterparts around the world, along with other documents, were posted on the Internet.

Skeptics of climate change claim the e-mails undermine the scientific case for climate change being caused by greenhouse gas emissions.