Desmog Video

Chris de Freitas

De Freitas and the "Climate Research" Journal

Formerly one of the editors of a journal called "Climate Research," de Freitas was involved in a controversy surrounding a research article co-authored by Sallie Baliunas and Willie Soon. The article reviewed previous scientific papers and came to the conclusion that climate hasn't changed in the last 2000 years. But 13 of the authors of the papers Baliunas and Soon cited refuted her interpretation of their work, and several editors of Climate Research resigned in protest at a flawed peer review process which allowed the publication.

Among the sharp criticisms of the Climate Research paper was one from Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University. When von Storch, then the journal’s editor, read Mann’s critique, he said he realized his journal should never have accepted the study: “If it would have been properly reviewed, it would have been rejected on the basis of methodological flaws.” Shortly after, Von Storch, along with two other members of the Climate Research editorial board resigned in protest - "they submitted flawed research," Von Stroch stated at the time.

After the controversy a more extensive version of the research was published in Energy and Environment, operated by Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen.

Research and Background

De Freitas is an Associate Professor at the School of Georgraphy and Environmental Science, University of Auckland. According to a search of 22,000 academic journals, de Freitas has published four research articles in peer-reviewed journals, mainly on the subject of New Zealand's climate.