User:Sphilbrick/Sandbox for CRU Incident Timeline

In November of 2009, a file containing e-mails, commented computer programming code and other documents appeared on a Russian server. The source of the documents was quickly confirmed to be the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich. The release of the information has been characterized by the organization as a theft, and local authorities are pursuing a criminal investigation.

The incident precipitated a number of actions—criminal investigations into the acquisition of the data itself, and arising from reactions to the incident, media and pundit reactions to the content of the documents, investigations into allegations contained in the documents, and reactions from various scientific and political organizations commenting the extent to which these documents did or did not change prior views about climate change science or the processes of reaching scientific consensus.

The incident itself, and subsequent reactions is covered in detail in Climatic Research Unit e-mail hacking incident. This article summarizes the time line of relevant events, attempting to put in chronological perspective the main point of some of the notable documents and related incidents or non incidents, as well as the timing of major climate change events.