Dear Karl,

 

Thanks for your prompt and courteous response.

 

One point I forgot to include in my message yesterday is that the emails quoted are included in a correspondence archive on Professor Mann’s ftp site (ftp://holocene.evsc.virginia.edu/pub/MBH98/TREE/VAGANOV/ORIG/malcolm_29-JUL-97)  which is how we came to have copies.

 

Our proposed Communications Arising was to address the undisclosed and unconventional principal component calculations tersely referred to in item #10 of my letter yesterday, together with two examples of the points mentioned in items #7 and #8, and show how these have a material impact on the conclusions of MBH98.

 

We understand your desire to deal with matters in an orderly way and to resolve the Materials Complaint first. The content of the planned Communications Arising has some bearing on our complaint. Would you be willing to look at a draft and advise us on whether you think it ought to be merged into the MC material, reserving the possibility of submitting it or an amended version on a formal basis in the near future?

 

We re-iterate that a complete reconciliation of the impact of the various errors and defects in the MBH98 data requires disclosure of all the computer program(s) used in MBH98, including the programs that read in the proxy data, produce the final NH temperature index, calculate residuals and estimate confidence intervals. Such disclosure is very easy to make and quite reasonable given the importance of the results.

 

We appreciate your efforts to resolve the present matter. The seasonal delays are understandable, and we certainly understand the need to allow adequate time to ensure all proper procedures are being followed.

 

Regards, Steve McIntyre and Ross McKitrick