astronomy

Phil Jones (climatologist)

Phil Jones (climatologist) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Phil Jones (climatologist) rather than just read about it. In short: Philip Douglas Jones (born 22 April 1952) is a former director of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and a professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) from 1998, having begun his career at the unit in 1976. He retired from these positions at the end of 2016, and was replaced as CRU director by Tim Osborn.

Key takeaways

Phil Jones (climatologist) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Phil Jones (climatologist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Phil Jones (climatologist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Philip Douglas Jones (born 22 April 1952) is a former director of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and a professor in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) from 1998, having begun his career at the unit in 1976. He retired from these positions at the end of 2016, and was replaced as CRU director by Tim Osborn. Jones then took up a position as a Professorial Fellow at the UEA from January 2017. His research interests include instrumental climate change, palaeoclimatology, detection of climate change and the extension of riverflow records in the UK. He has also published papers on the temperature record of the past 1000 years. He is known for maintaining a time series of the instrumental temperature record. This work was featured prominently in both the 2001 and 2007 IPCC reports, where he was a contributing author to Chapter 12, Detection of Climate Change and Attribution of Causes, of the Third Assessment Report and a Coordinating Lead Author of Chapter 3, Observations: Surface and Atmospheric Climate Change, of the AR4.

Education Jones obtained a B.A. in Environmental Sciences (1973) from Lancaster University, an M.Sc. in Engineering Hydrology (1974) and a Ph.D. in Hydrology (1977) from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Career Jones has spent his entire career with the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU). He began as a Senior Research Associate in 1976, advancing to Reader in 1994 and later to Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences in 1998. Jones served as Director of the CRU for 18 years, jointly with Jean Palutikof from 1998 to 2004 and then on his own until he retired at the end of 2016. Tim Osborn was appointed as his successor as the CRU Director. He was on the editorial board of the International Journal of Climatology from 1989 to 1994 and has been on the editorial board of Climatic Change since 2004. He has an h-index of 158 according to Google Scholar.

Climate emails controversy

He temporarily stepped aside as Director of the CRU in November 2009 following a controversy over e-mails which were stolen and published by person(s) unknown. The House of Commons' Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry concluded that there was no case against Jones for him to answer, and said he should be reinstated in his post. He was reinstated in July 2010 with the newly created role of Director of Research, after a further review led by Sir Muir Russell found no fault with the "rigour and honesty as scientists" of Jones and his colleagues, although finding that the CRU scientists had not embraced the "spirit of openness" of the UK Freedom of Information Act. The university said that the new position was not a demotion and would enable Jones to concentrate on research and "reduce his responsibilities for administration." In October 2021 the BBC aired a television film The Trick on BBC One. The drama explored the controversy surrounding the unauthorized release and publication of documents and emails from Jones' department. Jones was portrayed by actor Jason Watkins.

Awards and honors 1994 - Hugh Robert Mill Prize, Royal Meteorological Society 1998 - Norbert Gerbier-MUMM International Award, World Meteorological Organization 2001 - International Journal of Climatology Prize, Royal Meteorological Society 2002 - Hans Oeschger Medal, European Geosciences Union 2002 - ISI highly cited researcher, Institute for Scientific Information 2007 - Fellow, American Meteorological Society 2009 - Fellow, American Geophysical Union 2012 - Honorary Degree, University of Rovira I Virgili (Tarragona, Spain) 2016 - Honorary Degree, Stockholm University 2018 - Honorary Fellow, Royal Meteorological Society 2024 - Honorary Doctor of Science, Newcastle University 2025 - Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to Climatology.

Selected publications Jones, P. D.; Mann, M. E. (2004). "Climate over past millennia" (PDF). Reviews of Geophysics. 42 (RG2002): 42. Bibcode:2004RvGeo..42.2002J. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.670.9877. doi:10.1029/2003RG000143. S2CID 2937939. Retrieved 18 April 2007. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help) Mann, Michael E.; Jones, Philip D. (2003). "Global Surface Temperatures over the Past Two Millennia" (PDF). Geophysical Research Letters. 30 (15): CLM 5–1~5–4. Bibcode:2003GeoRL..30.1820M. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.408.3837. doi:10.1029/2003GL017814. S2CID 5942198. Retrieved 18 April 2007. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help) Jones, P. D.; Moberg, A. (2003). "Hemispheric and Large-Scale Surface Air Temperature Variations: An Extensive Revision and an Update to 2001" (PDF). Journal of Climate. 16 (2): 206–223. Bibcode:2003JCli...16..206J. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<0206:HALSSA>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 56362806. Retrieved 18 April 2007. P. D. Jones; T. J. Osborn; K. R. Briffa (1997). "Estimating Sampling Errors in Large-Scale Temperature Averages". Journal of Climate. 10 (10): 2548–2568. Bibcode:1997JCli...10.2548J. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1997)010<2548:ESEILS>2.0.CO;2.

References

External links Home page BBC article on the temperature record of the past 1000 years controversy BBC article: Climate crisis: All change in the UK? BBC interview by BBC's environment analyst Roger Harrabin Google Scholar

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Phil Jones (climatologist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Phil Jones (climatologist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Phil Jones (climatologist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Phil Jones (climatologist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Phil Jones (climatologist)

In research: Phil Jones (climatologist) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Phil Jones (climatologist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Phil Jones (climatologist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1952 births, Academics of the University of East Anglia, Alumni of Lancaster University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Phil Jones (climatologist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Phil Jones (climatologist)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Phil Jones (climatologist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Phil Jones (climatologist) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Phil Jones (climatologist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Phil Jones (climatologist) in simple terms?

Why does Phil Jones (climatologist) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Phil Jones (climatologist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Phil Jones (climatologist).