Reaction
to the disclosure of University of East Anglia Climatic
Research Unit internal email is predictably bimodal.  “Deniers” see it as
conclusive proof global warming is a fraud.  True believers are righteously ignoring
the contents altogether because of how the information was acquired (it took me a
while to get a Pentagon Papers reference
this morning).

The interesting question is who did the hacking and subsequent disclosure?  This
isn’t the act of your stereotypical pasty-faced teenaged hacker looking for some weekend
entertainment.  This was an overtly political hack and shows savvy timing right
before the big Copenhagen climate shindig.  Who had means, motive and opportunity? 
When you ask the question this way, one suspect looms large: a very populous Asian
nation who happens to be a large carbon emitter, isn’t so keen on being embarrassed
in Copenhagen and reputedly has some hacking skills at state disposal.  Forget
about Twitter – perhaps black hats are the new cutting edge PR tool.