Stephen McIntyre, a retired Canadian mining consultant, was struck by the very clear message of this graph and delved into the science behind it, a process that left him and followers of his blog, Climate Audit, intensely sceptical about its value.

ECONOMIST: The science of climate change

Steve McIntyre, a retired Canadian mining consultant whose blog, Climate Audit, has been the source for much detailed critique of climate reconstructions, including those of CRU, might, though not an academic, be the sort of person Mr Stringer is thinking of.

ECONOMIST: Green.view

Comments on the tree-ring section of the IPCC's latest report by John Mitchell, director of climate science at Britain's Met Office, raise issues very like those highlighted by perhaps the most prominent critic of the hockey stick, Steve McIntyre, who runs a blog called Climate Audit.

ECONOMIST: Leaked e-mails do not show climate scientists at their best