Prof Ian Plimer, a geologist at Adelaide University, hit the headlines in Britain on Thursday, giving an interview in which he claimed that “not one great climate change in the past has actually been driven by carbon dioxide”. So what are his key thoughts on the issue?
1. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has no effect on climate above 50 parts per million (ppm).
Prof Plimer rejects the argument that the increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere from its pre-industrial (1750AD) level of about 270 ppm to today’s level of about 380 ppm, has begun to affect the world’s change.
In an interview with ABN Newswire in June he said: “Carbon dioxide has an effect on the atmosphere and it has an effect for the first 50 parts per million and once it’s done its job then it’s finished and you can double it and quadruple it and it has no effect because we’ve seen that in the geological past, and we’ve seen it in times gone by when the carbon dioxide content was 100 times the current content. We didn’t have runaway global warming, we actually had glaciation.”
On Thursday he said: “If we had only had warming, then there would be a connect between CO2 and temperature; there is not.”
Water vapour is responsible for about 96 per cent of the greenhouse effect, he has argued, a theme consistent among climate change sceptics.
Most climate scientists argue there is a correlation between CO2 and global mean temperatures, pointing to evidence from air trapped deep in the polar ice that gives a snapshot of the atmosphere thousands of years ago.
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Heresy! If they hadn’t already banned tar & feathering….
And deep in the Cap & Trade bunker, the shadowy figure known only as the “Inventor of the Internet” lifted the cover off of “The Green Phone” and dialed the secret number 472-833-2784. After a great deal of slithering noises, a voice answered and the cryptic message was sent. “Send in the Clowns”.