The Today programme have given another climate change denier airtime - unchallenged. ‘Scientist’ Ian Plimer sees no link between carbon dioxide and temperature.
For the second time in a matter of weeks, the Today Programme this morning offered a platform to a climate change denier. Once again, the person invited on was somebody without any credentials to talk about climate science since they are not a climate scientist and have never published a peer reviewed paper on the subject.
Australian contrarian author Ian Plimer was left unchallenged to spout nonsense on the primetime BBC slot despite his argument having been systematically pulled apart by real climate scientists over at realclimate.org – a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists.
He said:
“The fundamental point is that over the history of time, climates have always changed, we’ve had rapid changes, they’ve been large, they’ve been driven by extra-terrestrial forces, they’ve been driven by many other forces in the past, but not one great climate change in the past has actually been driven by carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide is plant food, we cannot stop carbon emissions because most of them come from volcanoes, it is a normal element cycled around in the earth, and, my science, which is looking back in time, is saying we have had a planet that’s been a warm, wet greenhouse planet for more than 80 per cent of the time, we’ve had huge climate changes in the past, and to think that the very slight variations we measure today are a result of our life, we really have to put ice blocks in our drink.
“If you put 2 and 2 together, then you have to explain the three periods of cooling since the little ice age finished and during those three periods of cooling we’ve actually had carbon dioxide increase, so there is a disconnect between carbon dioxide emissions and temperatures because since 1850, we’ve had a warming period from 1860 to 1880, then we’ve had a cooling until 1910, then we had a warming until 1940 – in fact the North-West passage was open – then we had a cooling until the 1970s, and the people who are trying to frighten us witless now about runaway global warming were in fact those who were frightening us witless about an oncoming glaciation in the 1970s, then we’ve had a warming, up until the late 90s, now we’re in a cooling phase, so if we’d only had warming, then there would be a connect between carbon dioxide and temperature. There is not.”
Plimer added:
“When you look at my critics, they are people who are rent seekers, they have everything to gain by continuing the process of frightening people witless by following the party line … I’m saying that they are taking advantage of the current situation … Now we have a war against climate change and there’s a huge number of people out there that have their careers staked on it and are the beneficiaries from this process … The word belief is a word of politics and religion, it’s not a word of science; my scientific opinion is married to evidence…”
Leading NASA climate scientist, Gavin Schmidt, who has dissected Plimer’s argument in detail, found it to be based amongst other things on a “basic logical fallacy”. Needless to say nobody from NASA, the IPCC, the Royal Society or the Met Office was invited on to explain why Plimer was talking rubbish. Neither did Justin Webb, interviewing, explain Plimer’s lack of authority on the subject.
Listen to the interview in full below and download it here:
76 Responses to “Today give carte blanche to ‘scientist’ who denies link between CO2 and temperature”
Christian Hunt
joss deals with plimer in a perfunctory fashion, which is all he deserves. http://bit.ly/1Qjhu9
Billy the Kid
Shamik – which impartial scientist (not one on the Climate-Change-Nutters payroll) derided him?
I know you’re not one who likes to answer questions when they seem too tough Shamik (https://www.leftfootforward.org/2009/11/jeremy-clarkson-and-dont-come-back/#comments) but let’s try this one:
Why is the global temperature getting colder?
Now assuming you’re not our Prime Minister in disguise Shamik, can try actually answering the question.
Shamik Das
You first. You said “just copying sections of someone else’s site is not the same as research” – let me ask you again, which site has any section of this article been copied from?
Billy the Kid
You see here’s the thing you London based metrosexual left wing elites don’t seem to understand about the real working classes in this country.
We are heartily sickened and rightly skeptical of things that involve taking more of our money from us and giving it to champagne socialists like yourselves.
All you do is drone on and on. Can you imagine being stuck in an elevator with Harriet Harman or Yvette Cooper for an hour? (OK that’s a bit too excessive as an idea but illustrates the point)
Well that’s how the working classes in Britain feel about this stuff.
MMR causes autism, GM crops will make monsters, Hamburgers will give BSE, Mobile Phones cause cancer, CO2 cause Global Warming and on and on and on.
Bugger off the lot of you. If this government believed (Man Made) CO2 caused global warming why have the Runway 3 at Heathrow?
Why more coal fired power stations? (when carbon capture is as likely as Peter Mandelsons tax rebate on electric cars that don’t exist)
Al Gore wouldn’t get on a flight if he really believed this rubbish.
Why aren’t we bombing China tonight to stop their carbon emissions if it’s as Gordon Brown says “56 days to save the world”.
And lets face it when it comes to wars there’s nothing a New Labour supporter likes better than some mass killings in illegal wars overseas – especially if they can lie as a means of achieving it.
The fact is you lot force your views on people like the Soviet Union did and like them you’ll be gone in six months and rightly so.
Billy the Kid
Shamik – over 40% of the article was copied and pasted from the BBC Today site along with the link obviously to that site.
Now instead of dancing on the head of a pin (if you have problems understanding what that means try Wiki) answer what you were asked the other day on this site. Here I’ve copied it for you:
Shamik, 943,598 votes? – near enough a million.
Brown secretly planned Public Service cuts of 9.3% and ran down Cameron for proposing 0.7% more at 10%.
You don’t see anything wrong with that Shamik? Really?
For Labour to only get two and a half times the number of votes as the BNP is beyond belief – the Labour Party are horrified by that fact – why aren’t you?
Regarding Browns votes, I meant for the leadership of their respective parties. Brown’s thugs and bullies, McBride and Co, leant on ordinary members to not ask for a leadership election.
People like me also voted for Tony (Full Third Term) Blair. The way Brown and his cronies treated him was also a disgrace.
Finally who did I accuse of making false statements? Yvette Cooper openly lied this morning on the Today program – even when challenged, albeit pretty lamely, by the presenter she continued to lie.
What sort of an example is that to send to the public? Am I to assume you think that smearing and lying about people is an acceptable way to behave in life? Really Shamik?
Now’s your chance Shamik – step up to the plate my man. Show some courage – the floor is yours….