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”
Billy the Kid
Shamik are you serious? Anon E Mouse said Griffin was elected by his party.
3363 votes is 3363 votes more than this dreadful unelected dithering fool of a Prime Minister we have.
Anon E Mouse also asked you: Am I to assume you think that smearing and lying about people is an acceptable way to behave in life? Really Shamik?
So Shamik DO YOU BELIEVE IT WAS ACCEPTABLE to smear David Cameron the week his disabled son died? Try YES or NO Shamik….
Billy the Kid
Claire:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/11/ncdc-october-usa-temperatures-3rd-coldest-on-record-wettest-ever-on-record/
The BBC had a program called The Weather Show in the 70’s and this was the type of thing they predicted. their graphs were amazingly close to the current situation.
Oh the Climate-Change-Nutters will have some convoluted reason why “Cold is the new Hot” but the facts speak for themselves – the world gets colder.
It’s exactly like Alun Johnson and the cannabis drugs debate – if you don’t like the truth just shut the conversation down. So New Labour….
Claire Spencer
The overall trend is upwards – but there will be fluctuations – see this from New Scientist:
http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn11639/dn11639-2_808.jpg
I assure you that it is not nonsense.
However, I agree with you that we do not need a third runway at Heathrow.
sunny hundal
BBC gives unchallenged platform to global-warming denier, again! Trying to appease right-wingers http://bit.ly/4svBPH
Shamik Das
What was actually said was “Question Time were right to have Nick Griffin on – he’s got over a million votes – far more than Gordon Brown ever got.”
Then, by means of explanation, Anon E Mouse wrote “Regarding Browns votes, I meant for the leadership of their respective parties.”
For the leadership of his party, Griffin got 3,363 votes – fewer than a million. In the Euro elections the BNP got 943,598 votes – fewer than Labour. Wrong on both counts, however you want to spin it.