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* [http://abnnewswire.net/multimedia/en/60659/AUDIO-Professor-Ian-Plimer Video Interview with Brian Carlton - May 2009]
* [http://abnnewswire.net/multimedia/en/60659/AUDIO-Professor-Ian-Plimer Video Interview with Brian Carlton - May 2009]
* [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25348908-16382,00.html "More Heat than Light"], article about Plimer in ''[[The Australian]]'', 18 April 2009
* [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25348908-16382,00.html "More Heat than Light"], article about Plimer in ''[[The Australian]]'', 18 April 2009
* [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/ian-plimer-heaven-and-earth/story-e6frg8no-1225710387147 "No Science in Plimer's Primer"], article about Plimer in ''[[The Australian]]'', 09 May 2009


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Revision as of 12:35, 29 May 2011

Ian Plimer
Born (1946-02-12) 12 February 1946 (age 78)
NationalityAustralian
EducationBSc, PhD
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
Macquarie University
OccupationProfessor of mining geology
EmployerUniversity of Adelaide
Known forOpposition to creationism and the scientific consensus on global warming
AwardsEureka Prize (1995, 2002)
WebsiteAcademic homepage

Ian Rutherford Plimer (born 12 February 1946) is an Australian geologist, academic and businessman, and professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide. He is known as a prominent critic of creationism and more recently for his writings opposing the scientific consensus that human activities have a significant influence on global warming.

Plimer is the author of around 60 academic papers and six books, including his book on the global warming debate, Heaven and Earth — Global Warming: The Missing Science (2009). He is a director of three mining companies.

Early life and career

Plimer grew up in Sydney. He was educated at Gordon Public School and Normanhurst Boys' High School.[1] He earned a BSc at the University of New South Wales, and a PhD at Macquarie University.[2]

Plimer then went to work at the Broken Hill mines, ultimately as chief research geologist at North Broken Hill. He has maintained an interest in the Broken Hill mining district throughout his career.[3]

Plimer then moved to academia, first at the University of New England, New South Wales, next at the University of Newcastle, Australia , and then at the University of Melbourne.[3] He is currently Professor of Mining Geology at the University of Adelaide.[3]

Business career

He is a director of three Australian mining companies: Ivanhoe,[4] CBH Resources[4] and Kefi Minerals.[5] In 2010, he was appointed chairperson of the board for TNT Mines Limited.[6][7] He is also listed as a director of Australia-based coal gas company Ormil Energy.[8]

In 2008 and 2009, according to a columnist in The Age, Plimer earned over A$400,000 from these interests, and he has mining shares and options worth hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars.[9] Plimer rejects claims of a conflict between his commercial mining interests and his view that man-made climate change is a myth.[4] Plimer has said that the proposed Australian carbon-trading scheme could decimate the Australian mining industry,[3] and probably destroy it totally,[10] as well as creating massive unemployment.[10]

Affiliations

Plimer is an associate of the Institute of Public Affairs,[11][12] a free market think tank. In 2007, Plimer was listed as an allied expert by the Natural Resources Stewardship Project, a Canadian advocacy group that opposes the Kyoto Protocol.[13]

In November 2009, Plimer was named as a member of the academic advisory council for Nigel Lawson's global warming skeptic group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation.[14]

Plimer was listed as a member of Gina Rinehart's mining lobby group, Australians for Northern Development & Economic Vision (ANDEV).[15][16]

Plimer is a life member of the Australian Skeptics.[17][18]

Climate change scepticism

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, so there's immediately a disconnect. So carbon dioxide is absolutely vital for living on earth; it's plant food, all of life lives off carbon dioxide. To demonise it shows that you don't understand school child science.

Ian Plimer, interviewed on ABNNewswire, June 2009[19]

Plimer accuses the environmental movement of being irrational, and says that the vast bulk of the scientific community, including most major scientific academies, is prejudiced by the prospect of research funding. He has characterised the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change so: "The IPCC process is related to environmental activism, politics and opportunism" and "the IPCC process is unrelated to science".[20] He is critical of greenhouse gas politics and argues that extreme environmental changes are inevitable.[citation needed] Scientists in the field say that his writings misrepresent climate data and display numerous other errors.[21]

Volcanoes and CO2

Plimer has long argued[22] that volcanic eruptions release more carbon dioxide (CO2) than human activity; in particular that submarine volcanoes[23] emit huge amounts of CO2 and that the influence of the gases from these volcanoes on the Earth's climate is drastically underrepresented in climate models.[24] The United States Geological Survey has calculated that human emissions of CO2 are about 130 times larger than volcanic emissions, including submarine emissions.[25][26][27] The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that Plimer's claim "has no factual basis."[28]

Heaven and Earth (book)

Main article: "Heaven and Earth", Plimer's book on climate change

In 2009, Plimer released Heaven and Earth, a book in which he says that climate models focus too strongly on the effects of carbon dioxide, and do not give the weight he thinks is appropriate to other factors such as solar variation.[29] Scientists from many disciplines have reviewed the book, and have accused Plimer of misrepresenting sources,[30] [31] misusing data,[32] [30] [33] and engaging in conspiracy theories.[34][35] They describe the book as unscientific,[36] and containing numerous errors from which Plimer draws false conclusions.[37] [38][39] [40] [41] [42] [43][44]

Copenhagen Climate Challenge

During the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15), Plimer spoke at a rival conference in Copenhagen for sceptics, called the Copenhagen Climate Challenge,[45] which was organised by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow[46][47] and attended by 60 people.[45] According to The Australian newspaper, Plimer was a star attraction of the two-day event.[48] In closing his speech, Plimer stated that “They’ve got us outnumbered, but we’ve got them outgunned, and that’s with the truth.”[45]

El Niño, earthquakes and sea levels

Plimer has stated that El Niño is caused by earthquakes and volcanic activity at the mid-ocean ridges and that the melting of polar ice has nothing to do with man-made carbon dioxide.[49] Plimer told Radio Australia that Pacific island nations are seeing changes in relative sea level not because of global warming but quite commonly due to other factors, such as "vibration consolidating the coral island sands", extraction of water, and extraction of sand for road and air strip making.[50]

Political influence

In 2009, Plimer was cited by the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, Tony Abbott,[51] in dismissing the IPCC and its findings:

I think that in response to the IPCC alarmist — in inverted commas — view, there've been quite a lot of other reputable scientific voices. Now not everyone agrees with Ian Plimer's position, but he is a highly credible scientist and he has written what seems like a very well-argued book refuting most of the claims of the climate catastrophists.

— 8px, in Tony Abbott, The Sydney Morning Herald, 8px

By 2011, Abbott had modified his position and stated that climate change is real and humanity makes a contribution to it.[52]

In early 2010, Plimer and Christopher Monckton toured Australia giving lectures on climate change,[53] and Plimer's views came to be associated with Monckton's claim that the international left created the threat of catastrophic global warming. On this association, left-wing columnist Phillip Adams commented: "Praise the lord for Lord Monckton! For Ian Plimer! For [conservative columnist] Andrew Bolt! Not only does this evil axis of scientists tell lies [about the Greenhouse Effect] but they've also doctored the weather to frighten people with huge droughts, cyclones and tsunamis to prove what they now call "global warming"."[54]

Critic of creationism

Plimer is an outspoken critic of creationism and is famous for a 1988 debate with creationist Duane Gish in which he asked his opponent to hold live electrical cables to prove that electromagnetism was 'only a theory'. Gish accused him of being theatrical, abusive and slanderous.[55]

In 1990 Plimer's anti-creationist arguments were criticised in Creation/Evolution journal,[56] in an article titled "How Not to Argue with Creationists"[57] by skeptic and anti-creationist Jim Lippard for (among other things) including false claims and errors, for "behaving poorly" in the 1988 Gish debate, for misrepresenting the views of Michael Denton, author of Evolution: A Theory in Crisis in that debate, for making unsupported (and false) claims about alleged financial fraud involving the Australian Creation Science Foundation (CSF), which led to an apology for Plimer's remarks by the magazine Media Information Australia, for falsely claiming on Australian national radio that the CSF had not submitted financial reports for 1986, 1987, or 1988, a claim which led to an apology by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and for writing a letter to a creationist following the debate with Gish in which Plimer offered unsupported sexual innuendo about Gish.[56]

Book: Telling Lies for God

In his book Telling Lies for God: Reason vs Creationism (1994), Plimer attacked the creationists in Australia, in specific the Queensland-based Creation Science Foundation (now called Creation Ministries International or CMI), arguing that claims of a Biblical global flood are untenable.[58] In the book he also attacked aspects of traditional Christian belief and literal interpretations of the Bible, with chapters titled "Scientific Fraud: The Great Flood of Absurdities" and "Disinformation Doublespeak".[55] The ministry published a rebuttal criticising the arguments made in the book.[59][60]

Court case

In the late 1990s, Plimer went to court alleging misleading and deceptive advertising under the Trade Practices Act 1974 against Ark searcher Allen Roberts,[58][59] arising from Plimer's attacks on Roberts' claims concerning the location of Noah's Ark. Before the trial, Plimer was forcibly ejected by police from public meetings at which Roberts spoke.[55] The court ruled that Roberts had indeed made false and misleading claims on two of 16 instances cited by Plimer, Plimer had failed to show the other 14, and the two were minor enough to not require remedy, so Plimer lost the case,[61][62][63] and was ordered to pay his own and Roberts' legal costs estimated at over 500,000 Australian dollars.[64][65][66]

Awards, fellowships, prizes, notable achievements

Source:[2]

Bibliography

  • Telling Lies for God - Reason vs Creationism, Ian Plimer, Random House, Sydney, 1994 (ISBN 0-09-182852-X)
  • A Short History of Planet Earth, Ian Plimer, ABC Books, 2001 (ISBN 0-7333-1004-4)
  • Heaven and Earth, Ian Plimer, Quartet Books (1 May 2009 hardcover ISBN 978-0704371668) and Taylor Trade Publishing, Lanham, MD, (July 2009 Paperback ISBN 978-1-58979-472-6)

References

  1. ^ Johnson, Anne (28 May 2006). "The coffin, the Ark & the Prof". The Sunday Mail. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b Ian Plimer at the School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide.
  3. ^ a b c d "Mining Journal — Warming up". www.mining-journal.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  4. ^ a b c "AdelaideNow... Why I'd put global warming on ice (profile of Plimer and his climate-sceptic views)". www.news.com.au. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Proactive Investors UK — Kefi Minerals has How many gold prospects in Turkey?". www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Minemakers to list Tasmania tin/tungsten assets on ASX". www.miningweekly.com. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  7. ^ http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Appointment-of-Managing-Director-for-TNT-Mines-Limited-TSX-MAK-1413955.htm
  8. ^ Readfearn, Graham. "Australia prepares to swallow Monckton yet again". ABC Australia. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  9. ^ Manning, Paddy (13 February 2010). "A resourceful climate sceptic". Melbourne: theage.com.au. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  10. ^ a b "Ian Plimer joins Lateline Business". Lateline Business. Australian Broadcasting Commission. 11 November 2008. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  11. ^ "The Global Warming Sceptics Club — a Crikey list - Crikey". www.crikey.com.au. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  12. ^ "Ian Plimer". www.ipa.org.au. Retrieved 30 August 2009. {{cite web}}: Text "Institute of Public Affairs Australia" ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Natural Resources Stewardship Project (NRSP)". 2007. Archived from the original on 12/02/2007. Retrieved 08/07/2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |archivedate= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Davies, Caroline (24 November 2009). "The voices of climate change sceptics". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2009. {{cite news}}: Text "Environment" ignored (help); Text "The Guardian" ignored (help)
  15. ^ "Industry Voice". www.andev-project.org. Retrieved 22 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "ANDEV" ignored (help)
  16. ^ "Revealing Rinehart's hard-right agenda". www.businessspectator.com.au. Retrieved 22 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "Business Spectator" ignored (help); Text "Commentary" ignored (help); Text "Luke McKenna" ignored (help)
  17. ^ "Top scientist debunks global warming". www.news.com.au. Retrieved 30 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Text "The Courier-Mail" ignored (help) [dead link]
  18. ^ Penelope Debelle, The Advertiser (Adelaide), 28 May 2009, Why I'd put global warming on ice (archived by Plimer's publisher, Connor Court). "The outcome of the Federal Court case was not clear-cut but Plimer says he won...The Australian Sceptics were so impressed they made Plimer a life member."
  19. ^ "Doomed Planet". Quadrant Online. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  20. ^ Hendrik Gout (2009). "Ian Plimer: A question of faith". Independentweekly.com.au. Retrieved 11 August 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  21. ^ James Randerson (4 December 2009). "Climate sceptics: are they gaining any credence? | Environment". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  22. ^ Gocher K (21 April 2010). "Volcano climate change". Rural Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation."Professor Ian Plimer has long argued that large volcanic eruptions will release more carbon into the atmosphere than human-induced activity..."
  23. ^ "Vitriolic climate in academic hothouse". www.theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 24 May 2010. Some 85 per cent of volcanoes are unseen and unmeasured yet these heat the oceans and add monstrous amounts of CO2 to the oceans. Why have these been ignored? {{cite web}}: Text "The Australian" ignored (help)
  24. ^ Plimer, Ian, Heaven and Earth: Global Warming — The Missing Science, Conner Court Publishing (2009), pp. 207-225.
  25. ^ "Volcanic Gases and Their Effects". Volcano Hazards Program. U.S. Geological Survey.
  26. ^ "Ian Plimer's volcano claims vaporise under questioning on Australian TV". London: guardian.co.uk. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2010. {{cite news}}: Text "Environment" ignored (help); Text "George Monbiot" ignored (help); Text "guardian.co.uk" ignored (help)
  27. ^ "Iceland volcano gives warming world chance to debunk climate sceptic myths". London: guardian.co.uk. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010. {{cite news}}: Text "Environment" ignored (help); Text "Leo Hickman" ignored (help); Text "guardian.co.uk" ignored (help)
  28. ^ "Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act: EPA's Response to Public Comments Volume 2: Validity of Observed and Measured Data" (PDF). US EPA. 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  29. ^ Sheehan, Paul (13 April 2009). "Beware the climate of conformity". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  30. ^ a b Barry Brook. "Ian Plimer – Heaven and Earth". BraveNewClimate.com. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  31. ^ Grubel, James (8 September 2008). "Scientists say Australian carbon targets too weak". Reuters. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
  32. ^ Morton, Adam (2 May 2009). "The sceptic's shadow of doubt". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  33. ^ Enting, Ian G. (10 June 2009). "Ian Plimer's 'Heaven + Earth' — Checking the Claims" (PDF). ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems (MASCOS). Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  34. ^ Ashley, Michael (2009). "No science in Plimer's primer". The Australian. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  35. ^ "Heaven + Earth – review by Malcolm Walter". The Science Show – ABC Radio National. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  36. ^ "Comments on Heaven and Earth: Global Warming: The Missing Science". The Science Show – ABC Radio National. 7 June 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  37. ^ "Ian Plimer's 'Heaven + Earth'—Checking the Claims" (Document). University of Melbourne. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  38. ^ Edwards, Verity (23 April 2009). "Climate sceptics ready to storm heaven with earth's geological history". The Australian.
  39. ^ Turney, Chris (27 June 2009). "Grievous heavenly harm". The Age.
  40. ^ Gerlach, Terry (30 July 2010). "Voices: Volcanic versus anthropogenic carbon dioxide: The missing science". {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  41. ^ "Heaven + Earth – review by David Karoly". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
  42. ^ "RAPID ROUNDUP: New book by Ian Plimer doubts human-induced climate change – experts respond". Australian Science Media Centre. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  43. ^ "Heaven + Earth — review by David Karoly". Science Show. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 13 June 2009. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  44. ^ James Randerson (14 December 2009). "How climate change sceptic Ian Plimer dodges valid criticism | Environment". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  45. ^ a b c "Copenhagen Calling: Bolstering Barack - Giles Parkinson - News - Business Spectator". www.businessspectator.com.au. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  46. ^ Gray, Louise (9 December 2009). "Copenhagen climate summit: Behind the scenes at the sceptics' conference - Telegraph". London: telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  47. ^ "Plimer addresses Copenhagen 'heretics'". smh.com.au. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  48. ^ Taylor, Lenore (10 December 2009). "Plimer toast of sceptics meeting". The Australian. p. 4. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  49. ^ Kirby, Simon (12 April 2007). "Mankind 'can't influence' climate". dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  50. ^ "Australia Network News:Stories:Australian scientist sceptical of climate change". australianetworknews.com. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  51. ^ "Marian Wilkinson". smh.com.au. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  52. ^ Williamson, Brett (7 March 2011). "Tony Abbott's climate change". ABC. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  53. ^ "Lord Monckton On The "Conspiracy" Of Climate Change". ABC. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  54. ^ Adams, Phillip (13 February 2010). "The great greenhouse plot". The Weekend Australian Magazine. p. 3. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  55. ^ a b c Thomas H. Jukes (1995). "Battling creationism down under". Journal of Molecular Evolution. 40 (6): 707–8. doi:10.1007/BF00160521.
  56. ^ a b Lippard J (Winter 1991–2). "How Not To Argue With Creationists" (PDF). Creation/Evolution (National Center for Science Education). 11 (2): 9–21. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    Updated at TalkOrigins
  57. ^ "How Not To Argue With Creationists". www.discord.org. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  58. ^ a b ""Telling Lies For God"? — One Man's Crusade". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  59. ^ a b "Plimer book - Our point-by-point rebuttal". creation.com. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  60. ^ "Ian Plimer's Bloopers — a selection". Creation Ministeries International. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
  61. ^ Leigh Dayton (1997). "Ark verdict spells ruin for geologist". New Scientist. Retrieved 16 July 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  62. ^ "The Plimer/Roberts verdict". Creation Ministries International. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  63. ^ Justice Sackville. "David Fasold & Anor v Allen Roberts & Anor [1997] FCA 439 (2 June 1997)". Federal Court of Australia. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
  64. ^ Carl Wieland. "Plimer Settles". Creation Ministries. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  65. ^ "Denialist ark a wobbly craft". The Australian. 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  66. ^ Geoff Maslen. "Noah's Ark case leaves professor high and dry". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  67. ^ ATSE.org.au
  68. ^ AUSimm.com.au
  69. ^ AIG.org.au
  70. ^ Elliott P, Kolitsch U, Giester G; et al. (2009). "Description and crystal structure of a new mineral — plimerite, ZnFe3+4(PO4)3(OH)5 — the Zn-analogue of rockbridgeite and frondelite, from Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia". Mineralogical Magazine. 73 (1): 131–148. doi:10.1180/minmag.2009.073.1.131. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  71. ^ Mindat — Plimerite

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Ian Plimer.
Awards
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