Ian Plimer - Human Induced Climate Change: a Load of Hot Air
Ian Plimer – Human Induced Climate Change: a Load of Hot Air
10th August 2009
The Ballroom in Downer House was packed to capacity for our first Port 'n' Talk for the semester when Professor Ian Plimer discussed his book Heaven and Earth: the Missing Science. The book that was released earlier this year tackles the key issue of the day, human induced climate change. With over 2300 references to academic literature, the book takes every angle of the human induced climate change movement and provides scientific evidence to the contrary. If this wasn’t controversial enough, Professor Plimer then provides his personal views as to how the movement has come to be accepted. The book has proven to be highly successful, reaching number 14 on the Amazon best sellers list and selling out across Australia. With the book’s huge popularity we were very fortunate to have the author come to College to discuss it with us.
Professor Plimer's talk began with discusssion centred on the history of the earth. He started with the largest time scale, geological, and worked through to the smallest, archaeological, followed by historical. With each scale of time Professor Plimer highlighted the enormous changes in climate and how small today’s changes have been in comparison to them. He made it clear that throughout history, cool climates have led to extinctions and poverty whilst warm climates have led to prosperity and wealth. Lastly he spoke of the absolute multitude of factors that affect the climate including the sun, the cosmos, the planetary orbit, volcanoes, tectonics, ocean currents and many more. The relationship between them is very complex and to make such an extraordinary claim, that they are all controlled by the concentration of CO2 in the air, would require some extraordinary evidence. “That evidence,” in Professor Plimer’s words “I am still waiting to see.”
The night was rounded off with some questions. Many of the questions posed to Professor Plimer largely surrounded the politics of the issue. He responded with his personal views and some history, reinforcing his previous arguments. If you would like more information on Professor Plimer’s views, his book is highly recommended. While it is difficult reading in places, given its scientific content, it is essential reading for anyone wanting to come to an informed decision on human induced climate change.
The evening was very entertaining and informative for all who attended. It will certainly spark many debates in and around College.
 |
|
Back to Student News
