The Weekend Australian 31/12/2011-1/1/2012 by Mike Sandiford: Cherry-picking contrarian geologists tend to obscure scientific truth.
All geology students learn the importance of the greenhouse effect. It’s simply impossible to understand the geological record without it. In his 2001 book A Short History of Planet Earth Ian Plimer gives lots of examples of the relationship between CO2 levels and global climate although he doesn’t necessarily use correct figures. For example he refers to a time 100 million years ago when the disosaurs roamed the planet. The peak of [6%] CO2 was at the time of a protracted greenhouse and maximum sea level. At this time mean annual surface temperatures were 10C to 15C warmers than now. However he quotes the CO2 levels as 6% when they were more like 50 times less 0.12% which we are on track to reach soon.
However in his 2009 book Heaven and Earth he seems to have forgotten them all stating: Over geological time there is no observed relationship between global climate and atmospheric CO2. Ignoring a respected source is reprehensible.
In his latest book “How To Get Expelled From School” Plimer seems to be misrepresenting data on C02 levels at Mauna Loa. Plimer has persistently claimed that volcanoes contribute much more CO2 to the Earth’s atmosphere than they do ignoring US Geological Survey reference data showing just the opposite – volcanoes emit CO2 at about 1% of the rate of anthropogenic emissions.
He also spreads a wrong meme to the effect that the Earth is cooling. What data does he use to support it? Certainly not NASA’s which showed last year was the hottest on record followed by 2005 2007 2009 and 1998. NASA ranks nine of the hottest 10 years ever recorded between 2001 and last year. The average temperature over the decade 2000-2009 was 0.2degrees higher than in the 1990s the biggest decadal rise in temperature ever recorded. The increase over the past 40 years is 0.5 degrees and the decadal trend is now warming faster than ever.
Is doubt the agenda of contrarian geologists such as Plimer like a handful of scientists did in obscuring truth about the dangers of tobacco smoking?