Ian Plimer

Ian R. Plimer Ph.D. is an Australian geologist and academic. He is a prominent critic of creationism and of the theory of human-induced global warming. He has published over 120 academic papers and six books.

Plimer is currently Professor of Geology at the University of Adelaide. He was previously a Professor in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He is also a prominent member of the Australian Skeptics. He was awarded the Clarke Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 2004.

Plimer grew up in Sydney, educated at Gordon Public School and Normanhurst Boys' High School. [cite news |first=Anne |last=Johnson |title=The coffin, the Ark & the Prof |publisher=The Sunday Mail |date=2006-05-28 |accessdate=2007-09-07 ]

Critic of creationism

Plimer is an outspoken critic of creationism and is famous for a debate with creationist Duane Gish in which he asked his opponent to hold live electrical cables to prove that electromagnetism was 'only a theory'. But his debating style has been criticised as counterproductive by some of his fellow anticreationists. In the late 1990s, Plimer was involved in legal proceedings against creationist Allen Roberts arising from Plimer's attacks on Roberts' claims concerning the location of Noah's Ark, in which Plimer was ultimately unsuccessful. [cite news | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_n1_v22/ai_20577439/ | title=Australian geologist Plimer's costly court battle with Ark creationists - Ian Plimer | publisher=Skeptical Inquirer |date= Jan-Feb, 1998 | first=Eugenie Scott | last= | accessdate =2008-08-17] Plimer and the Australian Skeptics have been criticized by Creation Ministries International for alleged intentionally deceptive statements. [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3463/] He has been criticized for his debating tactics by Jim Lippard. [ [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/how-not-to-argue.html How Not To Argue With Creationists] by Jim Lippard, issue XXIX of "Creation/Evolution", 11(2):9–21, Winter 1991–1992 ]

Climate change

Plimer is also critical of what he sees as irrational elements within the environmental movement. He is critical of greenhouse gas politics and argues that extreme environmental changes are inevitable and unavoidable. He suggests that meteorologists have a huge amount to gain from climate change research, and that they have narrowed the climate change debate to the atmosphere - Plimer claims that the truth is more complex. He suggests that money would be better directed to dealing with problems as they occur rather than making expensive and futile attempts to prevent climate change.

He differs markedly from the climate change consensus in contending that the Great Barrier Reef will benefit from rising seas, that there is no correlation between carbon dioxide levels and temperature, that only 0.1 % of carbon dioxide emissions are due to human activities, and that 96% of the greenhouse effect is due to water vapour.

He claims that the current theory of human-induced global warming is not in accord with history, archaeology, geology or astronomy and must be rejected, and that promotion of this theory as science is fraudulent, and that the current alarmism on climate change is not science. [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21540128-5007146,00.html] [http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/cool-heads-missing/2007/04/05/1175366406378.html?page=fullpage]

Awards, Fellowships and Prizes

* Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
* Eureka Prizes (x2)
* Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
* Fellow Geological Society
* Clarke Medal
* Leopod von Buch Plakette

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 Paperback (ISBN 0-7333-1004-4)

References

External links

* [http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/umfs/biogs/UMFS070b.htm University of Melbourne biography]
* [http://www.expertguide.com.au/!ProfessorIanPlimer!_7859.aspx Expert Guide entry]