A geologist opens up the debate on climate change

There is a very interesting little article in the March 2009 issue of Materials World, by Prof. Ian Plimer of the University of Adelaide, Australia.

His research on over 500 references indicates that carbon dioxide is undoubtedly a greenhouse gas but that water vapour is the main greenhouse gas. He believes the indisputable evidence of past CO2 at levels much greater than at present, and the fact that at times they correlated with cooler periods warrants consideration.

The present base line of 280ppm set by IPCC as a pre-industrial level, a level noted in 1880, is the lowest in the past 200 years. The first few ppm atmospheric CO2 do have a profound effect on Earth temperatures, but after 40ppm, the effect declines continually. This is supported by the geological, archaeological, historical and present day observations.

Maybe we shouldn't feel too guilty about making that plane journey?