Scientist says carbon emissions do not cause global warming

Ian Plimer says that carbon dioxide is not the cause of global warming, bucking mainstream scientific views ahead of key legislative decisions on carbon caps.

Global warming is not caused by carbon dioxide. Well, at least this is what Ian Plimer, a geologist working out of Adelaide University, believes. Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring byproduct of volcanic eruptions, says Plimer. Global temperature increases are not a result of the Industrial Revolution or of automobile emissions. "We cannot stop carbon emissions because most of them come from volcanoes," Plimer said. "It is a normal element cycled around in the earth and my science, which is looking back in time, is saying we have had a planet that has been a green, warm wet planet 80 per cent of the time. We have had huge climate change in the past and to think the very slight variations we measure today are the result of our life - we really have to put ice blocks in our drinks." Plimer's comments come ahead during debates on the impact the pending cap and trade legislation will have on jobs and ahead of a key leadership meeting in Copenhagen next month. While the climate change bill is expected to endure numerous changes, Plimer's position may be worth exploring. "If we had only had warming, then there would be a connect between co2 and temperature, there is not," Plimer said. He attributes temperature increases to naturally occurring solar cycles - events that human beings cannot influence.