Famous for his theories on the questionable validity of climate change and global warming, Ian Pilmer has attracted support from many individuals, plus a cover story in the world famous spectator magazine. George Monbiot, a staunch critic of Pilmer’s work, and one writer strongly in favour of the damaging realities of climate change, explained in the Guardian his futile attempts to enter into a public debate with Pilmer on what Monbiot believes is dubious scientific enquiry. He stated that,

“His book Heaven and Earth, which purports to destroy the science of climate change, contains page after page of schoolboy errors and pseudoscientific gobble-degook. As the professor of astrophysics Michael Ashleywrote: “It is not ‘merely’ atmospheric scientists that would have to be wrong for Plimer to be right. It would require a rewriting of biology, geology, physics, oceanography, astronomy and statistics.” But never, as far as I can determine, has Plimer responded to the devastating points made by his critics. He just keeps shifting his ground.

I told Plimer that I would accept his challenge if he accepted mine: to write precise and specific responses to the questions I would send him, for publication on the Guardian’s website. If he answered them, the debate would go ahead; if he didn’t, it wouldn’t happen. The two exchanges would complement each other: having checked his specifics, people at the public event could better assess his generalisations. Plimer refused“.

In a very public symbol of the to and fro between climate change deniers and their opponents, then, Monbiot seems to have won some symbolic ground; providing his own refutes for Pilmers points, and statistics for his own assertions, his attempts to draw Pilmer into substantiating his own work on climate change denial have fallen on deaf ears.

With Pilmer open for an opportunity to support his claims, and refusing thus far, it seems that Monbiot’s claim that climate change denial is on thin ice is perhaps supported by Pilmer’s own inaction.

The debate will certainly get more interesting, then, if Pilmer decides to come back and take on the challenge set to him.

Source: The Guardian