26 Facts About Ian Plimer

Ian Rutherford Plimer was born on 12 February 1946 and is an Australian geologist and professor emeritus at the University of Melbourne.

Ian Plimer has been criticised by climate scientists for misinterpreting data and spreading misinformation.

Ian Plimer grew up in Sydney and attended Normanhurst Boys High School.

Ian Plimer earned a BSc in mining engineering at the University of New South Wales in 1968, and a PhD in Geology at Macquarie University in 1976.

Ian Plimer started as a tutor and senior tutor in earth sciences at Macquarie University from 1968 to 1973.

Ian Plimer then went to work for North Broken Hill Ltd.

Ian Plimer later served as professor and head of geology of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne from 1991 to 2005.

Ian Plimer was conferred as professor emeritus of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne in 2005, and was a professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide.

Ian Plimer co-edited the 2005 edition of Encyclopedia of Geology.

Ian Plimer is the former non-executive director of CBH Resources Limited from 1998 to 2010, former non-executive director of Angel Mining plc from 2003 to 2005, former director of Kimberley Metals Limited from 2008 to 2009, former director of KBL Mining Limited from 2008 to 2009 and former director of Ormil Energy Limited from 2010 to 2011.

Ian Plimer is currently the non-executive deputy chairman of KEFI Minerals since 2006, independent non-executive director of Ivanhoe Australia Limited since 2007, chairman of TNT Mines Limited since 2010, non-executive director of Niuminco Group Limited since 2011, and non-executive director of Silver City Minerals Limited since 2011.

Ian Plimer was appointed director of Roy Hill Holdings and Queensland Coal Investments in 2012.

Ian Plimer has stated that his business interests do not affect the independence of his beliefs.

Ian Plimer has warned that the proposed Australian carbon-trading scheme could decimate the Australian mining industry.

Ian Plimer is a member of the Saltbush Club, a group that promotes climate change denial.

Ian Plimer accuses the environmental movement of being irrational, and claims that the vast bulk of the scientific community, including most major scientific academies, is prejudiced by the prospect of research funding.

Ian Plimer characterised the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as: "The IPCC process is related to environmental activism, politics and opportunism" and "the IPCC process is unrelated to science".

Ian Plimer is critical of greenhouse gas politics and says that extreme environmental changes are inevitable.

Ian Plimer has said that volcanic eruptions release more carbon dioxide than human activity; in particular that submarine volcanoes emit large amounts of CO2 and that the influence of the gases from these volcanoes on the Earth's climate is under-represented in climate models.

In 2009, Ian Plimer released Heaven and Earth, a book in which he says that climate models focus too strongly on the effects of carbon dioxide, and do not give the weight he thinks is appropriate to other factors such as solar variation.

Ian Plimer has stated that El Nino is caused by earthquakes and volcanic activity at the mid-ocean ridges and that the melting of polar ice has nothing to do with man-made carbon dioxide.

Ian Plimer told Radio Australia that Pacific island nations are seeing changes in relative sea level not because of global warming but quite commonly due to other factors, such as "vibration consolidating the coral island sands", extraction of water, and extraction of sand for road and air strip making.

In 2009, Ian Plimer was cited by the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, Tony Abbott, in dismissing the IPCC and its findings.

In early 2010, Ian Plimer toured Australia with British climate change denier Christopher Monckton, giving lectures on climate change, and Ian Plimer's views came to be associated with Monckton's claim that the international left created the threat of catastrophic global warming.

Climate scientist Ian Plimer McHugh has refuted a number of the scientific claims in the book.

Ian Plimer is an outspoken critic of creationism and is famous for a 1988 debate with creationist Duane Gish in which he asked his opponent to hold live electrical cables to prove that electromagnetism was 'only a theory'.