More on "Climategate"

It's odd that a story of this magnitude is receiving little to no press. If you're not up to speed, the article "Lord Monckton’s summary of Climategate and its issues" should catch you up.

Another interesting article from the Daily Press reports on mining geology professor and man-made climate change skeptic Ian Plimer's recent appearance before a London audience:

Professor Plimer said climate change was caused by natural events such as volcanic eruptions, the shifting of the Earth’s orbit and cosmic radiation. He said: “Carbon dioxide levels have been up to 1,000 times higher in the past. CO2 cannot be driving global warming now.

“In the past we have had rapid and significant climate change with temperature changes greater than anything we are measuring today. They are driven by processes that have been going on since the beginning of time.”

He cited periods of warming during the Roman Empire and in the Middle Ages – when Vikings grew crops on Greenland – and cooler phases such as the Dark Ages and the Little Ice Age from 1300 to 1850.

And he predicted that the next phase would cool the planet.

Also, to tie in with a subject I've written about previously:

He suggested many scientists had a vested interest in promoting climate change because it helped secure more funding for research. He said: “The climate comrades are trying to keep the gravy train going. Governments are also keen on putting their hands as deep as possible into our pockets.

“The average person has been talked down to. He has been treated like a fool. Yet the average person has common sense.”

The belief that we could have such a profound effect on a planet that has existed for over 4.5 billion years and endured at least five mass extinctions is truly a testament to our arrogance as a species.