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Bob Carter

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This article is part of the Climate change portal on SourceWatch.

Professor Robert (Bob) Carter, is "a researcher at the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University", Australia. [1] In a byline with an op-ed published in the Sydney Morning Herald in September 2005, he was described as an "experienced environmental scientist" [2], but a March 2007 article in the same paper noted that "Professor Carter, whose background is in marine geology, appears to have little, if any, standing in the Australian climate science community." [3] He is a well known climate change skeptic.

Carter was a speaker at the International Conference on Climate Change (2009), organized by the Heartland Institute think tank. [1] Carter is also listed as a speaker for the Heartland Institute's June 2009 Third International Conference on Climate Change.[2]

Carter could well be described as "a prominent research geologist with a personal interest in the issue of climate change," from his list of research papers. He has extensive experience of paleoclimatic research, including participation in Ocean Drilling Program Leg 181 in the southwest Pacific, which described the benchmark 4 million year-long, mid-latitude climate record from Site 1119 [4].

In 2005, Carter was appointed by the Australian Minister for Environment, Ian Campbell, as a judge for the Australian Government Peter Hunt Eureka Prize for Environmental Journalism. [5]

In January 2006, Carter told the Australian newspaper that "atmospheric CO2 is not a primary forcing agent for temperature change," arguing instead that "any cumulative human signal is so far undetectable at a global level and, if present, is buried deeply in the noise of natural variation". [6]

In March 2007 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that "Professor Carter told the Herald yesterday [March 14th 2007] the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had uncovered no evidence the warming of the planet was caused by human activity. He said the role of peer review in scientific literature was overstressed, and whether or not a scientist had been funded by the fossil fuel industry was irrelevant to the validity of research. 'I don't think it is the point whether or not you are paid by the coal or petroleum industry,' said Professor Carter. 'I will address the evidence.'" [7]

Carter is a member of the right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs [8], and a founding member of the Australian Environment Foundation, a front group set up by the Institute of Public Affairs.

Contents

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. "Speakers," Heartland Institute website, accessed January 2009.
  2. Heartland Institute, "Speakers", Heartland Institute, accessed May 7, 2009.

External resources

External articles

Articles and Presentations by Carter

Interviews with Carter

  • Michael Duffy, "Climate Change Response: Bob Carter, Research Professor of Geology, James Cook University, Townsville, answers your queries arising from our Climate Change show of Monday 4 April.", Counterpoint, ABC Radio National, April 11, 2005.
  • Robyn Williams, "Bob Carter", Science Show, ABC Radio National, September 1, 2005.
  • Panel Discussion chaired by Professor Anders Flodstrom, "Global Warming - Scientific Controversies in Climate Variability:" (click on Part 1 or Part 2), KTH University, Stockholm, September 11-12, 2006.

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