Robert M. Carter
Encyclopedia
Robert M. "Bob" Carter is an adjunct research professor in the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University
James Cook University
James Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The university has two Australian campuses, located in Townsville and Cairns respectively, and an international campus in Singapore. JCU is the second oldest university in Queensland—proclaimed in 1970—and the...

, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, and the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...

, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. He is a geologist specializing in palaeontology, stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....

, marine geology, and environmental science. Carter is a former Director of Australia's Secretariat for the Ocean Drilling Program
Ocean Drilling Program
The Ocean Drilling Program was an international cooperative effort to explore and study the composition and structure of the Earth's ocean basins. ODP, which began in 1985, was the direct successor to the highly successful Deep Sea Drilling Project initiated in 1968 by the United States...

 and a Co-Chief Scientist for drilling leg 181. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Royal Society of New Zealand
The Royal Society of New Zealand , known as the New Zealand Institute before 1933, was established in 1867 to co-ordinate and assist the activities of a number of regional research societies including the Auckland Institute, the Wellington Philosophical Society, the Philosophical Institute of...

.

Career

Carter has published scientific papers on taxonomic paleontology, the growth and form of the molluscan shell, New Zealand and Pacific geology, sea level and paleoclimatology, New Zealand maritime glaciation, Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...

 geology, stratigraphic classification, sequence stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....

, sedimentology
Sedimentology
Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, mud , and clay, and the processes that result in their deposition. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of modern processes to interpret geologic history through observations of sedimentary rocks and sedimentary...

,and the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...

.

Carter is active in the media, volunteering letters and opinion pieces on science topics to a variety of newspapers, magazines and web magazines. Carter was one of the founding members of the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition
New Zealand Climate Science Coalition
The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition is an organisation based in New Zealand which has the aim of refuting what it believes are unfounded claims about anthropogenic global warming.-Beginnings:...

, and a member of the industry-funded Institute of Public Affairs
Institute of Public Affairs
The Institute of Public Affairs is a public policy think tank based in Melbourne, Australia. It advocates free market economic policies such as privatisation and deregulation of state-owned enterprises, trade liberalisation and deregulated workplaces, climate change skepticism , and the...

 which also founded the Australian Environment Foundation
Australian Environment Foundation
The Australian Environment Foundation is a not-for-profit advocacy organisation. It differs from many other such groups because it accepts most traditional human activities in the environment, such as farming and forestry, seeking to combine these with an enhanced concern for nature...

. He is also a science adviser to the Science and Public Policy Institute
Science and Public Policy Institute
The Science and Public Policy Institute is an organization which concerns itself with issues related to carbon dioxide and global warming. It is based in Virginia, USA and was founded around 2007. It describes itself as:...

.

Global warming

Carter has appeared in many media pieces on global warming, including the public debate after the airing of The Great Global Warming Swindle
The Great Global Warming Swindle
The Great Global Warming Swindle is a polemical documentary film that suggests that the scientific opinion on climate change is influenced by funding and political factors, and questions whether scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming exists....

documentary on ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

. Carter has published newspaper articles which conflict with the mainstream scientific opinion on climate change
Scientific opinion on climate change
The predominant scientific opinion on climate change is that the Earth is in an ongoing phase of global warming primarily caused by an enhanced greenhouse effect due to the anthropogenic release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases...

. A Sydney Morning Herald reporter wrote that Carter "appears to have little standing in the Australian climate science community."

Carter has published several critiques of anthropogenic global warming in economics journals. Carter is a Contributor/Reviewer of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) 2009 report Climate Change Reconsidered.

Carter has published primary research in the related field of palaeoclimatology, investigating New Zealand's climate extending back to 3.9 Ma. Carter's website states that his research "has been supported by grants from competitive public research agencies, especially the Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...

 (ARC)", and that he "receives no research funding from special interest organisations such as environmental groups, energy companies or government departments". Carter is a staff member at the Institute of Public Affairs
Institute of Public Affairs
The Institute of Public Affairs is a public policy think tank based in Melbourne, Australia. It advocates free market economic policies such as privatisation and deregulation of state-owned enterprises, trade liberalisation and deregulated workplaces, climate change skepticism , and the...

.

Selected publications


External links


Carter videos


Interviews and articles

  • Bob Carter, "The Futile Quest for Climate Control", Quadrant
    Quadrant (magazine)
    Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...

    , November 2008
  • Bob Carter, "High price for load of hot air", The Courier Mail, 18 June 2007.
  • 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, 11 April 2005.
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