William Kininmonth

Credentials

• M.Admin (Monash U). [1]
• M.Sc (Colo State U). [1]
• B.Sc (UWA). [1]

Background

William Kininmonth is a retired meteorologist and headed the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s national climate center for 12 years, although the bureau has pointed out that the center did not actually research climate change during his tenure. He is an adviser to several climate science denial groups.

Kininmonth is the director of an organization called the “Australasian Climate Research Institute.” Kinimonth’s “Climate Research Institute” appears to be run out of his home in Australia, as the mailing address for the Institute is the same as Kinimonth’s residence.

Stance on Climate Change

“In a spirited defence of his integrity, Tim Flannery (Insight, 8/10) repeats his misunderstanding of how the climate system works: Greenhouse gases emit more radiation than they absorb and their direct impact is to cool the atmosphere. More greenhouse gases will not cause the atmosphere to warm, as Flannery states in his book.” [2]

Key Quotes

“Reducing emissions of CO2, as proposed under the Kyoto Protocol, will not avert climate change.” [3]

“Fundamental science has always identified that it is quixotic to attempt regulation of climate through management of carbon dioxide emissions. The pity is that community leaders have been beguiled by the mystery of powerful computers and have failed to critically assess the predictions within the context of Earth’s history.” [14]

See a complete list of Kininmonth’s quotes at Skeptical Science.

Key Deeds

February 4, 2018

In January 2018, more than 200 scientists endorsed an open letter calling on the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) to remove climate change denier Rebekah Mercer from its board and to “end ties to anti-science propagandists and funders of climate science misinformation.” The New York Times reported that those among the AMNH letter calling for Mercer to step down were Michael E. Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, and Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. [23]

Kininmonth was among a group of climate change deniers who responded with their own open letter, calling for the AMNH “not to cave in to this pressure.” The letter was signed by numerous individuals with ties to groups funded by the Mercer Family Foundation such as Will Happer of the CO2 CoalitionRichard Lindzen, a fellow at the Cato InstituteCraig Idso, the chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. There are a number of signatories affiliated with the Heartland Institute, which has received over $5.78 million from the Mercer Family Foundation since 2008. [24]

The letter reads: [25]

“The Earth has supported abundant life many times in the geological past when there were much higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is quite likely that future generations will benefit from the enrichment of Earth’s atmosphere with more carbon dioxide.

“Make no mistake, the agitators are not defending science from quackery — quite the contrary!”

July 7–9, 2014

William Kinninmonth was a speaker at the Heartland Institute’s Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kinninmonth participated in two panels, panel 1, “Climate Change and the Hydrosphere,” with William Gray and Roy Spencer and panel 20, “The Global Warming Debate in Australia.” Both videos can be viewed below. [19]

DeSmogBlog has done in-depth research on the other speakers and sponsors from Heartland’s ICCC9, which can be found here. [16]

September, 2013

Kininmonth was a lead author of the first chapter of a report from the Nongovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a project funded through the Chicago-based Heartland Institute and which concluded that any global warming caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases would cause “no net harm” to human societies.

May 2013

Kininmonth was a co-author of the book Taxing Air: Facts & Falacies About Climate Change. The two main authors were Bob Carter and cartoonist John Spooner, alongside fellow sceptics Martin Feil, Stewart Franks and Bryan Leyland. The Institute of Public Affairs sent copies of the book to Australian Members of Parliament and hosted a launch event. Australian mathematical physicist Ian Enting, author of the Australian Mathematical Scences Institute book Twisted: The distorted mathematics of greenhouse denial, has analysed the book, describing it as being characterised by “half-truths and slanted misrepresentation” and “appalling hypocrisy”.

January 27, 2012

Kininmonth is a signatory to a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed titled “No Need to Panic About Global Warming.” [11]

A total of sixteen “scientists” are signatories including Claude Allègre, J. Scott Armstrong, Jan Breslow, William Happer, Richard Lindzen, James McGrath, Rodney Nichols, Burt Rutan, Harrison H. Schmitt, Nir Shaviv, Edward David, Michael Kelly, Henk Tennekes, Roger Cohen, and Antonino Zichichi.

Media transparency, who found that the article had misrepresented the position of Yale economist William Nordhaus, also reported on the opinion piece.  Skeptical Science did a comprehensive examination of the signatories. [12], [13]

In the WSJ op-ed, Kininmonth was described as the “former head of climate research at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology”. The bureau later released a statement clarifying that Kininmonth had been the head of National Climate Center (NCC) from 14 November 1985 to 8 January 1998, but this center was not researching human-caused climate change. Instead, the NCC‘s activities had “mainly centred on climate database management and climate monitoring activities”, the statement said.

May 16–18, 2010

Kininmonth was a speaker (PDF) at the Heartland Institute‘s fourth annual International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4) in Chicago. 

His speech, titled “Natural Responses Limiting Anthropogenic Climate Forcing” can be viewed below. [15]

March 8–10, 2009

Kininmonth was a speaker (PDF) at Heartland Institute‘s second International Conference on Climate Change.  His speech, titled “A Natural Limit to Anthropogenic Global Warming” can be viewed below. [4]

DeSmog investigated sponsors behind the conference and found that they had collectively received over $47 million from oil companies and right-wing foundations.

November 2008

William Kininmonth, “Science Advisor” to the ACSC, spoke about “Climate Change and how he believes it is just a cycle – based on historical facts.” View the five-part video series, via YouTube, below: [18]

February, 2007

Kininmonth was on the “writing team” for the Fraser Institute’s 2007 independent summary for policymakers (ISPM).

The ISPM‘s conclusion is that “there will remain an unavoidable element of uncertainty as to the extent that humans are contributing to future climate change, and indeed whether or not such change is a good or bad thing.” [6]

Other authors included well known global warming skeptics such as Joseph D’aleo, Madhav Khandekar, Christopher Essex, Wibjorn Karlen, Ian Clark, and Tad Murty.

December 13th, 2007

Kininmonth signed an open letter to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon that describes global warming as a natural phenomenon.

The letter describes carbon dioxide as a “non-polluting gas that is essential to plant photosynthesis,” and claims that the IPCC‘s reports are “inadequate as justification” for implementing climate change policy. [7]

April, 2006

Kininmonth was one of the signatories of a 2006 open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper titled “Open Kyoto to Debate” which denied the existence of man-made global warming and encouraged inaction on climate policy. [5]

Affiliations

• Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) — Member, Academic Advisory Council. [26]
• Australasian Climate Research Institute — Director.
• Australian Climate Science Coalition (ACSC) — Member, “Scientific Advisory Panel.” [8]
• Lavoisier Group — Contributor.
• International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) — Member, ICSC “Scientific Advisory Board.” [9]
• Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) — “Science Adviser.” [1]
• The Heartland Institute — “Expert.” [10]
• The Galileo Movement — Member, independent advisory panel. [17]

Publications

According to a search of 22,000 academic journals, Kininmonth has not published any research in a peer-reviewed journal on the subject of climate change.

There is one study published in 1972 by “Kininmon, WR” on the subject of rain-grown rice in Northern Australia.

In November 2004, the Lavoisier Group helped launch Kininmonth’s book Climate Change; a natural hazard.

Resources

1. “SPPI Personnel 2012,” Science and Public Policy Institute. Accessed January, 2012.
2. “Flannery is wrong on climate change,” (Letters), The Age, October 10, 2005.
3. William Kininmonth. “CLIMATE CHANGE: A Natural Hazard” (PDF), lavoisier.com.au. Archived July 16, 2003.
4. “Second International Conference on Climate Change, Program,” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived December 8, 2017. 
5. Open Kyoto to debate,” National Post, April 11, 2006.
6. “Independent Summary for Policymakers: IPCC Fourth Assessment Report” (PDF), The Fraser Institute, March 2, 2007.
7. “Open Letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” December 13, 2007. Reprinted by the Science and Public Policy Institute.
8. “About Us,” The Australian Climate Science Coalition. Archived April 5, 2010 with WebCite.
9. “WHO WE ARE,” International Climate Science Coalition. Accessed January, 2012.
10. “Heartland Experts: William Kininmonth,” The Heartland Institute. Accessed January, 2012.
11. “No Need to Panic About Global Warming,” Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2012. . Archived by WebCite February 2, 2012.
12. “The Journal Hires Dentists To Do Heart Surgery,” Media Transparency, January 30, 2012.
13. “The Latest Denialist Plea for Climate Change Inaction,” Skeptical Science, January 31, 2012.
14. William Kininmonth. “Cold facts dispel theories on warming,” The Australian, April 29, 2009.
15. “4th International Conference on Climate Change” (PDF), The Heartland Institute. Retrieved February 2, 2012 from University of Hartford web server. Archived December 8, 2017. 
16. “Return of Climate Denial-a-Palooza: Heartland Institute Hitches Anti-Science Wagon to Vegas FreedomFest,” DeSmogBlog, July 7, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.
17. “Who We Are,” Galileo Movement. Archived September 24, 2016. Archive. is URL: https://archive.is/iyn7s
18. “Climate Change – William Kininmonth, Australian Climate Science Coalition Part 1,” YouTube video uploaded by user “jetvideoproductions,” November 19, 2008. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
19. “9th International Conference on Climate Change, Schedule” (PDF) Heartland Institute. Archived December 8, 2017. 
20. amnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.
21. Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. “A Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,” The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4
22. Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Deniers Defend New York’s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,” DeSmog, February 6, 2018.
23. Robin Pogrebin and Somini Sengupta. “A Science Denier at the Natural History Museum? Scientists Rebel,” The New York Times, January 25, 2018. Archived February 13, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/tAIv4
24. Graham Readfearn. “Climate Science Deniers Defend New York’s American Museum of Natural History From Calls to Drop Trustee Rebekah Mercer,” DeSmog, February 6, 2018.
25. mnh18-feb4-petitionletter (PDF – Untitled). Retrieved from Watts Up With That.
26. “WILLIAM KININMONTH JOINS GWPF’S ACADEMIC ADVISORY COUNCIL,” The Global Warming Policy Foundation, May 22, 2018. Archived via Google Cache, June 5, 2018. Archive.is URL: https://archive.li/Zj7dR

Other Resources

• “William Kininmonth,” SourceWatch Entry.
• ExxonSecrts Factsheet: William Kininmonth.
• “Deniers: Scientists: William Kininmonth,” ExxonSecrets Wiki.