The head of the Bureau of Meteorology has rebuked Cardinal George Pell for his scepticism about climate change, insisting the man has been misled.
Sydney's Catholic Archbishop is an outspoken disbeliever in man-made global warming, arguing that it was hotter during the Middle Ages and carbon dioxide levels are not historically high.
Bureau chief Greg Ayers used an appearance at a Senate estimates hearing yesterday to rip into the cardinal's personal views.
He said the core of his arguments were based on a book by Australian scientist Ian Plimer called Heaven and Earth: Global Warming the Missing Science.
But Cardinal Pell's convictions were misplaced, Dr Ayers said.
"The contents of the book are simply not scientific," he told the committee.
"The cardinal has been misled."
The book has been routinely dismissed by fellow scientists, who criticised it as a "polemic from one individual," including phrases not at all based in science.
It contained gratuitous attacks on climate change campaigners in government, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Australia's former climate change minister Penny Wong.
Over 10 minutes, Dr Ayers outlined a litany of errors repeated by Cardinal Pell, rubbishing one particular reference to greenhouse gases and nitrogen.
"It's not a greenhouse gas; it's 78% of the atmosphere," Dr Ayers said.
He'll be writing to Cardinal Pell in due course, asking him to come on a tour around the country visiting scientists working in the climate change field.
Dr Ayers believes he has a conversion on his hands.
"Cardinal Pell may well become an ambassador of the quality of the science we do in this country," he said.
Liberal senator Ian Macdonald had earlier tried to shut down Dr Ayers' attack, by suggesting he make his point in a written submission to the committee only.
Neither Cardinal Pell nor Professor Plimer was likely to be given the same opportunity to speak at a Senate hearing, he argued.
But chairman Doug Cameron dismissed his concerns and allowed Dr Ayers to complete his comments in full.