...99 percent confident that the world really was getting warmer and that there was a high degree of probability that it was due to human-made greenhouse gases.
James HansenRead
Global warming isn't a prediction. It is happening.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Global warming is a present reality, not just a future concern.
James Hansen emphasizes that global warming is not a looming threat but an ongoing phenomenon that we are currently experiencing. This statement serves as a call to acknowledge the seriousness of climate change and to act promptly, as the impacts are already unfolding in the present rather than merely being a worry for the future.
Themes
Global WarmingClimate ChangeEnvironmentScienceReality
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used during a climate change awareness event to stress the urgency of the issue.
More from James Hansen
All quotes βWe need to send a message to Congress and the president that we want them to take the actions that are needed to preserve climate for young people and future generations and all life on the planet.
James HansenRead
Coral reefs, the rain forest of the ocean, are home for one-third of the species of the sea. Coral reefs are under stress for several reasons, including warming of the ocean, but especially because of ocean acidification, a direct effect of added carbon dioxide. Ocean life dependent on carbonate shells and skeletons is threatened by dissolution as the ocean becomes more acid.
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Rising carbon price is essential to 'decarbonize' the economy - to remove the nation towards the era beyond fossil fuels.
James HansenRead
We have at most ten years - not ten years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions... We are near a tipping point, a point of no return, beyond which the built in momentum and feedbacks will carry us to levels of climate change with staggering consequences for humanity and all of the residents of this planet.
James HansenRead
'Goals' and 'caps' on carbon emissions are practically worthless, if coal emissions continue, because of the exceedingly long lifetime of carbon dioxide in the air.
James HansenRead
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