...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
How long have we got? We have to stabilize emissions of carbon dioxide within a decade, or temperatures will warm by more than one degree... We don't have much time left.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The urgency of addressing carbon emissions to prevent significant global warming is critical and time-sensitive.
James Hansen's quote emphasizes the immediate and pressing need to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions within the next decade to avert a catastrophic rise in global temperatures. He warns that failure to act swiftly may result in a temperature increase exceeding one degree Celsius, which poses significant risks to the planet's climate stability.
Themes
ClimateEmissionsUrgencyGlobal WarmingCarbon Dioxide
In practice
Example use cases
During an environmental conference, this quote can highlight the urgency of action needed against climate change.
More from James Hansen
All quotes →We 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.
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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.
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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.
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'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.
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