...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
You can't tie a rope around the ice sheet. You can't build a wall around the ice sheets.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the impossibility of controlling or containing natural phenomena, such as climate change.
James Hansen's quote illustrates the futility of trying to impose artificial limits on the natural world, specifically in the context of climate change and environmental degradation. It suggests that like an ice sheet that cannot be constrained by a rope or a wall, our efforts to control or ignore the effects of climate change are ultimately ineffective. This serves as a reminder of the need for responsible stewardship of the environment rather than avoidance of the consequences.
Themes
Climate ChangeEnvironmentNatural PhenomenaStewardship
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the urgency of addressing climate change at an environmental conference.
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.
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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.
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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