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Dr. James Hansen Amps Up Language on Climate

reposted | 20.06.2007 16:20 | Ecology

A report to the British Royal Society was
released Tuesday in which America's top
climate scientist and five others spoke with
stronger feelings about the climate situation
than their usual drab scientific findings. They
were, of course, trying to wake people up to
the seriousness of the problems of our climate's
future.

"Planet Earth today: imminent peril"

"...and nothing short of a planetary rescue will save
it from the environmental cataclysm of dangerous
climate change."

Predicting that sea levels will rise several meters by 2100, the
report states "Recent greenhouse gas emissions place the Earth
perilously close to dramatic climate change that could run out of
control, with great dangers for humans and other creatures".

"Civilization developed, and constructed extensive infrastructure,
during a period of unusual climate stability, the Holocene, now
almost 12,000 years in duration. That period is about to end".

Human societies and civilization are unlikely to survive if the climate
"flips" out of control from feedbacks that the report goes into great
detail on.

Humanity cannot afford to burn the Earth's remaining underground
reserves of fossil fuel. "To do so would guarantee dramatic climate
change, yielding a different planet from the one on which civilization
developed and for which extensive physical infrastructure has been
built," they say.

Stating that 'draconian measures' are needed, they also said that
"If we have not already passed the dangerous level, the energy
infrastructure in place ensures that we will pass it within several
decades".

Dr. Hansen has been saying for three years that we have, at best,
ten years to stop the rise in CO2 emissions and start their
decline, or the earth will become 'a different planet' than what we
have taken for granted for thousands of years. But we have seen
very little changed in government policy and it appears that Dr.
Hansen feels it is necessary to take it up a notch.

Once again the US corporate media refuses to tell the public
about an important report on climate change with the exception
being rawstory.com and a British news source - The Independent.

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Climate Change and trace gases, {full text]
 http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/l3h462k7p4068780/fulltext.pdf

The Earth today stands in imminent peril, 6/19/07
 http://environment.independent.co.uk/climate_change/article2675747.ece

reposted

Comments

Display the following 10 comments

  1. Hansen's science doesn't stand scrutiny — Progressive Contrarian
  2. CO2Science.org don't stand up to scrutiny — CH
  3. CH — Progressive Contrarian
  4. more to the point — CH
  5. progressive contrarian, you give yourself away as someone... — more sorted than you
  6. CH — Progressive Contrarian
  7. less sorted than you think — Progressive Contrarian
  8. Play the ball, not the man — CH
  9. End of argument? — Progressive Contrarian
  10. relpy to 'Progressive' Contrarian', — Climate Scientist