...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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the urgent need to take action against climate change within the next decade.
James Hansen emphasizes the critical timeframe in which humanity must act to change the course of greenhouse gas emissions. He warns that we are reaching a point of no return where it may become impossible to prevent severe climate consequences, urging collective action to avert disastrous outcomes for both people and the planet.
Themes
Climate ChangeEmissionsUrgencyActionTipping PointEnvironmentHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about environmental policy to stress the importance of immediate action.
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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'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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On a per capita basis, Britain is responsible for more of the carbon dioxide now in the atmosphere than any other nation on Earth because it has been burning it from the dawn of the Industrial Revolution.
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