This piece has just been posted on the site of the World Watch institute,
it's rather long, so to save some space, I only post the intro here, you can
read the rest via the link.
The autor is James Hansen
Dr. James E. Hansen, a physicist by training, directs the NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies,
a laboratory of the Goddard Space Flight Center and a unit of the
Columbia University Earth Institute,
but he testifies here as a private citizen.
Grts
Bruno M.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guest Opinion: Global Warming Twenty Years Later
by James Hansen on June 23, 2008
Tipping Points Near
<http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5798>http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5798
Today, I will testify to Congress about global warming, 20 years
after my June 23, 1988 testimony, which alerted the public that
global warming was under way. There are striking similarities between
then and now, but one big difference.
Again a wide gap has developed between what is understood about
global warming by the relevant scientific community and what is known
by policymakers and the public. Now, as then, frank assessment of
scientific data yields conclusions that are shocking to the body
politic. Now, as then, I can assert that these conclusions have a
certainty exceeding 99 percent.
The difference is that now we have used up all slack in the schedule
for actions needed to defuse the global warming time bomb. The next
President and Congress must define a course next year in which the
United States exerts leadership commensurate with our responsibility
for the present dangerous situation.
Otherwise, it will become impractical to constrain atmospheric carbon
dioxide, the greenhouse gas produced in burning fossil fuels, to a
level that prevents the climate system from passing tipping points
that lead to disastrous climate changes that spiral dynamically out
of humanity's control.
Changes needed to preserve creation, the planet on which civilization
developed, are clear. But the changes have been blocked by special
interests, focused on short-term profits, who hold sway in Washington
and other capitals.
I argue that a path yielding energy independence and a healthier
environment is, barely, still possible. It requires a transformative
change of direction in Washington in the next year.
... see rest of the article at above link.
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