Home 
About SCA 50th EarthVision EarthVision Dailies Dr. James Hansen on Climate Change
About SCA 50th EarthVision EarthVision Dailies Dr. James Hansen on Climate Change
Dr. James Hansen on Climate Change |
|
|
|
|
by Teresa Shipley, ’05, SCA Staff His message was clear: the earth is definitely getting warmer. In a recent paper submitted to Science magazine, Hansen called for even tighter restrictions in greenhouse gas emissions than he had previously advocated for, stating that 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide is a safer and more sustainable level for the earth. Hansen’s major beef was with coal-fired power plants, particularly those that don’t capture and sequester their carbon emissions, and he surprised everybody by saying that China is ahead of the U.S. in carbon-capturing coal plants. He also mentioned a little-known scientific fact: nearly 20 percent of carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for 1000 years, so everything we’ve been spewing will continue affecting us and our great-great-great-great-great grandchildren. To counter this, Hansen advocated for more reforestation and creative agricultural practices like “biochar,” which increases soils’ carbon storage capacity. He also called for participants to agitate their legislators—a common theme throughout EarthVision. We should significantly raise the price of carbon, he added, and force polluters to pay for their emissions. The real world is giving us answers faster than climate models can predict them, Hansen said. We cannot sit on our hands and do nothing. I couldn’t resist asking Hansen my own question about carbon sequestration, but I first had to tell him that he has been one of my environmental heroes ever since speaking out about government censorship of his work. Having Hansen speak at EarthVision provided the ultimate example for me of someone who lives his beliefs in the face of all obstacles and threats. Climate change should scare the pants of you. That is one way to inspire action. Comments
(2)
Defense spending should include climate change analysis & correction forecasting
Votes: +0
written by James Johnson , October 21, 2008
Dr. Hansen offers free inclusion in his list serve
written by Susan Cutting , April 29, 2008
Dr. Hansen spoke during his Earth Vision presentation of the importance of youth engagement in the movement calling for immediate measures to address climate change issues. He wants to help spread the word, and make his research available to people who are willing to take on the challenge. On his website: http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/
Votes: +0
you can subscribe to his free email distribution list, as well as accessing his powerpoints, charts and additional information. Check it out! report abuse
vote down
vote up
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
If Governments need a reason to find money to fix climate change then they should treat it as a national security concern. Defense spending seems like a bottomless pit so find the dollars there to fund solutuions in that bottomless pit.
+ CNA, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change
http://securityandclimate.cna.org/
+ Söderblom Jason, Security Solutions, #52, Mar/Apr 08, p58-68 http://world-ice.com/Articles/...curity.pdf
+ NPR, Climate Change Worries Military Advisers, http://www.npr.org/templates/s...Id=9580815