James Hansen's New Climate Warning

NASA climate scientist, James Hansen, has published a paper (PDF) that warns the impending increase in temperature may be at 6 degrees Celsius (10.8 degrees F), not at the 3 degrees Celsius as had been previously estimated, bringing us "dangerously close" to climate tipping points:

The Earth's history provides a sobering perspective on prospects for climate change. The Earth's climate is sensitive to changes in climate forcings, human-made forcings now overwhelm natural climate forcings, and the climate system is dangerously close to tipping points that could have disastrous consequences.

Hansen, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies scientist whose work was previously "edited" by the Bush Administration goes on to say:

A climate tipping point refers to a situation in which moderate additional climate forcing may produce large effects, such as loss of all Arctic sea ice and destabilization of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Large climate changes, overall, are inherently deleterious, as civilization developed during a period of climate stability and constructed extensive infrastructure based on current climate patterns and shorelines. Life on Earth will adapt to changing climate, but many species will be casualties if climate change is much more rapid than natural rates.

Which, I suppose, is another way to say: One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. Ecclesiastes 1:4

Earth abideth with or without us...

The report, co-written with Mikiko Sato, is not all bad news. The authors mention that "except for carbon dioxide, human-made forcings are increasing more slowly than in the scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)." (The IPCC has not yet responded).

Except for carbon dioxide (I would add methane).

Hansen advises that a "focused effort" toward an "absolute reduction in non-C02 impact, combined with a slow-down of C02 emissions and limiting coal use to plants that capture emissions could help to contain additional warming. What it will take to achieve an absolute reduction is another matter and one that needs to be addressed sooner, rather than later, before it is too late to avert the tipping points Hansen warns of in his new report.

Comments

[1will]

In the past year NASA's measurements and their measuring system have been proven inaccurate. Research was done into their measuring stations and many were found to be set up in parking lots and one was even over a grill. You don't need to be a super smart NASA rocket scientist to realize putting a thermometer over asphalt will give you a higher reading. Maybe that's the point.
www.thestar.com/News/article/246027
wwww.townhall.com -NASA Blocked Climate Change Blogger from Data by Amanda Carpenter (08/17/2007)
www.investors.com - The 'Old' Consensus? (9/21/07)
www.townhall.com - Global Warming and James Hansen's Hacks by Michael Fumento (08/16/2007)

I wonder if this post will make it through or if it will be censored like the others.

[BillZBubb]

Your absurd post did make it through. It is filled with pseudo-scientific nonsense, so it didn't deserve to.

Sure some of NASA measurements have been off. That happens in any scientific endeavor. So what? Most measurements have been very accurate and those combined with measurements FROM ALL OTHER SOURCES agree the global warming is real and is in part due to human activity. Get a clue.

[jay1975]

Here's something interesting. NASA says that strong winds have caused the arctic sea ice to melt. They say that the winds have kept the thickness down and helped push the thinner ice out to warmer waters. Wind is also the blame for the melting of the ice caps on Mars. Our climate is changing, but Hansen is the lone voice of doom. I just do not trust his motives. During the summer there were a few bad tornados. What did Hansen do? He created a new model to say that "Global Warming" was causing more tornados. I do not dispute that the climate is changing but I do not think that our CO2 contribution (0.012% of the total atmosphere) is the sole cause. The atmosphere and our climate system is so complicated that it seems a little far fetched to think that we can accurately predict every variable that will have some effect.

[1will]

Our accuracy in predicting Climate Change is not the point. The point is there are big bucks to be made on Global Warming. The UN and our own government favor taxing us for CO2 emissions while giving "Developing Nations" such as China (with double digit growth) a free pass.

[loslobo]

Maybe China wouldn't get a free pass if they weren't paying for Bush's war.(just fronting the money, or children will pay and pay)

[kasjuh]

I suspect that scientists close to the problem are reluctant as yet to state publicly how serious the climate change issue is. The fact of positive feedback has surfaced only recently in publications and broadcasts, and populations have yet to understand how it works. This approaching train wreck may be unstoppable, and Hansen may be indeed be conservative in his estimates.

[BillZBubb]

Hansen is just a scientist trained to study the climate. What does he know about global warming? The Republicans and their corporate sponsors along with their religious rightwing stooges all say global warming is just a liberal trick. Who to believe?????

[JudyGee]

This is sarcasm, right?