In a brand new paper by climatologist James Hansen, he lays out what he feels will be effective strategies to combat climate change in the near future. Political leadership ranks high on his priority list.
For the less initiated (or skeptical), this paper is a quick introduction to climate change and what most scientists think it will bring about. I always encourage people to read what Hansen writes because though he’s a serious scientist, he’s able to write about it in a way that’s easy enough to understand for (nearly) everyone. He also has a good understanding of the politics of climate change, having worked for NASA under the Bush administration and being told not to speak to the public about what he knew. Luckily, he ignored those orders. In this paper he discusses President Obama’s leadership on climate change and Obama’s big, inexplicable support for Waxman-Markey “as is,” and also discusses the ‘Sundance Kid’, Tim DeChristopher, who has been charged with 2 felonies for saving land in Utah. On coal he writes:
“The proper course of action is clear, from the science and common sense. The geophysical boundary conditions dictate a course that causes coal emissions to be phased out expeditiously, although not necessarily coal use. There should be an immediate halt to construction of coal-fired power plants that do not capture all emissions, including carbon dioxide. Mountaintop removal, with its blasphemous environmental damage, should be banned – it provides only seven percent of United States coal, less than our exports.”
Hansen has been under fire lately from writers and people in the environmental movement who criticize him for saying what he as a scientists feels is necessary to avoid a climate catastrophe. You can decide for yourself if he’s politically naive or if the Congress of the United States is scientifically naive. Below is the entire paper.
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Strategies to Address Global Warming
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Is Sundance Kid a Criminal?
by Jim Hansen
In my opinion, it is still feasible to solve the global warming problem before we pass tipping points that would guarantee disastrous irreversible climate change. But urgent strong actions are needed. These actions would have multiple benefits, providing a helpful economic stimulus, improving public health, and increasing energy independence and national security.
Assessment of strategic options for solving the problem requires knowledge of geophysical constraints and their implications. The geophysical facts practically dictate the general course of action. Fortunately, it is clear that the required course is technically feasible, and it would have great benefits to the public in developing and developed countries.
You can download and read the rest of it here.
recently, there has been some massive flooding in the Philippines and Vietnam which i think is also due to Climate Change. the tropical storms in asia are somewhat getting stronger stronger each year.