Tipping points are so dangerous because if you pass them, the climate is out of humanity's control: if an ice sheet disintegrates and starts to slide into the ocean there's nothing we can do about that. James Hansen More Quotes by James Hansen More Quotes From James Hansen The climate dice are now loaded. Some seasons still will be cooler than the long-term average, but the perceptive person should notice that the frequency of unusually warm extremes is increasing. It is the extremes that have the most impact on people and other life on the planet. James Hansen impact average long Imagine a giant asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth. That is the equivalent of what we face now with climate change, yet we dither. James Hansen motivation inspiration earth If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilisation developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO₂ will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm [parts per million] to at most 350 ppm... If the present overshoot of this target CO₂ is not brief, there is a possibility of seeding irreversible catastrophic effects. James Hansen environmental humanity wish We are on the precipice of climate system tipping points beyond which there is no redemption. James Hansen tipping redemption climate 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. James Hansen decide-upon action years It would be immoral to leave young people with a climate system spiraling out of control. James Hansen motivational inspirational people Global warming has already triggered a sea level rise that could reach from 6 metres (19.69 ft) to 25 metres (27.34 yards). James Hansen environmental yards sea What we are doing to the future of our children, and the other species on the planet, is a clear moral issue. James Hansen issues moral children How long have we got? We have to stabilize emissions of carbon dioxide within a decade, or temperatures will warm by more than one degree... We don't have much time left. James Hansen temperature degrees long Politicians think that if matters look difficult, compromise is a good approach. Unfortunately, nature and the laws of physics cannot compromise - they are what they are. James Hansen law looks thinking Planet Earth, creation, the world in which civilization developed, the world with climate patterns that we know and stable shorelines, is in imminent peril. James Hansen climate civilization world Global warming isn't a prediction. It is happening. James Hansen global-warming climate-change predictions There is still time to act and avoid a worsening climate but we are wasting precious time. James Hansen precious-time climate stills Only in the last few years did the science crystallize, revealing the urgency - our planet really is in peril. If we do not change course soon, we will hand our children a situation that is out of their control. James Hansen children hands years The trains carrying coal to power plants are death trains. Coal-fired power plants are factories of death. James Hansen coal environment energy If we fail to act, we will end up with a different planet. James Hansen protection motivation different 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. James Hansen decide-upon humanity years The climate system is being pushed hard enough that change will become obvious to the man in the street in the next decade. James Hansen climate next men We have to, in the next ten years, begin to decrease the rate of carbon dioxide emissions and then flatten it out. If that doesn't happen in ten years, we're going to be passing certain tipping points. If the ice sheets begin to disintegrate, what can you do about it? You can't tie a rope around an ice sheet. James Hansen ice ties years Coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet. James Hansen coal climate-change civilization
