James Hansen Quotes (28 Quotes)


    The five warmest years over the last century occurred in the last eight years.

    Earth is warmer in 1988 than at any time in the history of instrumental measurements, The warming of a few degrees is going to take us to a world that is perhaps as different from today as the last ice age is from today.

    I think this is a more optimistic assessment of the chances for keeping climate change moderate in the next 50 years, and the way to do that is to focus on stopping the growth of several gases, ... Global Warming in the 21st Century An Alternative Scenario.

    I don't know how much is done to start with, ... It is a suggestion by political folks in the White House. I don't think that is 'done.'

    If there's one place that I could put my finger on and say what's the No. 1 place that if a rogue aircraft came in and you had trouble it would really have a huge amount of trouble, it would have to be Houston, Texas. Boy, that could just bring America to its knees, almost.


    It's not something you can adapt to. We can't let it go on another 10 years like this. We've got to do something.

    It seems more like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union than the United States.

    They're a lot of fun to perform with. They're good guys to work with. They're helpful to work with. Any time you can work with a professional group, it's helpful.

    I put a little more emphasis (than the other commissioners did) on the lack of savings when it seemed obvious that we had way too much infrastructure,


    After the meeting, I watched TV and saw all these ads, with cars on top of mountain peaks and fantastic vistas of the American West. It's like the cigarette ads that use sex to sell. All the average person does with an SUV is commute to work or the store. They're creating a market they claim the public is demanding.

    He wanted it to be a scholarly book, ... I think if I had been a commercial writer, he would not have paid much attention. He's not interested in feature stories about him.

    In a way it's kind of my own moon landing, ... It's hard to top this. I don't think I can top it.

    I was ready to do a biography, ... But obviously, I was challenged by the daunting prospect of getting him to do it. I had no real confidence. There was nothing about my approach that I thought would convince him.

    I made the vote predicated on what I thought was right.

    What really won that (decision in favor of Groton) was Rob Simmons, ... He did a phenomenal job.

    We've driven them out of the range that has existed for the last 1 million years. And the climate has not fully responded to changes that have already occurred.

    I think you have a base that can be a credit to this area, more so. I guess I didn't understand the importance of this area to America.

    Recent warming coincides with rapid growth of human-made greenhouse gases. The observed rapid warming gives urgency to discussions about how to slow greenhouse gas emissions.

    In my three decades in government, I've never seen control of communications to the public so constrained. Communications from government scientists have never been so constrained.

    My final obligation is not to Neil... it's not to any of the historical actors, it's to posterity, ... It's to try to tell the story as genuinely and as profoundly as I can for the benefit of readers who don't know the history and for readers who are going to come across this book hundreds of years from now.

    If somebody came and took my dog, it would break my heart.

    I'm probably the hardest head of the bunch (of nine commissioners),

    They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public.

    I really think the Navy is wrong on this one.

    For instance, they're using the economy as the reason not to consider taking action. I've been chastised for being a scientist saying we are damaging the economy in the long run. But you need to look at the broad problem. I think I'm free to do so and free to have my opinion.

    This is an authorized biography, and a lot of readers may suspect that that means that it will treat Neil with kid gloves, ... That's not the case. Neil gave me complete freedom of interpretation and analysis. All he wanted to do was have input to make sure my facts were straight.

    In California, they are beginning to require much cleaner fuels for transportation vehicles, ... That kind of thing could go a long way in reducing pollutants.


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