20 years ago, James Hansen, a highly respected NASA
scientist sounded for the first time the alarm on global warming. At the time,
he explained that the climate change is caused by a phenomenon named the
greenhouse effect and that taking immediate measures against it could turn out
to be decisive in the years to come for all people.
Even though the news managed to launch a world-wide interest
on the matter, the actions taken over the years for improving the situation were
highly insufficient.
In a meeting with Congress yesterday, Mr. Hansen pointed out
that the danger levels have been passed a long time ago and in order to ensure
a safe future, the greenhouse gases from the atmosphere need to be lowered to
their 1988 levels. He strongly believes that without an immediate effort in
this direction, over the next two decades the world will encounter mass animal
extinctions, significant sea level rises and an ecosystem collapse.
In order to cut down the emission levels, he offered the
solution of ceasing the activity of all coal-fired power plants that do not
capture the carbon dioxide emissions in the United States by 2025 and in the
rest of the world by 2030. The technology needed for capturing the carbon
dioxide is still in development and at this point cannot be used efficiently
for power plants. He also said that the United States must invest in research
for finding new eco-friendly energy sources.
Some addressed his claims as unfounded and his simplistic
solutions as highly improbable to be accepted by the large corporations, but
the records show that since his initial global warming warning, 14 years have
been hotter, which should be undeniable proof for everyone that there is indeed
something wrong happening to our planet.
Mr. Hansen said that there is still time to make a change,
not much, but with a carefully thought-out strategy, the resources needed, the
people’s involvement and the government support. Of course, all these factors
must be put together in the best way available as soon as possible in order to
reach the set goals in good time.
"We see a tipping point occurring right before our
eyes," Hansen said, according to the Associated Press. "The Arctic is
the first tipping point and it's occurring exactly the way we said it
would," he added, referring to his dark estimates that in five to ten
years, the Arctic region will no longer be frozen in the summer.
James Hansen was born in 1941, studied physics and astronomy
at the University of Aiwa and currently leads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space
Studies in New York City, in addition to his professor position in the
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. He is
also Al Gore’s science advisor.
The saying that it is better to prevent than to fix seems
truly appropriate in this case, but unfortunately today’s global state might be
in demand of a serious fix rather than some prevention measures.
