James Hansen - Storms of my grandchildren: the truth about the coming climate catastrophe and our last chance to save humanity

Rich in invaluable insights into the geopolitics as well as the geophysics of climate change, Hansens guaranteed-to-be-controversial manifesto is the most comprehensible, realistic, and courageous call to prevent climate change yet.

Booklist (starred)

After sounding the climate alarm in papers and conferences for two decades, here Hansen takes off the gloves With urgency and authority, Hansen urges readers to speak outtaking to the streets if necessaryto protect the Earth from calamity for the sakes of their children and grandchildren.

Kirkus (starred)

An urgent and provocative call to action and the full story of what we need to know about humanitys last chance to get off the path to a catastrophic meltdown, and why we dont know the half of it. While the truth may be uncomfortable, it is also exciting to learn so much that is essential It is number one on my list for both myself and a few friends.

Sierra Atlantic

Dr. James Hansen is Paul Revere to the foreboding tyranny of climate chaosa modern-day hero who has braved criticism and censure and put his career and fortune at stake to issue the call to arms against the apocalyptic forces of ignorance and greed.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity

JAMES HANSEN

Illustrations by Makiko Sato

Copyright 2009 by James Hansen
Illustrations copyright 2009 by Makiko Sato
Q&A copyright 2011 by James Hansen and Bill McKibben

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Hansen, James C.
Storms of my grandchildren : the truth about the coming climate catastrophe and our last chance to save humanity / James Hansen; illustrations by
Makiko Sato.1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60819-200-7
1. Global warming. 2. Climatic changes. 3. Greenhouse gases. 4. Human beingsEffect of climate on. I. Title.
QC981.8.G56H365 2009
363.73874dc22
2009044553

First published by Bloomsbury USA in 2009
This e-book edition published in 2009

E-book ISBN: 978-1-60819-257-1

www.bloomsburyusa.com
www.stormsofmygrandchildren.com

To Sophie, Connor, Jake,
and all the worlds grandchildren

Planet Earth, creation, the world in which civilization developed, the world with climate patterns that we know and stable shorelines, is in imminent peril. The urgency of the situation crystallized only in the past few years. We now have clear evidence of the crisis, provided by increasingly detailed information about how Earth responded to perturbing forces during its history (very sensitively, with some lag caused by the inertia of massive oceans) and by observations of changes that are beginning to occur around the globe in response to ongoing climate change. The startling conclusion is that continued exploitation of all fossil fuels on Earth threatens not only the other millions of species on the planet but also the survival of humanity itselfand the timetable is shorter than we thought.

How can we be on the precipice of such consequences while local climate change remains small compared with day-to-day weather fluctuations? The urgency derives from the nearness of climate tipping points, beyond which climate dynamics can cause rapid changes out of humanitys control. Tipping points occur because of amplifying feedbacksas when a microphone is placed too close to a speaker, which amplifies any little sound picked up by the microphone, which then picks up the amplification, which is again picked up by the speaker, until very quickly the noise becomes unbearable. Climate-related feedbacks include loss of Arctic sea ice, melting ice sheets and glaciers, and release of frozen methane as tundra melts. These and other science matters will be clarified in due course.

There is a social matter that contributes equally to the crisis: government greenwash. I was startled, while plotting data, to see the vast disparity between government words and reality. Greenwashing, expressing concern about global warming and the environment while taking no actions to actually stabilize climate or preserve the environment, is prevalent in the United States and other countries, even those presumed to be the greenest.

The tragedy is that the actions needed to stabilize climate, which I will describe, are not only feasible but provide additional benefits as well. How can it be that necessary actions are not taken? It is easy to suggest explanationsthe power of special interests on our governments, the short election cycles that diminish concern about long-term consequencesbut I will leave that for the reader to assess, based on the facts that I will present.

My role is that of a witness, not a preacher. Writer Robert Pool came to that conclusion when he used those religious metaphors in an article about Steve Schneider (a preacher) and me in the May 11, 1990, issue of Science. Pool defined a witness as someone who believes he has information so important that he cannot keep silent.

I am aware of claims that I have become a preacher in recent years. That is not correct. Something did change, though. I realized that I am a witness not only to what is happening in our climate system, but also to greenwash. Politicians are happy if scientists provide information and then go away and shut up. But science and policy cannot be divorced. What Ive seen is that politicians often adopt policies that are merely convenientbut that, using readily available scientific data and empirical information, can be shown to be inconsistent with long-term success.

I believe the biggest obstacle to solving global warming is the role of money in politics, the undue sway of special interests. But the influence of special interests is impossible to stop, you say. It had better not be. But the public, and young people in particular, will need to get involved in a major way.

What? you say. You already did get involved by working your tail off to help elect President Barack Obama. Sure, I (a registered Independent who has voted for both Republicans and Democrats over the years) voted for change too, and I had moist eyes during his Election Day speech in Chicago. That was and always will be a great day for America. But let me tell you: President Obama does not get it. He and his key advisers are subject to heavy pressures, and so far the approach has been, Lets compromise. So you still have a hell of a lot of work ahead of you. You do not have any choice. Your attitude must be Yes, we can.

I am sorry to say that most of what politicians are doing on the climate front is greenwashingtheir proposals sound good, but they are deceiving you and themselves at the same time. Politicians think that if matters look difficult, compromise is a good approach. Unfortunately, nature and the laws of physics cannot compromisethey are what they are.

Policy decisions on climate change are being deliberated every day by those without full knowledge of the science, and often with intentional misinformation spawned by special interests. This book was written to help rectify this situation. Citizens with a special interestin their loved onesneed to become familiar with the science, exercise their democratic rights, and pay attention to politicians decisions. Otherwise, it seems, short-term special interests will hold sway in capitals around the worldand we are running out of time.