Tag: James Hansen

As if the world needed any more evidence that man-made global warming is occurring right in front of our eyes, James Hansen recently added another HUGE piece of evidence with his statistical analysis that gives 1 in 10 odds regarding the likelihood of rare temperatures occurring throughout the world without the influence of global warming.  

The analysis is so important because its conclusions are based on statistical analysis, not complex climate models whose conclusions are oftentimes as broad as they are difficult to interpret by the "lay" individual. Hansen's statistical analysis simply analyzed global temperatures over the past 60 years and asked, "How likely is this to have occurred in the absence of global warming?" 1 in 10.
This new and important piece of evidence for man-made global warming probably won't win over the skeptics. What Hansen's new analysis should do though is push reluctant politicians from around the world into taking comprehensive and aggressive actions to finally reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that each of our collective societies spews into the atmosphere on a yearly basis.  

Here's a new TED Talk from Dr. James Hansen, NASA climate scientist. Dr. Hansen explains how he wrote a paper in 1981 predicting "the 21st century would see shifting climate zones, creation of drought prone regions in North America and Asia, erosion of ice sheets, rising sea levels, and opening of the fabled Northwest passage. All of these impacts have since either happened or are now well underway."

For the lazy and the crazy, burned-over politics is the mode. The illusion of revival, maybe not an uniquely American susceptibility, but one that is less fettered in the "free market," seeks authoritative sanction. Any. The more desperate, the more absurd. Tertium Quids, Virginia's self-styled NPR falls to such temptation.

If you haven't tuned into Freedom and Prosperity Radio (FPR), you might be surprised by the usually reasoned tone. The hosts and guests generally do not come across as over-the-top ideologues and don't fall in lock-step with Republicans. But to conclude that these fellows don't choose a position and do their best to support it (let the facts be damned) would be fallacious as evinced in the post "Eugenics by another name". There are 720 years of video added to the intertubes every day, so you have your choice of sources. Here is the best Norman Leahy could find: