James Hansen and the Three Categories of the Runaway Greenhouse

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. Thanks

Hansen’s actual paper is here:
http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1211/1211.4846.pdf

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Climate Sensitivity, Sea Level, and Atmospheric CO[font size="2"]₂[/font][/font]

[font size=4]James Hansen, Makiko Sato, Gary Russell and Pushker Kharecha NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University Earth Institute, New York[/font]

[font size=3]…

Most remaining fossil fuel carbon is in coal and unconventional oil and gas. Thus, it seems, humanity stands at a fork in the road. As conventional oil and gas are depleted, will we move to carbon-free energy and efficiency -- or to unconventional fossil fuels and coal? If fossil fuels were made to pay their costs to society, costs of pollution and climate change, carbon-free alternatives might supplant fossil fuels over a period of decades. However, if governments force the public to bear the external costs and even subsidize fossil fuels, carbon emissions are likely to continue to grow, with deleterious consequences for young people and future generations.

It seems implausible that humanity will not alter its energy course as consequences of burning all fossil fuels become clearer Yet strong evidence about the dangers of human-made climate change have so far had little effect. Whether governments continue to be so foolhardy as to allow or encourage development of all fossil fuels may determine the fate of humanity.[/font][/font]