Excerpt from Dr. James Hansen's 1988 climate change testimony delivered to Congress

Excerpt from Dr. James Hansen's 1988 climate change testimony delivered to Congress

NASA scientist James Hansen's 1988 testimony to Congress carried grave warnings about the state of the planet in the future. Hansen cited numerous climate statistics and projections in his defense. Perhaps the most urgent indication of global warming was the fact that the first five months of 1988 had been hotter than any other period since record-keeping began. Hansen not only referenced rising temperatures, but also explained the broader implications of a warmer planet, introducing the now-familiar themes of thermal expansion and melting ice-caps. In addition, Hansen drew an explicit connection between the greenhouse effect and deforestation.

Dr. James Hansen

Skeptical Science

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

1988-6-23