Dr. James Hansen's letter to Prime Minster Gordon Brown

Prime Minister Gordon Brown
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister,

"Your leadership is needed on a matter concerning coal-fired power plants in your country, a matter with ramifications for life on our planet, including all species. Prospects for today’s children, and especially the world’s poor, hinge upon our success in stabilizing climate.

"For the sake of identification, I am a United States citizen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Adjunct Professor at the Columbia University Earth Institute. I am a member of our National Academy of Sciences, have testified before our Senate and House of Representatives on many occasions, have advised our Vice President and Cabinet members on climate change and its relation to energy requirements, and have received numerous awards including the World Wildlife Fund’s Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal from Prince Philip.

"I write, however, as a private citizen, a resident of Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. I was assisted in composing this letter by many colleagues, including Europeans, Americans and others, who commented upon a draft letter. Because of the urgency of the matter, I have not collected signatures, but your advisors will verify the authenticity of the science discussion.

"I recognize that for years you have been a strong supporter of aggressive forward-looking actions to mitigate dangerous climate change. Also the United Kingdom has been active in pressing the international community to take appropriate actions. We are now at a point that bold leadership is needed, leadership that could change the course of human history.

"Global climate is near critical tipping points that could lead to loss of all summer sea ice in the Arctic with detrimental effects on wildlife, initiation of ice sheet disintegration in West Antarctica and Greenland with progressive, unstoppable global sea level rise, shifting of climatic zones with extermination of many animal and plant species, reduction of freshwater supplies for hundreds of millions of people, and a more intense hydrologic cycle with stronger droughts and forest fires, but also heavier rains and floods, and stronger storms driven by latent heat, including tropical storms, tornados and thunderstorms.

"Feasible actions now could still point the world onto a course that minimizes climate change. . ."
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Source: Solar Times (Box 1061 Stinson Beach CA; solartimeseditor@gmail.com), First Quarter, 2008 pp. 16-17.

Link:
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/20071219_DearPrimeMinister.pdf