Global Warming

Some quotes from politicians, scientists and others

Dr. James E. Hansen (1988)“NASA is 99 percent certain that the warming trend

was not a natural variation but was caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide and other artificial gases in the atmosphere.”

“It’s time to stop waffling so much and say the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here.”

NASA Scientist addressing US Congress

June 1988

Sir Ian Lloyd (1989)

“The public was unaware of the enormous scale of the action that was needed to tackle the threat to the world’s climate…keeping man’s tenancy on earth might require a worldwide programme by comparison with which all previous endeavours, even in war and in putting a man on the moon, “will pale into insignificance”.

British Conservative MP addressing the House of Commons (The Times, London 10th Nov 1989)

Stephen H. Schneider (1990)

• “….Many critiques somehow understress the fact that the sword of uncertainty has two blades: that is , uncertainties in physical or biological processes which make it possible for the present generation of models to have overestimated future warming effects, are just as likely to have caused the models to have underestimated change…”

From “Global Warming The Greenpeace Report

Margaret Thatcher 1990

“….we have an authoritative early warning system: an agreed assessment of some three hundred of the world’s leading scientists of what is happening to the world’s climate… a report of historic significance … what it predicts will affect our daily lives.”

In an address to the IPCC scientists on the morning of the 15th May 1990.

Bill McKibben (1990)

“Worldwide, the six warmest years for which we have records were all in the 1980’s. That doesn’t prove that the planet is heating up, any more than rolling 10 sevens in a row proves that the dice are loaded. “

From “Planet Earth and the Point of No Return”, The Independent. 27th January 1990

Bill McGuire (2002)

“Notwithstanding a few maverick scientists, oil company representatives and the president of the world’s greatest polluter, the overwhelming evidence consensus amongst those who have a grasp of the facts is that without a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions things are going to get very bad indeed.”

From “ A Guide to the End of the World, Everything you never wanted to know”