James Edward Hansen was born on March 29, 1941. He is an American climatologist, which means he studies Earth's climate. He is a professor who leads a program at Columbia University called the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions. He is best known for his work in climate science, his 1988 testimony to Congress about climate change, which helped many people understand global warming, and his efforts to encourage actions that prevent dangerous climate change. In recent years, he has taken part in activities to reduce the effects of global warming, and sometimes these actions led to him being arrested.
In 2000, Hansen suggested a different plan to fight global warming by reducing gases that are not carbon dioxide, such as methane. His research showed that these gases caused more warming than carbon dioxide. However, he also said that if carbon dioxide emissions kept increasing, it would become the main cause of climate change.
Early life and education
James Hansen was born in Denison, Iowa, to James Ivan Hansen and Gladys Ray Hansen. He studied physics and astronomy in the space science program led by James Van Allen at the University of Iowa. In 1963, he earned a B.A. in physics and mathematics with highest distinction. In 1965, he received an M.S. in astronomy, and in 1967, he completed a Ph.D. in physics, all from the University of Iowa. From 1962 to 1966, he worked on a NASA graduate traineeship. During this time, from 1965 to 1966, he was a visiting student at the Institute of Astrophysics at Kyoto University and at the department of astronomy at the University of Tokyo. In 1967, he began working at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Career
After finishing graduate school, Hansen continued his research using models that study how radiation moves through the atmosphere. He used these models to learn more about the atmosphere of Venus. Later, he applied and improved these models to study Earth's atmosphere, especially how tiny particles and gases affect Earth's climate. His work with global climate models has helped scientists better understand Earth's climate. In 2009, his first book, Storms of My Grandchildren, was published. In 2012, he gave a TED Talk titled "Why I Must Speak Out About Climate Change."
From 1981 to 2013, Hansen was the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, which is part of the Goddard Space Flight Center.
As of 2014, Hansen leads the Program on Climate Science, Awareness, and Solutions at Columbia University's Earth Institute. The program works to connect scientific research about climate change to efforts that raise public awareness and support policies to address climate issues.
Hansen helped his granddaughter and others who represent future generations as plaintiffs in the Juliana v. United States lawsuit. The case challenged the U.S. government and some of its agencies for not taking action to protect a stable climate system.
Research and publications
James Hansen was a college student at the University of Iowa when he became interested in science, especially the work of James Van Allen’s space science program in the physics and astronomy department. Ten years later, his research focused on planetary studies, including how changes in Earth’s atmosphere caused by human activities might affect the planet’s climate.
Hansen’s research includes studying how heat moves through planetary atmospheres, particularly how satellites can observe Earth’s atmosphere and surface from space. Satellites are useful because they can monitor the entire planet, making them helpful for studying global changes. He also works on creating models to understand climate patterns and how human activities influence the climate.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, after completing his Ph.D., Hansen published research on the planet Venus. Venus appears very bright in radio waves compared to infrared light. He suggested that Venus’s hot surface was caused by particles in the atmosphere trapping heat. Later studies showed that Venus’s atmosphere may have once been similar to Earth’s, with liquid water on its surface. However, a process called a “runaway greenhouse effect” occurred when water evaporated, creating high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Hansen studied Venus’s clouds by comparing how light reflects off ice clouds to observations of Venus. He used a model to estimate the size of ice particles if the clouds were made of ice. By 1974, scientists had not yet determined the composition of Venus’s clouds, with many theories suggesting possible materials like water or other chemicals. Hansen and another scientist used how sunlight reflects from Venus to prove that the clouds are made of sulfuric acid, not other substances. Later research confirmed that Venus’s clouds are mostly sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid droplets.
In 1978, the Pioneer Venus project was launched to study the planet. Hansen and colleagues studied how clouds change in the ultraviolet light range. They found that Venus’s clouds are made of three layers: a thin haze, sulfuric acid clouds, and an unknown material below the clouds. Data from the mission confirmed that sulfuric acid clouds are about 1 micrometer in size, with a layer of tiny haze above them.
In 1981, the first global temperature analysis by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) showed that Earth’s average temperature had risen by 0.5–0.7°C since 1880. Scientists found that even though most weather stations are in the Northern Hemisphere, global temperatures could still be accurately measured. By 1988, the four warmest years on record were in the 1980s. Hansen stated that Earth was warmer than ever before, and that human-caused greenhouse gases were likely responsible for rising temperatures and more extreme weather.
In 1992, after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, global temperatures temporarily cooled. Some scientists thought this might lead to cooler years, but Hansen argued that long-term warming trends would continue. By 1999, data showed that 1998 was the warmest year since 1880, with temperature increases faster than ever recorded. A 2001 update to temperature calculations included corrections for factors like when measurements were taken and differences between urban and rural areas. This showed that warming was more significant in higher latitudes, supporting the idea that human activities caused the changes.
In 2001, Hansen reported that global warming continued despite short-term cooling from El Niño events. By 2006, data showed Earth was 0.8°C warmer than a century earlier, proving that warming was real and not caused by urban heat islands. In 2007, a mistake in temperature data from the United States was corrected, and Hansen said some news reports exaggerated the issue. In 2010, he published a paper on current global temperature analysis.
Hansen also studied how black carbon affects regional climates. In China, northern areas have seen more droughts, while southern regions have experienced more rain and flooding. His research with others showed that black carbon warms the air, increases rainfall, and causes surface cooling compared to other types of pollution.
Analysis of climate change causation
The first step people should take is to use the democratic process, such as voting and participating in elections. What is frustrating, including for me, is that actions taken through democracy can influence elections. However, the responses from political leaders often focus on making false promises about environmental efforts, known as greenwash.
Hansen explained that when determining responsibility for climate change, the impact of greenhouse gas emissions is not based on current emissions alone. Instead, it depends on the total emissions over many years, as these gases remain in the atmosphere for a long time.
According to this measure, as of 2009, the United Kingdom had the highest total emissions per person among major economies, followed by the United States and Germany. At that time, the People's Republic of China produced the most emissions each year, but not the highest total per person.
Regarding public policy, Hansen criticizes actions he believes mislead the public about climate change. He specifically mentions commercials by the Competitive Enterprise Institute with the tagline "carbon dioxide—they call it pollution, we call it life." He also criticizes politicians who receive money from fossil-fuel industries and claim global warming is "a great hoax." Hansen argues that steps to reduce global warming do not require hardship or lower quality of life. Instead, these steps can lead to benefits like cleaner air and water, and the growth of high-tech industries. He was critical of the climate change policies of both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. In an interview in January 2009, Hansen stated, "We cannot now afford to put off change any longer. We have to get on a new path within this new administration. We have only four years left for Obama to set an example to the rest of the world. America must take the lead."
Climate change activism
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In 1988, Hansen was invited by Rafe Pomerance to give a testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on June 23, 1988. During his testimony, Hansen said, "Global warming has reached a level such that we can ascribe with a high degree of confidence a cause and effect relationship between the greenhouse effect and observed warming…It is already happening now" and "The greenhouse effect has been detected and it is changing our climate now…We already reached the point where the greenhouse effect is important." Hansen stated that NASA was 99% confident that the warming was caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and not a random fluctuation.
According to science historian Spencer R. Weart, Hansen's testimony increased public awareness of climate change. According to Richard Besel of California Polytechnic State University, Hansen's testimony "was an important turning point in the history of global climate change." According to Timothy M. O'Donnell of the University of Mary Washington, Hansen's testimony was "pivotal," "ignited public discussion of global warming and moved the controversy from a largely scientific discussion to a full blown science policy debate," and marked "the official beginning of the global warming policy debate." According to Roger A. Pielke of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Hansen's "call to action" "elevated the subject of global warming and the specter of associated impacts such as more hurricanes, floods, and heat waves, to unprecedented levels of attention from the public, media, and policy makers."
Hansen has been particularly critical of the coal industry, stating that coal contributes the largest percentage of anthropogenic carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. He has called for phasing out coal power completely by the year 2030.
During his testimony before the Iowa Utilities Board in 2007, Hansen likened coal trains to "death trains" and asserted that these would be "no less gruesome than if they were boxcars headed to crematoria, loaded with uncountable irreplaceable species." In response, the National Mining Association stated that his comparison "trivialized the suffering of millions" and "undermined his credibility." Citing the reactions of "several people" and "three of his scientific colleagues" as his primary motivation, Hansen stated that he certainly did not mean to trivialize suffering by the families who lost relatives in the Holocaust and then apologized, saying he regretted that his words caused pain to some readers.
On June 23, 2009, James Hansen, along with 30 other protesters including actress Daryl Hannah, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of obstructing police and impeding traffic, during a protest against mountaintop removal mining in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The protesters intended to enter the property of Massey Energy Company, but were blocked by a crowd of several hundred coal miners and supporters. Hansen said that mountaintop removal for coal mining "[provides] only a small fraction of our energy" and "should be abolished." Hansen called on President Barack Obama to abolish mountaintop coal mining.
After Hansen's arrest, New York Times columnist Andrew Revkin wrote: "Dr. Hansen has pushed far beyond the boundaries of the conventional role of scientists, particularly government scientists, in the environmental policy debate."
Hansen and about 100 other people were arrested in September 2010 in front of the White House in Washington, DC. The group was seeking a ban on mountaintop removal or surface mining.
In 2009, Hansen spoke out against cap and trade, advocating instead what he believes would be a progressive carbon tax at source carbon as oil, gas or coal, with a 100% dividend returned to citizens in equal shares, as proposed by Citizens' Climate Lobby. He has made many appearances and talks supporting the work of CCL.
Hansen retired from NASA in April 2013 after 46 years of government service, saying he planned to take a more active role in the political and legal efforts to limit greenhouse gases. The same month, the National Center for Science Education, an organization noted for defending the teaching of evolution in United States science classrooms, named Hansen as an advisor to support the extension of its area of concern into the teaching of climate change.
In a CBC interview aired in April 2013, as Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver lobbied in Washington, DC for approval of the Keystone pipeline extension intended to carry more synthetic crude oil from Canada's Athabasca Oil Sands to the Gulf of Mexico, Hansen forcefully argued against the use of these unconventional fossil fuels. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other energy organizations "there is more than twice as much carbon in the tar sands oil" than in conventional oil. Hansen argued that coal, tar sands, and tar shale should not be used as energy sources because of their carbon emissions and claimed that the completion of the Keystone pipeline would increase the extraction of oil from oil sands. He explained that the effects of climate change may not be apparent until the far future: "It's not the case where you emit something and you see the effect. We see the beginnings of the effect but the large impacts are going to be in future decades and that science is crystal clear … Effects come slowly because of the inertia of the climate system. It takes decades, even centuries to get the full response. But we know the last time the world was 2 degrees warmer, sea level was 6 meters or 20 feet higher." Hansen urged President Obama to reject the Keystone pipeline extension intended to carry more synthetic crude oil from Canada's Athabasca Oil Sands to the Gulf of Mexico. On February 13, 2013, Hansen was again arrested at the White House, along with Daryl Hannah and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., during a further protest against the proposed Keystone pipeline extension.
Recently, Hansen stated his support for a revenue-neutral fee and dividend system to impose a price on carbon that returns the money collected from the fossil fuel industry equally to all legal residents of the United States. In an interview on CBC television on March 3, 2015, Dr. Hansen stated "The solution [to climate change] has to be a rising price on carbon and then the really dirty fuels like tar sands would fall on the table very quickly. They make no sense at all if you look at it from an economic-wide perspective. If we would simply put a fee on carbon – you would collect from the fossil fuel companies at the source (the domestic mines or the ports of entry) and then distribute that money to the public, an equal amount to all legal residents, that would begin to make the prices honest. And that's what the economy needs in order to be most efficient. Right now the external costs of fossil fuels are borne completely by the public. If your child gets asthma, you pay the bill, the fossil fuel company doesn't. What we need is to make the system honest."
At the end of 2008, Hansen stated five priorities that he felt then President-elect Barack Obama should adopt "for solving the climate and energy problems, while stimulating the economy": efficient energy use, renewable energy, a smart grid, generation IV nuclear reactors and carbon capture and storage. Regarding nuclear, he expressed opposition to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, stating that the $25 Billion (US) surplus held in the Nuclear Waste Fund "should be used to develop fast reactors that consume nuclear waste, and thorium reactors to prevent the creation of new long-lived nuclear waste."
In 2009, Hansen wrote an open letter to President Obama where he advocated a "Moratorium and phase-out of coal plants that do not capture and store CO2." In his first book Storms of My Grandchildren, similarly, Hansen discusses his Declaration of Stewardship, the first principle of which re /think
Honors and awards
James Hansen was chosen to join the National Academy of Sciences in 1996 for his work in creating early models to study how energy moves through the atmosphere, analyzing the climates of planets, developing simple and detailed models to understand Earth's climate, explaining how natural and human activities affect the climate, studying current climate changes using real data, and predicting how human actions might influence the global climate. In 2001, he received the 7th Annual Heinz Award in the Environment, which included a prize of US$250,000, for his research on global warming. In 2006, he was listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People. That same year, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) honored him with its Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility for his strong and honest efforts to share scientific findings with the public on important issues.
In 2007, Hansen shared a US$1-million Dan David Prize for achievements that had a major impact on science, technology, culture, or society. In 2008, he received the PNC Bank Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service for his important work in science. At the end of 2008, Hansen was named Scientist Communicator of the Year by EarthSky Communications and a group of 600 scientists because he is known as an expert on climate change and for effectively explaining science to the public.
In 2009, Hansen was awarded the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, the highest honor given by the American Meteorological Society, for his important work in climate modeling, understanding how human and natural factors influence climate, and for clearly sharing climate science with the public.
Andrew Freedman wrote in The Washington Post that the Society made a mistake in giving Hansen the medal, stating that the issue was not his scientific work but the Society's recognition of his public communication about climate change.
In 2010, Hansen won the Sophie Prize, created by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder, for his important role in helping people understand how human activities cause climate change. In 2012, Foreign Policy named Hansen one of its FP Top 100 Global Thinkers for his early and consistent warnings about climate change.
In December 2012, Hansen received the Commonwealth Club of California's Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communications in San Francisco.
On November 7, 2013, Hansen was honored with the Joseph Priestley Award at Dickinson College for his work in helping people understand climate change, including using early computer models to study climate trends and predict human effects on climate. He gave a lecture titled "White House Arrest and the Climate Crisis" that same day.
In 2016, Hansen was a co-winner with climatologist Syukuro Manabe of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category. Both scientists created the first computer models that could simulate how Earth's climate behaves. Their models correctly predicted how much Earth's temperature would rise due to increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Many models used today to study climate change are based on their early work.
In June 2018, Hansen was named a joint winner, along with Veerabhadran Ramanathan, of Taiwan's Tang Prize. His share of the prize was worth NT$25 million.
Publications
James Hansen has written more than 160 publications. Since 2020, he has shared observations and comments on the website redgreenandblue.org, posting about once each month.
- Hansen, James E. (2009). Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60819-200-7.