Awarded the 9th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change, James Hansen warns in this interview about the potentially catastrophic consequences of accelerated global warming. Drawing on decades of pioneering research in climatology, Hansen explains how rising temperatures, the melting of Greenland and Antarctica, and accelerating sea levels could jeopardize the survival of coastal cities worldwide. He also details why current policies are insufficient, what measures would be necessary to rapidly reduce emissions, and how climate science provides robust evidence for urgent action. His analysis combines scientific rigor with a clear message: the decisions we make today will determine the future habitability of the planet.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category goes, in this ninth edition, to Syukuro Manabe and James E. Hansen, for their
Awarded the 9th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Climate Change, James Hansen warns in this interview about the potentially catastrophic consequences of accelerated global warming. Drawing on decades of pioneering research in climatology, Hansen explains how rising temperatures, the melting of Greenland and Antarctica, and accelerating sea levels could jeopardize the survival of coastal cities worldwide. He also details why current policies are insufficient, what measures would be necessary to rapidly reduce emissions, and how climate science provides robust evidence for urgent action. His analysis combines scientific rigor with a clear message: the decisions we make today will determine the future habitability of the planet.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category goes, in this ninth edition, to Syukuro Manabe and James E. Hansen, for their foundational contributions to the development of mathematical models of the climate system, and their pioneering use of these models to project the response of Earth’s climate to changing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 and other perturbations.
00:00 Introduction
00:05 Could you explain, in the simplest possible terms for a general audience, how your research has helped to understand the global threat of climate change, its causes, and its potential impacts?
01:31 As early as the 1980s, you predicted the thinning of the polar ice sheets, and indeed Arctic ice now appears to be disappearing at a rapid pace. Do current data on the Arctic agree with your predictions? And what impacts could the melting of ice sheets have?
02:57 Do you believe that the 2-degree Celsius limit established by the Paris Climate Agreement will be sufficient to keep the impacts of climate change below what can be considered dangerous? In other words, are we still in time to halt dangerous climate change, and what measures should be taken to do so?
