In 1988, Dr. James E. Hansen, a NASA scientist, testified before the Senate about the impending doom of global warming. Dr. Hansen made much of that day’s temperature, which was 98 degrees, to add some theatrics to his message.
Dr. Hansen testified again on 23 June 2008, this time before Congress, stressing that,
the world has long passed the “dangerous level” for greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and needs to get back to 1988 levels.
Conspicuously absent from Dr. Hansen’s remarks was the temperature in Washington D.C., which was 87 degrees, a full 11 degrees below the record high. So much for theatrics. Not so fast, Dr. Hansen did call for prosecutions of CEOs of oil companies.
CEOs of fossil energy companies know what they are doing and are aware of long-term consequences of continued business as usual. In my opinion, these CEOs should be tried for high crimes against humanity and nature. If their campaigns continue and “succeed” in confusing the public, I anticipate testifying against relevant CEOs in future public trials.
See VC for a great discussion. It will be interesting to see if he calls for his own prosecution on the basis of his earlier endorsement of the coming ice age.
yojoe out
Dreadnaught 
“Conspicuously absent from Dr. Hansen’s remarks was the temperature in Washington D.C., which was 87 degrees, a full 11 degrees below the record high”
Global warming doesnt mean that you will have record breaking high temps everyday of the year…. It means the average global temp is rising.
[…] James Hansen Testifies Before Congress: Globe Not As Warm 20 Years … Dr. Hansen made much of that day’s temperature, which was 98 degrees, to add some theatrics to his message. Dr. Hansen testified again on 23 June 2008, this time before Congress, stressing that, the world has long […] […]
burtonridr2 – Then why did Dr. Hansen think that he was “luck” in 1988 when the temp was 98 degrees? Was he trying to make a point? If so, then a lower temperature also makes a point.
Don’t worry. Within a few more years, the media won’t even be talking about Global Warming. It will be all about Global Cooling (based on past history of the media).
High five to burtonridr2. The fact that the temperature in Washington on the day that Hanson spoke was 11 degrees below the record high has absolutely no significance in measuring global warming. Yojoe, you need to leave global warming skepticism to the paid professionals who at least know how to make arguments that sound scientifically plausible, even if they aren’t.
Yojoe, burtonridr2 has it right. The fact that the temperature in Washington on the day that Hanson spoke, or on any particular day, is 11 degrees below the record high has absolutely no bearing on the argument for global warming. You need to leave global warming skepticism to the paid professionals who have at least had enough training to make logical fallacies and bad evidence sound scientific.
Poor Al Gore. It’s all so confusing. What will they say when the next cooling cycle for the Earth takes place?
Anonymous and johnrobert – You both seem to be missing the point. The temp on the particular day has no significance, which you are both correct in pointing out. Look at the WaPo article linked in the post. You see, Dr. Hansen was making a point about the temp being high on the day he testified in 1988. He felt “lucky” that it was hot, so as to help reinforce his point. So, if the temp was lower 20 years later, by Dr. Hansen’s logic, he was unlucky. He is the one drawing attention to the temp on a single day, which again you are both correct in observing does not have much, if any, significance.
There have been hotter days on Capitol Hill, but few where the heat itself became a kind of congressional exhibit. It was 98 degrees on June 23, 1988, and the warmth leaked in through the three big windows in Dirksen 366, overpowered the air conditioner, and left the crowd sweating and in shirt sleeves.
James E. Hansen, a NASA scientist, was testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He was planning to say something radical: Global warming was real, it was a threat, and it was already underway.
Hansen had hoped for a sweltering day to underscore his message.
“We were just lucky,” Hansen said last week.
If you dont think global warming is real, read this article…
The north pole could be free of ice this summer…..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080627/sc_livescience/northpolecouldbeicefreethissummer
burtondidr2 – The article is of interest. But, it does not establish, or prove, that human activity is the cause of global warming. We all know global warming is real. It is beyond dispute that the majority of North American was covered by glaciers at one time. Thus, it must have warmed at some point. Still, it does not prove human activity. Look at this article:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080626-arctic-volcano.html
Thats an interesting article… But I dont understand how that proves we are not the cause…
Look at this graph, it shows the temperature average over the last 1000 years.
Now look at this graph, which shows oil production since 1860.
Now everyone knows that burning oil emits greenhouse gases.
Now look at this graph.
Now I know it doesnt “prove” anything, however they all have a hockey stick curve that begins in the early 1900’s.
Oil production was because of man, Higher concentrations of CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide were a result of the industrial age and the advent of automobiles, which started around the early 1900’s.
burtondidr2 – How did we emerge from the last ice age without oil?
I see where you are going… and I totally agree that the earth naturally goes through cycles of heating and cooling. However, we are way beyond what has been experienced in the last ten of thousands of years…
I saw something on the discovery channel where this scientist has been studying climate change. She made a computer program that took things like; volcanoes, solar changes, and many other things into consideration. The program then took these occurrences and mapped out a graph of where the average temperatures should be. Then they back checked it against data collected in polar ice. The graph cam out to be fairly accurate for predicted temperatures in the past.
Then they looked at where they should be today without green house gases and we way over where we should be.
I’m no expert but even if we are not causing global warming, I’m sick and tired of all the smog, traffic, poor air quality, etc…
burtonridr2 – Good point. Thanks for your comments.
That “hockey stick” chart has been thoroughly discredited/debunked. Not even Hansen or the UN/IPCC refers to it any more. It was constructed by Michael Mann, who used bogus data that he has since “lost.” *heh!*
On the other hand, here is recent data from five (5) government agencies (including the undersea temp buoys) showing EXCATLY what is happening: click
For a much more likely cause of climate change: click
And for the ‘link’ between CO2 and global temperatures… there isn’t one: click
Smokey – Thanks for the comment. The main point of my post was the manipulation used by Hanson. Also, he is a scientist, so why is he testifying about the criminal penalties that should be imposed?
yojoe
[…] It should not be long James Hansen call for the prosecution of the author for “high crimes against humanity and nature.” […]
I had not seen a photograph of Hansen before. Now I know what a totalitarian looks like.