UPI WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2000:  A leading scientist considered to have been instrumental in sparking serious debate over global warming in a climate report back in 1988 suggested this week that emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels are not the main culprit in global warming, and that the world should instead focus on reducing other pollutants, such as chlorofluorocarbons and nitrogen oxides to reduce the world warming threat.

Hansen Later Changed His Mind and They Went After Him

Dr. James Hansen from the National Aeronautic & Space Administration’s Center for Climate Systems Research this week argued that those other pollutants – and not CO2 from burning oil and coal – are the real culprits in global warming. Hansen adds that reducing those emissions instead of CO2 would eliminate many of the political hurdles that slow efforts to curb global warming. “We argue that global warming in recent decades has been driven mainly by non-CO2 greenhouse gases such as chlorofluorocarbons and (NOx), not by fossil fuel burning,” he said. Hansen had previously stoked serious debate on global warming by calling on Congress to address the issue in landmark testimony delivered to Capitol Hill in 1988. Hansen and a group of scientists this week released. 2000_Hansen Alternative Scenario

Hansen  Had Addressed Congress on Need to Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The article reflects a drastic departure from conventional methods environmentalists and many government officials say are needed to reduce global warming. They argue that CO2 is the main villain, and that the way to reduce global warming is to reduce the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, which produce most CO2.

Hansen Under Arrest At Global Climate Rally

The article was met with praise from industry officials who have long argued that the connection between CO2 and global warming is tentative. “I would say that this is a very significant admission on Hansen’s part,” John Grasser, spokesperson for the National Mining Association said. “Carbon dioxide is most maligned in this debate “Environmentalists have long argued that CO2 is the main cause of global warming. At press time, environmentalists were still reviewing the new article. 2000_Hansen Alternative Scenario

But Hansen’s arguments represent a relatively dramatic departure from the current status of the debate over global warming. The 1997 Kyoto protocol, for example, is based almost entirely on reductions of CO2 and calls for signatory countries to reduce CO2 emissions to 95 percent of 1990 levels by 2012. While the Clinton administration supports that treaty, they have yet to submit it to the Senate for ratification. Such a move would surely fail because Congress is concerned that developed nations would have to make serious reductions in CO2 emissions that could cripple the economy while less-developed nations would not. The disagreement has stalled any progress on the protocol for years. But Hansen argues that the political impasse could also be removed by concentrating on other pollutants. “We suggest equal emphasis on an alternative, more optimistic scenario. This scenario focuses on reducing non-CO2 (greenhouse gases) and black carbon during the next 50 years. Our estimates of global warming indicate that it is the non CO2 (greenhouse gases) that have caused most observed global warming.”

While the Kyoto protocol had not been ratified and the United States had not taken any regulatory steps to reduce CO2, the Environmental Protection Agency has many tools at its disposal to reduce the pollutants targeted by Hansen. For example, the Clinton administration unveiled late last year sweeping new limits on tailpipe emissions from automobiles that will take effect by the end of this decade, and the administration will do the same for heavy-duty trucks before Clinton leaves the White House.

Hansen’s posted a global temperature of 15.33 C in 1988 a fraction warmer than the main temperature monitoring authorities in 2024 !

Planetary Fact Sheet         The Earth-Atmosphere Energy Balance  

The above links suggest that the temperature of the earth is approximately 15 C (59 F)