April 23, 2009 — World-renowned climatologist James Hansen has repeatedly called for an immediate cap and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including coal-fired power plants, which are the single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.

Hansen will renew his call for action when he speaks at the University of Utah on Monday, April 27 from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Auditorium. The event is hosted by the U of U’s Economics Department and Office of Sustainability. It is free and open to the public.

Hansen heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, a part of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Earth Sciences Division, a position he has held since 1981. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.

Well regarded throughout the international science and academic community for his research on climate science and global warming, Hansen has been very public with his calls for dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide in order to stave off the worst of projected planetary climate disruptions.

“We’re absolutely delighted and honored to host Dr. Hansen so he can present his findings regarding climate change,” said economics Professor Ken Jameson. “It’s imperative that the public and policy makers in our state have access to this information as we go forward in addressing this critically important issue.”

Hansen published a paper in 2003 titled, “Can We Defuse the Global Warming Time Bomb?” The paper makes the scientific case on how human activities, principally the combustion of carbon-based fuels, have an increasingly dramatic impact on Earth’s climate. In it, he states, “halting global warming requires urgent, unprecedented international cooperation, but the needed actions are feasible and have additional benefits for human health, agriculture and the environment.”