It’s been 30 years since the first alarm on global warming was sounded

After leading NASA climate scientist James Hansen told the US Congress 30 years ago this week global warming was already worsening heatwaves, many of his colleagues figured politicians would heed the warning.

James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for
Space Studies in New York, warned the US
Congress in 1988 that human-induced global warming
 was already underway and 'may have important implications
 other than for human comfort'. (This photo taken in 1989.)

"When I heard this news, I thought it was time somebody made such a clear message," said Stefan Rahmstorf, then a PhD student in New Zealand and now at Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Read the story by Peter Hannam in today’s Age - “It’s been 30 years since the first alarm on global warming was sounded.”