More on Hansen's insane Kingsnorth testimony

Kingsnorth trial day three: world's leading climate scientist gives evidence | Greenpeace UK

* "Humans are now in charge of atmospheric CO2 and the global climate... It's up to those of us alive today to take the bold steps needed."
* If we carry on as we are at the moment, the Greenland ice sheets will melt, leading to a sea level rise of at least two metres this century. Hundreds of millions of people will be come refugees. There will be mass species extinction and ecosystem collapse.
* If the ice in the (vulnerable) Western Arctic* West Antarctic ice sheet melts, the sea levels would rise by around six metres.
* The complete loss of Arctic sea ice in the summer is now inevitable. The impacts on China, Kent, Bangladesh and the polar regions are enormous.

(* Sorry, my error in typing up my notes.)

It was at this point that I started to feel really sorry for the jury. They're getting, essentially, a crash course in climate change and its impacts from some of the most knowledgeable minds on the subject (Hansen and Meaden) in the world, and some of the most passionate (the defendants). I'd imagine, to some of the jurors, the evidence must seem pretty terrifying. It is terrifying.

Thankfully though, Hansen went on to talk about what could still be done. He was invited to go on stage with Al Gore at Live Earth, he said, and took his grandchildren along. How many species do we need to save, he asked them. "All of them," said his grand-daughter. ("Me too," said his [three-year-old] grand-son.)

We can't save all of them but we can still save most, he said. If we continue with business-as-usual our descendants will be "left with a much more desolate planet and much less biodiversity". But, although "there's just barely still time", we need an immediate moratorium on the construction of all new coal fired power plants (without CCS) and the phasing out of existing coal plants to get back to 350ppm. And somebody - whether it's the UK, US or Germany - needs "to stand up".