A Climate Talk in Helsinki
James Hansen
7 November 2025
I caved in when Anni Pokela twisted my arm to give a talk in Helsinki – because the young people who formed the Operaatio Arktis group are trying hard to understand what is needed to preserve a bright future. So, I interrupted my book writing to prepare a talk. As often, best laid plans… my nonstop flight to Helsinki was cancelled, I spent 7 hours in old Heathrow, and slept less than 2 hours the night before my talk. Nevertheless, I think you will find that my talk, https://youtu.be/D2abyXGvELI is reasonably succinct and clear.
After careful search we found two extraordinary fresh-outs, recent graduates, to replace Makiko Sato, who retired this year. Makiko is unique and irreplaceable, but we can use the resources for revising and improving our data, web, and communications capabilities. This will take a while, but if you are on our communications list(s) you will see results coming out soon.
Dear Dr. Hansen,
Thank you for your tireless dedication to alerting the world to the climate emergency. As you note in your talk, we are entering the age of the superstorm, one that will touch all inhabitants on earth. In the past year alone, we have seen catastrophic events around the U.S., notably the terrible flooding in western North Carolina from hurricane Helene, the wildfires in metro Los Angeles, and the Texas hill country flood.
More recently, hurricane Melissa became one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, and possibly the most powerful, as it made landfall on the southern coast of Jamaica on October 28, 2025. I say possibly because the crisp, near perfect circularity of the storm’s eyewall exceeded the capacity of the NOAA satellite algorithm to measure the storm’s intensity. ("Hurricane Melissa Maxed Out What Scientists Thought Was Possible," Guest Essay by Alan Gerard, NY Times, October 29, 2025)
These events are happening with a frequency that was unimaginable only a few years ago. And there is no reason this non-linear acceleration will not continue, as long as we continue to pump fossil fuel pollution into the atmosphere.
On a personal note, please know that I have followed your work since the summer of 1988, when you testified before the U.S. Senate and alerted the broader public to global warming. My respect for your wisdom and humanity is reverential, and as I raised my two daughters to adulthood, I often felt that you were looking over my shoulder. My wife and I attended the two great climate marches in New York City and Washington D.C. in part to let them know that we understood the emergency and were committed to helping the cause.
Today, my wife and I are doubling down on political activism. We believe this is no time to hold back, and are trying to do our part, as you and your cohort are. Several years ago, I recall Jeff Masters saying that the climate emergency needs story to better gain the public's attention. It reminded me how much "Storms of My Grandchildren" has influenced me since reading it in 2009.
Your book, and Jeff Master's statement, served as a call-to-action that I could not ignore, and was the nudge I needed to complete a climate thriller. Set in the near future, it is the story of the nation's first trillion-dollar hurricane, and how it unfolded. All along the way, I asked myself if the events and characters might pass Dr. Hansen's plausibility test. In the weeks and months ahead, I may publish some of the novel on my Substack, but at this time I would like to share the epigraph:
Looking back, they would say that no event like what happened could have been foreseen.
It was so far beyond the scale of what had ever been experienced that no imagination could plausibly have envisioned it. So it was not a failure of imagination.
And that is true. It was not a failure of imagination. It was a failure to see what was clearly and directly in front of them.
Thank you for your informative presentation. One note though. I find the role of trees and other carbon dioxide absorbing ecology is under-emphasized and underinvested. By my accounting bringing hydrocarbon fuel consumption down alone will not bring carbon dioxide into environmental balance. There also needs to be a major expansion in forested land (and that would include wetlands, etc.) There are efforts out there to plant a trillion trees and such, (and that I believe would be the about right amount in conjunction with bringing down our hydrocarbon fuel consumption down some 75% in rough order of magnitude.) Problem is these reforestation efforts are not being legislatively supported, and are seriously underfunded. Should fees be put on carbon production/consumption, I think a better use of the revenue would be to invest in reforesting our planet. While directing funds to the public to help alleviate wealth disparities is certainly action for a good samaritan, such does little to solve the existential threat we all face. If done right monies directed toward reforestation can also help alleviate some wealth disparity at the same time. I believe reforestation is a fundamental and essential part to any climate action plan.
Respectfully, Robert