Despite their efforts, climate change attracted little public notice until June 23, 1988, when Hansen testified before the U.S. Senate. Worried about climate change, Colorado Democratic senator Tim Wirth had deliberately scheduled the hearing for what historically was the city summer’s hottest day. His scheme worked beyond his wildest dreams. Hansen sat down amid a wave of bad weather that covered the entire planet. Downpours inundated parts of Africa; unseasonable cold shriveled European harvests. Droughts scorched crops in the U.S. Midwest; forests were aflame across the West. That day
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