--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The fact is fossil fuel carbon will stay…" description: "\"The fact is fossil fuel carbon will stay in the surface climate system for millennia.\" — James Hansen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/james-hansen-7143_carbon_the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay_2947830.jpg" --- # The fact is fossil fuel carbon will stay in the surface… ![“The fact is fossil fuel carbon will stay in the surface climate system for millennia.” quote by James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/james-hansen-7143_carbon_the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay_2947830.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/james-hansen-7143_carbon_the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay_2947830.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/james-hansen-7143_carbon_the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay_2947830.jpg) > “The fact is fossil fuel carbon will stay in the surface climate system for millennia.” [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Fossil fuel emissions persist in the climate for thousands of years, making long‑term environmental impact inevitable. **In simple terms:** Carbon stays in climate for millennia. Key Takeaway Reduce emissions now. Themes climate change environment policy long‑term impact Mood urgent serious Type political inspirational When to use this quote - energy planning - legislation - public awareness Key Concepts carbon cycle intergenerational equity Questions to Reflect On - What policies can limit carbon longevity? - How to balance economic growth and climate? A Different Perspective Political resistance can delay action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) [Carbon Stay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-stay-4427844/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Climate Millennia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate-millennia-4427843/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fossil fuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuel/) [Fossils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossils/) [Fuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fuel/) [Fuel Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fuel-carbon-4427845/) [Stay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stay/) [Surface](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surface/) [System](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/system/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) ## Related quotes > [Rising carbon price is essential to 'decarbonize' the economy - to remove the nation towards the era beyond fossil fuels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/rising-carbon-price-is-essential-to-decarbonize-the-economy-to-remove/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [We need a firm cap on carbon emissions from fossil fuels. No coal, oil, or gas could enter the economy until the buyer had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-hayes/we-need-a-firm-cap-on-carbon-emissions-from-fossil-fuels-no-coal-oil/) [Denis Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-hayes/) > [The record-breaking extreme weather events causing chaos across the globe should be a wake-up call. The transition to a low-carbon economy will be much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiana-figueres/the-record-breaking-extreme-weather-events-causing-chaos-across-the/) [Christiana Figueres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiana-figueres/) > [Unless a price can be put on carbon emissions that is high enough to force power companies and manufacturers to reduce their fossil-fuel use,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajendra-k-pachauri/unless-a-price-can-be-put-on-carbon-emissions-that-is-high-enough-to/) [Rajendra K. 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Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Carbon dioxide pollution is transforming the chemistry of the ocean, rapidly making the water more acidic. In decades, rising ocean acidity may challenge life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigourney-weaver/carbon-dioxide-pollution-is-transforming-the-chemistry-of-the-ocean/) [Sigourney Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigourney-weaver/) > [I know that nuclear is better than fossil fuels when it comes to carbon dioxide, but nuclear energy is by no means clean. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-crow/i-know-that-nuclear-is-better-than-fossil-fuels-when-it-comes-to/) [Sheryl Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-crow/) > [I'm passionate about restoring the efficacy of American democracy, making capitalism sustainable, prioritizing advances in technology, and seizing the opportunities to use that kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/i-m-passionate-about-restoring-the-efficacy-of-american-democracy/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [ ...chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to \[should\] be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature; \[Hansen\] accusing them of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/chief-executives-of-large-fossil-fuel-companies-to-should-be-put-on/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [It's as certain that as long as fossil fuels are the cheapest energy, we will just keep burning them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/it-s-as-certain-that-as-long-as-fossil-fuels-are-the-cheapest-energy/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Burning all the fossil fuels will destroy the planet we know, Creation, the planet of stable climate in which civilization developed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/burning-all-the-fossil-fuels-will-destroy-the-planet-we-know-creation/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [I try not to be either optimistic or pessimistic. I try not to think about outcomes on that scale. My job, it seems to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/i-try-not-to-be-either-optimistic-or-pessimistic-i-try-not-to-think/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [So many people are on the front lines of this fossil fuel frenzy. It is infused with a sense of urgency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avi-lewis/so-many-people-are-on-the-front-lines-of-this-fossil-fuel-frenzy-it/) [Avi Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avi-lewis/) ## More by James Hansen > [Talking nice about sun and wind and green jobs is just greenwash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/talking-nice-about-sun-and-wind-and-green-jobs-is-just-greenwash/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is greenwash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/what-is-frustrating-people-me-included-is-that-democratic-action/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The five-year mean global temperature has been flat for the last decade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-five-year-mean-global-temperature-has-been-flat-for-the-last/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [What makes tar sands particularly odious is that the energy you get out in the end, per unit carbon dioxide, is poor. It's equivalent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/what-makes-tar-sands-particularly-odious-is-that-the-energy-you-get/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [We are on the precipice of climate system tipping points beyond which there is no redemption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/we-are-on-the-precipice-of-climate-system-tipping-points-beyond-which/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Jail threats did not dissuade Martin Luther King - and intergenerational justice is a moral issue of comparable magnitude to civil rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/jail-threats-did-not-dissuade-martin-luther-king-and/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The United States did not sign Kyoto, yet its emissions are not that different from the countries that did sign it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-united-states-did-not-sign-kyoto-yet-its-emissions-are-not-that/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The five-year mean global temperature has been flat for the last decade, which we interpret as a combination of natural variability and a slow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-five-year-mean-global-temperature-has-been-flat-for-the-last-2/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Rising carbon price is essential to 'decarbonize' the economy - to remove the nation towards the era beyond fossil fuels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/rising-carbon-price-is-essential-to-decarbonize-the-economy-to-remove/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Policy decisions on climate change are being deliberated every day by those without full knowledge of the science, and often with intentional misinformation spawned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/policy-decisions-on-climate-change-are-being-deliberated-every-day-by/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [ Imagine a giant asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth. That is the equivalent of what we face now \[with climate change\], yet… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/imagine-a-giant-asteroid-on-a-direct-collision-course-with-earth-that/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The most difficult task, phase-out over the next 20-25 years of coal use that does not capture COâ‚‚, is Herculean, yet feasible when compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-most-difficult-task-phase-out-over-the-next-20-25-years-of-coal/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [As species are exterminated by shifting climate zones, ecosystems can collapse, destroying more species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/as-species-are-exterminated-by-shifting-climate-zones-ecosystems-can/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [I think we have a very brief window of opportunity to deal with climate change... no longer than a decade, at the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/i-think-we-have-a-very-brief-window-of-opportunity-to-deal-with/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The climate system is being pushed hard enough that change will become obvious to the man in the street in the next decade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-climate-system-is-being-pushed-hard-enough-that-change-will/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) [Explore all 94 James Hansen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) ## More Carbon quotes > [Windmills and solar cells are carbon-free sources of electricity. But they are costly. If you've been investing in those, give it up. That game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-fisher/windmills-and-solar-cells-are-carbon-free-sources-of-electricity-but/) [Kenneth Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-fisher/) > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The brightest and most valuable diamond started life as just a lump of carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dilger/the-brightest-and-most-valuable-diamond-started-life-as-just-a-lump/) [Peter Dilger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dilger/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [I love being a carbon molecule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-trussell/i-love-being-a-carbon-molecule/) [Duncan Trussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-trussell/) > [Coal is the moral choice, particularly for the developing world... The model for the world right now should be Australia. Australia gets it. Scientifically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-morano/coal-is-the-moral-choice-particularly-for-the-developing-world-the/) [Marc Morano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-morano/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) > [If every country committed to spending 0.05 per cent of GDP on researching non-carbon-emitting energy technologies, that would cost $25 billion a year, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/if-every-country-committed-to-spending-0-05-per-cent-of-gdp-on/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [We're full of electricity, and the walls and floor of a building contain carbon - the same makeup as a video tape - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-james/we-re-full-of-electricity-and-the-walls-and-floor-of-a-building/) [Peter James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-james/) > [Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/whether-carbon-dioxide-is-quite-the-environmental-villain-that-some/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [“Steven Apfelbaum, a restoration ecologist in Wisconsin, says that every 1 percent increase in soil carbon holds an additional sixty thousand gallons of water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-d-schwartz/steven-apfelbaum-a-restoration-ecologist-in-wisconsin-says-that-every/) [Judith D. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-d-schwartz/) > [I want to break up the Wall Street banks. Hillary Clinton doesn't. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-want-to-break-up-the-wall-street-banks-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-i/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I also think that if you want to put a price on carbon, why not just do it with a simple tax? Why not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/i-also-think-that-if-you-want-to-put-a-price-on-carbon-why-not-just/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [If you want to make a substantial reduction in your carbon footprint, doing it on your own is virtually impossible, especially if you're driving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-arnold/if-you-want-to-make-a-substantial-reduction-in-your-carbon-footprint/) [Tom Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-arnold/) > [Jesus was not born on December 25th. There's carbon evidence of it. That freaks people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-skiba/jesus-was-not-born-on-december-25th-there-s-carbon-evidence-of-it/) [Matt Skiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-skiba/) [Browse all 812 Carbon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The fact is fossil fuel carbon will stay in the surface climate system for millennia.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Hansen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay-in-the-surface-climate/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Carbon" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay-in-the-surface-climate/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/james-hansen-7143_carbon_the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay_2947830.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/james-hansen-7143_carbon_the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay_2947830.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/james-hansen-7143_carbon_the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay_2947830.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The fact is fossil fuel carbon will stay in the surface climate system for millennia.” — James Hansen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "James Hansen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The fact is fossil fuel carbon...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay-in-the-surface-climate/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-fact-is-fossil-fuel-carbon-will-stay-in-the-surface-climate/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```