--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The last time the world was three degrees…" description: "\"The last time the world was three degrees warmer than today-which is what we expect later this century-sea levels were 25m higher. So that is what we c..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/james-hansen-7143_century_the-last-time-the-world-was-three-degree_1047707.jpg" --- # The last time the world was three degrees warmer than… ![“The last time the world was three degrees warmer than today-which is what we expect later this century-sea levels were 25m higher. So that is what we can look forward to if we don't act soon.” quote by James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/james-hansen-7143_century_the-last-time-the-world-was-three-degree_1047707.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/james-hansen-7143_century_the-last-time-the-world-was-three-degree_1047707.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d9/james-hansen-7143_century_the-last-time-the-world-was-three-degree_1047707.jpg) > “The last time the world was three degrees warmer than today-which is what we expect later this century-sea levels were 25m higher. So that is what we can look forward to if we don't act soon.” [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. If global temperatures rise three degrees, sea levels could increase by 25 meters, highlighting urgent need for climate action. **In simple terms:** Warming leads to massive sea level rise, urging immediate response. Key Takeaway Act now to prevent extreme sea level rise. Themes climate change environment future risk action Mood urgent concerned alarming Type scientific warning When to use this quote - government policy - urban planning - coastal development - public awareness Key Concepts global warming sea level rise policy mitigation Questions to Reflect On - What policies could most effectively limit warming? - How can individuals contribute to large-scale climate solutions? A Different Perspective Mitigation requires massive societal shifts and political will. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Climate change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate-change/) [Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrees/) [Degrees Warmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrees-warmer-759205/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Expect Later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expect-later-1941279/) [Glaciers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glaciers/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Last time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-time/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/levels/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Sea Levels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea-levels-538771/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Warmer Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warmer-today-538770/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Degrees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-degrees-759208/) ## Related quotes > [So imagine a world 6 degrees warmer. It's not going to recognize geographical boundaries. It's not going to recognize anything. So agriculture regions today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-chu/so-imagine-a-world-6-degrees-warmer-it-s-not-going-to-recognize/) [Steven Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-chu/) > [The last time Earth was 1°C warmer than today, sea levels were 20 feet higher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-romm/the-last-time-earth-was-1-c-warmer-than-today-sea-levels-were-20-feet/) [Joseph J. Romm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-romm/) > [Rising sea levels will result in tens to hundreds of millions more people flooded each year with a warming of 3 or 4°C. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-stern/rising-sea-levels-will-result-in-tens-to-hundreds-of-millions-more/) [Nicholas Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-stern/) > [The only things good about being let down in the past is knowing what to expect later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-only-things-good-about-being-let-down-in-the-past-is-knowing-what/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [ A couple degrees warmer would be good for humanity and planet, especially with more plant-fertilizing carbon dioxide in the air. \[...\] But a couple… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-driessen/a-couple-degrees-warmer-would-be-good-for-humanity-and-planet/) [Paul Driessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-driessen/) > [Global warming experts are saying that sea levels could rise 20 feet. Apparently their strategy for surviving this is to stand on top of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-thompson/global-warming-experts-are-saying-that-sea-levels-could-rise-20-feet/) [Fred Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-thompson/) > [Are we likely to see rising sea-levels? Not in our lifetimes or hose of our grandchildren. It is not even clear that sea-levels have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-aitkin/are-we-likely-to-see-rising-sea-levels-not-in-our-lifetimes-or-hose/) [Don Aitkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-aitkin/) > [The impact of our warming planet will likely lead to even stricter zoning and building codes to account for the rising sea levels visible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-murphy/the-impact-of-our-warming-planet-will-likely-lead-to-even-stricter/) [Patrick Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-murphy/) > [“A brick could be used to measure water levels through what scientists call hydrostatics. If you throw a brick into the ocean, you’ll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/a-brick-could-be-used-to-measure-water-levels-through-what-scientists/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [They keep saying that sea levels are rising an' all this. It's nowt to do with the icebergs melting, it's because there's too many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/they-keep-saying-that-sea-levels-are-rising-an-all-this-it-s-nowt-to/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [Let me state what the official IPCC prediction is: Sea levels could go up as much as three-quarters of a meter in this century,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-chu/let-me-state-what-the-official-ipcc-prediction-is-sea-levels-could-go/) [Steven Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-chu/) > [If the world was an etch-a-sketch, glaciers are the big shake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-rogan/if-the-world-was-an-etch-a-sketch-glaciers-are-the-big-shake/) [Joe Rogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-rogan/) > [Long, blue, spiky-edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy glow, at first scarce discernible, gradually deepened and suffused every mountain-top, flushing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/long-blue-spiky-edged-shadows-crept-out-across-the-snow-fields-while/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [Everybody was going along thinking that it was a day like any other day, and bang, down went the Twin Towers. Changed everything. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/everybody-was-going-along-thinking-that-it-was-a-day-like-any-other/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Where the glacier meets the sky, the land ceases to be earthly, and the earth becomes one with the heavens; no sorrows live there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/halld-r-laxness/where-the-glacier-meets-the-sky-the-land-ceases-to-be-earthly-and-the/) [Halldór Laxness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/halld-r-laxness/) ## 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 Century quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The last time the world was three degrees warmer than today-which is what we expect later this century-sea levels were 25m higher. 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