The head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, James Hansen, in an open letter to Obama also called for a moratorium on coal-fired power stations that do not capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2).

He has also counselled for use of next generation - "fourth generation" - nuclear power plants that would run on material now regarded as waste, according to 'Herald Sun'.

As per the daily, the letter says: "Australia exports coal and sets atmospheric CO2 goals so high as to guarantee destruction of much of the life on the planet."

Calling goals and caps on carbon emissions as 'practically worthless' due to the long life of CO2 in air, Hansen wrote: "Instead a large part of the total fossil fuels must be left in the ground. In practice, that means coal."

Hansen further adds that emissions reduction targets, like Kevin Rudd's goal to cut emissions by a minimum of 5 per cent and up to 15% by 2020, do not work.

"This approach is ineffectual and not commensurate with the climate threat," he wrote adding "It could waste another decade, locking in disastrous consequences for our planet and humanity."

The newspaper quotes Hansen as saying that he wrote to Obama because as the incoming US president he is in a position to instigate global change and "his presidency may be judged in good part on whether he was able to turn the tide (on climate change) - more important, the future of young people and other life will depend on that.