Global warming timeline with emphasis on Australia (thanks
mostly
to Wikipedia
& Robert White)
- 1824 - Joseph
Fourier
describes the greenhouse effect
- 1856 - Eunice
Foote
publishes a paper "On
the
Heat in the Sun's Rays" describing the greenhouse effect
with
various gases
- 1859 - John
Tyndall demonstrates the effect through experiments with
different
gases - duplicating Eunice Foote's work (without acknowledgment)
- 1896 - Svante
Arrhenius predicts 7 to 11C global warming due to a
hypothetical
doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide
- 1901 - Nils
Gustaf
Ekholm uses the term "greenhouse effect"
- 1956 - First attempt to use computer modelling for the global
climate by John van Neumann
- 1957 - the first International Geophysical Year. Mauna Loa
Climate Observatory begins monitoring global climate.
- 1962 - Mariner
2
spacecraft takes measurements of Venus that indicate very
high
surface temperatures
- 1963 - NOAA established and develops climate models
- 1967 - Thermal
Equilibrium of the Atmosphere with a Given Distribution of
Relative Humidity - paper by Manbe & Wethrald
"According to our estimate, a
doubling of the CO2 content in the atmosphere has the
effect of raising the temperature of the atmosphere (whose
relative humidity is fixed) by about
2C". Voted the
most influential climate science paper of all time.
- 1967 - A
paper by James Pollack and Carl Sagan analyses the
Mariner 2 data
and concludes there are high pressures and temperature at the
surface of Venus - later attributed to the greenhouse effect
- 1965 - President Lyndon Johnson’s Science Advisory
Committee reported rising CO2 in the atmosphere, for which “at
least
during the recent past, fossil fuel combustion has been the only
significant source”. The committee’s environmental pollution
panel
warned that by 2000 this increase “may be sufficient to produce
measurable and perhaps marked changes in climate” that “could be
deleterious from the point of view of human beings” (New
Scientist).
- 1969 - A
paper by Andrew Ingersoll explains the "runaway greenhouse
effect"
on Venus
- 1975 - Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab predicts that a doubling
of
CO2 would produce an average global temperature increase of 3C
- 1979 - A
small
group of atmospheric and ocean scientists, led by Jule
Charney, met in
Woods Hole, Massachusetts, to project the future impacts on
Earth's
climate from atmospheric release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from
fossil
fuel combustion.
- 1979 - Based on advice from the Woods Hole group, Frank Press,
Science Advisor to Jimmy Carter, reports on a
study warning of risks. The first World Climate Conference was
held in
this year and recognised the global significant of the issue.
- 1979 - New Scientist magazine warns
of the risk of global warming.
- ~1980 - James Hansen begins climate research at the NASA
Goddard
Institute for Space Studies
- 1980 - the book Cosmos, by Carl Sagan has a
section on global warming
- 1985 - the international Advisory Group on Greenhouse Gases is
formed (predecessor to IPCC)
- 1985 - Carl
Sagan warning Congress about climate change (video)
- 1987 - The Montreal
Protocol
bans the production of CFCs, halons and other ozone-depleting
chemicals. Success of a global agreement to take environmental
action -
in part,
attributed by Carl Sagan to the chemistry knowledge of Margaret
Thatcher
- 1988 - IPCC
is formed
- 1989 - White House Chief of Staff John Sununu uses
"uncertainty:"
with climate modelling to stall political action.
- 1990 - Scientific American July
1990
"The Great Climate Debate" by Robert White (tends to support the
"do
nothing" approach but a good summary of research up to that
time)
- 1992 - United
Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that
commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- 1997 - Kyoto
Proctocol adopted (despite Australian Prime Minister John
Howards
efforts
to undermine the agreement.)
- 1998 - the book Billions
& Billions by Carl Sagan has a chapter on global
warming
- 2000 - Australian Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill
admitted that Australia had helped the United States argue for a
sticking point which helped collapse the world climate change
talks in
The Hague. In the same year a Senate committee issues a report
which
states that Australia has the highest greenhouse emissions per
capita
in the world.
- 2005 - Kyoto Protocol comes into force
- 2007 - Kevin Rudd is elected as Prime Minster of Australia -
although not prominently reported in the papers, one of Mr
Rudd's first
commitments in his victory speech was to sign the Kyoto Protocol
- 2010 - Julia Gillard elected as Prime Minister of Australia
with
a minority government. With the support of The Greens she
introduces a
"Carbon Tax" that receives international praise
- 2013 - Tony Abbott is elected as Prime Minister of Australia
on
the mantra that the carbon tax will be abolished
- 2014 - Tony Abbott seeks alliance to thwart President Obama on
climate change policy
- 2015 - Paris
Agreement adopted
- Australia was a party to the agreement despite Australian
Prime
Minister Tony Abbott being opposed to action on global warming
- 2016 - Global
sea-level
expert John Church made to walk the plank by CSIRO
- 2017 - Southern
Company
in the USA abandons its attempt to make "clean coal",
switching the Kemper County clean coal plant to natural gas
after
spending $7.5 billion.
- 2018 - Prime
Minister
Malcolm Turnbull dumped
by right-wing opponents of emission reduction targets (climate
action
was a key issue in the resulting by-election that saw a 20%
swing
against the government)
- 2018 - Renewables
overtaking
fossil fuels in new power generation: International Energy
Agency
- New wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) generation accounted for
nearly
half of all the additional electricity capacity in 2017...
- 2018 - Greta
Thunberg commences "school strikes for the climate"
- 7 Feb 19 ABC: UN
warns
world on track to breach 3C rise by 2100; last year was fourth
warmest on record.
- 13 May 19: BBC Doco on Youtube: Climate
Change -
the Facts -
with David Attenborough, Michael Mann, James Hansen and many
other
respected scientists "This is a must watch for everyone who
cares about
our planet"
- 20 May 19 ABC: Federal Election 2019: What
happened
to the climate change vote we heard about? [Fear &
greed!]
- 28 Sep 19 The Conversation: Highly
touted
UN climate summit failed to deliver - and Scott Morrison
failed
to show up + Greta
Thunberg:
You have stolen my childhood with your empty words
- 20 Feb 20 ‘Cosmos:
Possible Worlds’ makers accuse PM Scott Morrison of being
‘woefully dishonest’ on climate change
- 18 Jan 21 The Conversation: Biden’s
Senate majority doesn’t just super-charge US climate action,
it blazes a trail for Australia.
- 11 Feb 21 Amazon: The
New Climate War: the fight to take back our planet - new
book by Michael Mann
- 20 May 22 The Guardian: Australia’s
greenhouse pollution from coal higher per person than any
other developed country, data shows.
- 27 Sep 22 The Conversation: How
to deal with fossil fuel lobbying and its growing influence in
Australian politics.
- Feb 2024 ABC: Veteran
economists say a carbon levy would cut emissions, cut
inflation and raise billions, but see little prospect of
adoption + The Conversation: Ross
Garnaut and Rod Sims have proposed a $100 billion-a-year
fossil fuel tax – and it’s a debate Australia should embrace.
+ National
Press Club address + ABC: Andrew
Forrest slams fossil fuel industry and Coalition for nuclear
energy 'bulldust' + Watch the entire National
Press Club address on iView (registration required,
Australian IP addresses only)
- More to come!
Compiled by Michael Paine.
See Greenhouse gases and global
warming