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A brief history of climate change Now that climate change is in the news on an almost daily basis it is easy to think of it as something new. In fact, the first research that has helped us understand climate change dates back to the 18th century. However, it is only relatively recently that the full severity of the possible effects of climate change – and how urgently we need to act – have emerged. The timeline here pinpoints some of the key moments in the development of our understanding of climate change over the last 250 years. 1753CARBON DIOXIDE: Joseph Black discovers carbon dioxide by treating limestone (calcium carbonate) and 'magnesia alba' (magnesium carbonate) with acids. Black gives the name 'fixed air' to the gas he discovers. He later finds that 'fixed air' is present in the atmosphere, is produced during the fermentation of beer, and is contained in air exhaled by humans. Source: courses.lib.odu.edu 1827GREENHOUSE EFFECT: Jean-Baptiste Fourier suggests the existence of an atmospheric effect keeping the earth warmer than it would otherwise be. He uses the analogy of a greenhouse. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1896GLOBAL WARMING: Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist, advances the theory that carbon dioxide emissions from combustion of coal would enhance the earth's greenhouse effect and lead to global warming. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 1900POPULATION: There are 1.6 billion Homo sapiens on the planet. Source: www.ngdc.noaa.gov 1924ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE: Based on 1920 coal use, Lotka, a US physicist, speculates that industrial activity will double atmospheric carbon dioxide in 500 years. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 1950POPULATION: The population of the world is 2.5 billion. Source: World Resources Institute 1967GLOBAL TEMPERATURE WARNING: The first reliable computer simulation calculates that global average temperature may increase by more than 4°F when the atmospheric carbon dioxide level reaches double that of pre-industrial times. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 1969VISION OF EARTH: Astronauts walk on the moon and send back pictures of the earth from space. Source: www.aip.org 1975POPULATION: The population of the world reaches 4 billion. Source: World Resources Institute 1979CLIMATE CHANGE WARNING: The report of a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel on climate change advises that 'A wait-and-see policy may mean waiting until it is too late' to avoid significant climate changes. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 1979FIRST WORLD CLIMATE CONFERENCE: Adopts climate change as major issue and calls on governments 'to foresee and prevent potential man-made changes in climate'. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1987ICE-CORE EVIDENCE: An ice core from Antarctica analysed by French and Russian scientists reveals an extremely close correlation between carbon dioxide levels and temperature going back more than 100,000 years. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 1987WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD: The 1980s turn out to be the warmest decade, with seven of the eight warmest years recorded up to 1990. Even the coldest years in the 1980s were warmer than the warmest years of the 1880s. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1988UNITED NATIONS TAKES ACTION: The United Nations sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to analyse and report on scientific findings. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1990POPULATION: The population of the world is 5.26 billion. Source: World Resources Institute 1990EVIDENCE OF WARMING: The first report of the IPCC finds that the planet has warmed by 0.5°C in the past century. The IPCC warns that only strong measures to halt rising greenhouse gas emissions will prevent serious global warming. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1992CLIMATE CHANGE AT RIO EARTH SUMMIT: The Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), signed by 154 nations in Rio de Janeiro, agrees to prevent 'dangerous' warming from greenhouse gases and sets initial target of reducing emissions from industrialised countries to 1990 levels by the year 2000. President George Bush signs on behalf of the United States. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1994CLIMATE CONVENTION RATIFIED: On 21 March 1994, the FCCC, which was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, comes into force. To date, it has been ratified by 181 countries. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 1995THE HEAT IS ON: Hottest year yet. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1996CLIMATE CHANGE CAUSES AND IMPACTS: The Second Annual Conference of the Parties (CoP 2) is held in Geneva and endorses the IPCC finding of a 'discernible human influence on global climate' and that 'projected change in climate will result in significant, often adverse, impacts on many ecological systems and socio-economic sectors, including food supply and water resources and on human health'. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 1997KYOTO PROTOCOL: The Kyoto Protocol agrees legally binding emissions cuts for industrialised nations, averaging 5.5 per cent, to be met by 2010. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 1999HOTTEST DECADE IN 1,000 YEARS: Scientists, reconstructing the global climate for the last 1,000 years, using weather records, tree rings, coral and ice-core readings, declare that the decade of the 1990s is the hottest in the last millennium. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 2000POPULATION: The population of the world is just over 6 billion. Source: World Resources Institute 2001KYOTO PROTOCOL SIGNED: On 27 July, 178 countries give life to the Kyoto Protocol. Source: www.ec.gc.ca 2001EVIDENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE MOUNTS: United Nations weather agency reports that 2001 is the second hottest year in the 140 years that meteorologists have been keeping records. Nine of the ten warmest years since 1860 have occurred since 1990, the agency said, and temperatures are rising three times as fast as in the early 1900s. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 2002HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?: Since 1980, the earth has experienced 19 of its 20 hottest years on record, with 2002 the second hottest ever recorded, and 1998 the hottest. Source: www.greenhousenet.org 2003HOW HOT IS TOO HOT?: Globally it is the third hottest year on record, but Europe experiences the hottest summer for at least 500 years, with an estimated 30,000 fatalities as a result. Extreme weather costs an estimated record of $60 billion this year. Source: www.newscientist.com 2003EXTREME WEATHER: Agence France-Presse reports that 13 million trees have been damaged in a freak snowstorm in Beijing. Source: www.harpers.org 2005POPULATION: The population of the world is 6.45 billion. Source: World Resources Institute 2005FEELING THE HEAT: The New York Times reports that a NASA study finds that 2004 was the fourth warmest year on record. Source: www.harpers.org 2005KYOTO PROTOCOL RATIFIED: 16 February. On the 90th day after at least 55 Parties to the Convention (responsible for at least 55 per cent of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990) deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Kyoto Protocol came into force. Source: http://org.eea.eu.int 2005G8 LEADERS ACT: At the G8 Gleneagles summit in July 2005, climate change is one of the two main issues addressed by leaders of the eight largest industrial nations, along with invited developing nations. The other issue is poverty in Africa. Source: www.g8.gov.uk Back to understanding climate change
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