1800-1870
Mean global temperature (1850-1890) is roughly 13.6°C.
First Industrial Revolution. Coal, railroads, and land clearing speed up greenhouse gas emission, while better agriculture and sanitation speed up population growth.
1824
1859
1879
1800-1870
Mean global temperature (1850-1890) is roughly 13.6°C.
First Industrial Revolution. Coal, railroads, and land clearing speed up greenhouse gas emission, while better agriculture and sanitation speed up population growth.
1897
1870-1910
1920-1925
1938
1955
1956
1958
1960
1960
1963
First meeting of experts concerned with global warming warns that a rise in sea level is likely, with “immense flooding” of shorelines.
1965
1966
1968
1969
Nimbus III satellite begins to provide comprehensive global atmospheric temperature measurements. =>Government
1970
1972
1974
1975
Manabe and collaborators produce complex but plausible computer models which show a temperature rise of a few degrees for doubled CO2.
1976
Deep-sea cores show a dominating influence from 100,000-year Milankovitch orbital changes, emphasizing the role of feedbacks.
Deforestation and other ecosystem changes are recognized as major factors in the future of the climate.
Eddy shows that there were prolonged periods without sunspots in past centuries, corresponding to cold periods.
1979
1981
1981
1982
1983
1983
1985
Villach Conference declares consensus among experts that some global warming seems inevitable, calls on governments to consider international agreements to restrict emissions.
Antarctic ice cores show that CO2 and temperature went up and down together through past ice ages, pointing to powerful feedbacks.
Broecker speculates that a reorganization of North Atlantic Ocean circulation can bring swift and radical climate change.
1987
1988
Toronto conference calls for strict, specific limits on greenhouse gas emissions; UK Prime Minister Thatcher is first major leader to call for action.
Ice-core and biology studies confirm living ecosystems give climate feedback by way of methane, which could accelerate global warming.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is established.
1990
1991
1991
1992
Study of ancient climates reveals climate sensitivity to CO2 in same range as predicted independently by computer models.