There are many people throughout the world that believe climate change is a new phenomenon. This however, is untrue. Climate change was actually studied and named much earlier than you would think. In 1856, scientist John Tyndall was credited with discovering the greenhouse effect.
Greenhouse Effect: when the sun's heat is trapped in earth's lower atmosphere due to more infrared rays entering the atmosphere and less being relfected back out into space
A few years prior to that, Eunice Foote presented her model demonstrating how carbon dioxide traps heat, using a glass jar, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and air. She used this small scale model to show high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the air could increase the temperatures on earth.
Finally, in 1896, Svante Arrhenius and Swedish scientist, was the first to claim that the combustion of fossil fuels would eventually lead to a phenomenon called global warming.
Global Warming: the gradual increase in earth's temperatures due to the greenhouse effect (today scientists prefer to use the term climate change)
Svante Arrhenius wasn’t the first to discuss global warming and the greenhouse effect, but he was one of the first to move away from just theorizing about these issues. He became the first person to actually research carbon levels in the atmosphere and how they were related to temperature changes. He was also the first to suggest a ‘carrying capacity’ for earth in regards to greenhouse gases. He theorized that doubling the atmospheric carbon levels, the temperature of earth would increase by 5℃. Modern scientists have found that this prediction is very accurate. The only things that Arrhenius got wrong was his prediction of how long it would take this to happen. He predicted that in 3000 years the levels of carbon in the atmosphere would double, which is a gross over estimate.
In the 1890’s, the carbon dioxide levels were ~290ppm. The atmospheric carbon dioxide levels today are ~415ppm. In just over 120 years, we have gained 125ppm of carbon dioxide, most of this increase coming in the last 70 years. In just 120 years, we have seen an almost 50% increase in carbon emissions, dangerously close to doubling emissions from the 1800’s, which would have devastating consequences.
It’s debated who truly discovered the greenhouse effects and its implications for the world, but one thing cannot be debated. Climate change, global warming, and the greenhouse effect are not new issues, but at the rate we are going, they will soon be issues we cannot solve. Scientists have known for centuries that we are headed down a dangerous path, and it is up to us to change course and find a new way.
Stay tuned for our blog post next week, where we will discuss how the industrial revolution shot the world into a frenzy of carbon emissions and climate scares.
- The Edible Landscape Initiative Team
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