Sustainability Magazine April 2023 | Page 18

TIMELINE

THE HISTORY OF

GLOBAL W

When our grandparents were young , it ’ s likely they didn ’ t know what global warming was , so initially imperceptibly did it arrive . How did the trajectory of climate awareness change in the latter half of the 20 th century ?

1896

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT IS PROPOSED
The noted Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius predicted that a greenhouse effect could be possible in the event that carbon dioxide levels rise in the atmosphere .

1938

THE TEMPERATURE RISE IS FIRST DISCOVERED
Amateur scientist Guy Callendar went about the process of painstakingly collecting records from 147 weather stations around the world . Upon analysis , he discovered that the average global temperature had risen by 0.3 ° C over the last 50 years . Callendar correctly surmised that this rise was due to increasing CO ² levels in the atmosphere .

1958

CO ² LEVELS RISE ON ACCOUNT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
In a seminal study , young postgraduate geochemist Dr . Charles Keeling determined that CO ² levels were rising . His further analysis of CO ² samples attributed this rise to fossil fuels . His research led to the development of the ‘ Keeling Curve ’, an upward moving arc that documents CO ² changes in the atmosphere over time .
18 April 2023