Fifty four years ago, on this day, September 30, 1969, a US alternative paper The Spectator (as opposed to the British right-wing one!) ran a story about environmental problems, including build up of carbon dioxide and the effects it might have…
30 Sep 1969 Bruce Williamson squib in Spectator mentions climate, channels Moynihan line on “goodbye New York”
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 324ppm. As of 2023 it is 423ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that by late 1969 and in the aftermath of Daniel Moynihan’s comments people were familiar with the problem of carbon dioxide enough to be make knowing jokes.
What I think we can learn from this – the question of carbon dioxide build-up was well enough understood by the late 1960s to be the object of squibs and comic asides.
What happened next
In late January 1970 a documentary called “And on the 8th Day” appeared on British television, helping people understand what was actually at stake.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.