Seventy six years ago, on this day, March 30th, 1948, a new (and frankly Malthusian) NGO is set up.
The Conservation Foundation, which was to initiate research and education on all aspects of conservation from water to forests to wildlife, received its charter on March 30, 1948.
p297-8 Pipes, Richard, and Edward Wilson. G. Evelyn Hutchinson and the Invention of Modern Ecology, Yale University Press, 2011
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 310.5ppm. As of 2024 it is 425ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that there had been concerns about loss of habitat and so forth. And two books “Our Plundered Planet” by Fairield Osborn and “Road to Survival” by William Vogt were published that year.
There had also of course been local conservation efforts, many tied to white supremacism. (see here).
What we learned from this
It’s hardly a surprise to anyone who’s paying attention that questions of environmental limits are tied up with who gets to continue to own and enjoy what is being portrayed as a very static cake. (hint: the people with the biggest spoons and the biggest knives, knives which they have used already and not just on the cake.)
What happened next, the Conservation Foundation was an important node in activity around well, conservation for a long time. Of special note – it held the first meeting about the buildup of CO2 in March of 1963, 15 years after it was launched.
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.
Also on this day:
March 30, 1983- EPA sea level rise conference
March 30, 1992 – Thelma and Louise could teach humans a thing or three….
March 30, 2005 – The Millennium Ecosystems Report is launched.
March 30, 2007 – Climate as “the great moral challenge of our generation” #auspol