Sixty nine years ago, on this day, June 16th, 1955, a major environmental conference began. Not a single mention of climate change…
Beginning of Princeton conference Man’s Role in Changing Face of Earth. Lewis Mumford, Harrison Brown and lots and lots of Big Names.
There is, in the entire huge volume of proceedings, one very glancing reference – on Page 489, (Graham, M. (1956) Harvests of the Seas, pp. 487-503)
https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.5089/page/n11/mode/1up?view=theater
NB Hutchinson was aware of C02 build-up at the latest in 1948
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 314ppm. As of 2024 it is 426ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the Conservation Foundation had been set up seven years previously. And they were hosting this big meeting of all sorts of prestigious environmental thinkers, scientists, etc. And there was just one glancing mention of carbon dioxide build up, despite the facts that
- Gilbert Plass had flagged it two years earlier
- One of the big names – G. Evelyn Hutchinson had been aware of C02 build-up, and writing/talking about it from 1948…
What we learn from this is that smart people think that they can spot future problems. But actually, the real problem might be something they’ve overlooked as trivial. And that although it’s important to listen to experts, expecting them to be able to gaze into the crystal ball with anything approaching usefulness is maybe unwise…
What happened next? Well, the Conservation Foundation did indeed get cracking with work on CO2 in 1963. But then, at the follow-up meeting of the Conservation Foundation in I think 1964, or 1965, also had only one fleeting mention. And that was when Frank Fraser Darling raised it in q&a, only for it to be dismissed, essentially.
It’d be interesting to see if there’s archives of that started it. And if there were people in the States that I could ask to do the research or where the files might be.
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:
June 16, 1971 – “Ecology Action” formed in Sydney.
June 16, 1972 – David Bowie and (Five Years until) the End of the World. Also, Stockholm