Seventy-nine years ago, on this day, October 14th, 1947 –
Captain Chuck Yeager of the U.S. Air Force flies a Bell X-1 rocket-powered experimental aircraft, the Glamorous Glennis, faster than the speed of sound over the high desert of Southern California and becomes the first pilot and the first airplane to do so in level flight.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 310ppm. As of 2025, when this post was published, it is 425ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that the second world war had been an astonishing accelerant of technological progress (states fund scientists to develop better ways of killing). All sorts of things become possible.
The specific context was – the new US Air Force wanted some nice publicity.
What I think we can learn from this – we are clever hairless murder apes.
What happened next – we kept getting faster (did you SEE Top Gun: Maniac?).
See also – Paul Virilio’s concept of dromology
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:
October 14, 1974 – UK Chief Scientific Advisor is warned about carbon dioxide build-up.
October 14, 1977 – a UNESCO education conference mentions climate change…
October 14, 1980 – Barry Commoner’s “bullshit” advert… – All Our Yesterdays