Fifty six years ago, on this day, November 10th, 1969, climatologist Kenneth Hare gave a talk titled “Carbon Dioxide and All That”.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 324ppm. As of 2025, when this post was published, it is 430ppm. 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 a much younger Kenneth Hare had been there that day in 1938 when Guy Callendar addressed the Royal Meteorological Society in London, about carbon dioxide (Callendar had got a relatively polite but dismissive hearing).
The specific context was by 1969, carbon dioxide was the “in” gas – people were coming out and saying it would be a problem. Hare wasn’t yet so sure.
What I think we can learn from this – the awareness and concern is there from the late 1960s. Our governance systems failed us (mostly because they were about capital accumulation and protecting incumbents, not doing any horizon-scanning). Oh well.
What happened next – it would take another twenty years (1988) before politicians would be forced to start paying serious lipservice. Funnily enough, a big conference in Toronto was part of the irresistible pressure.
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:
November 10, 1994 – “profit or planet – choose one” (Victorian electricity) – All Our Yesterdays
November 10, 1995 – moronic “Leipzig Declaration” by moronic denialists