One hundred and thirty two years ago, on this day, December 4th, 1893,
In his last years Tyndall often took chloral hydrate to treat his insomnia. When bedridden and ailing, he died from an accidental overdose[79] of this drug in 1893 at the age of 73, and was buried at Haslemere.[80] The overdose was administered by his wife Louisa. “My darling,” said Tyndall when he realized what had happened, “you have killed your John.”[81]
: 1893 John Tyndall dies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyndall
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 294ppm. 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 that Tyndall had, in the 1860s, proved that carbon dioxide was a greenhouse gas (did he rip off Eunice Foote? Possibly. Probably say some. I am less convinced, fwiw).
What I think we can learn from this – be super careful with potentially lethal cures for insomnia? Er, that’s all I got…
Also, I listened to a podcast where they interviewed the climate scientist Kate Marvel – in her new book she speculates (and she admits this is speculation) that it may not have been an accident…
What happened next? They named a climate centre after him.
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:
December 4, 1969 – Black Panther Fred Hampton assassinated by FBI, Chicago cops – All Our Yesterdays
December 4, 1989 – first anti-climate action economic “modelling” released in Australia