On this day, January 27, in 1888
“The National Geographic Society began as a club for an elite group of academics and wealthy patrons interested in travel and exploration.[8] On January 13, 1888, 33 explorers and scientists gathered at the Cosmos Club, a private club then located on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., to organize “a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.” After preparing a constitution and a plan of organization, the National Geographic Society was incorporated two weeks later on January 27. Gardiner Greene Hubbard (co-founder of AT&T) became its first president and his son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell (also co-founder of AT&T), succeeded him in 1897.[9]
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 294ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that through the 19th century, with advances in transport, communications, the ability to measure and detect the “Golden Age”, if you want to call it that, of colonialism and also industrial depredations. Outfits like the National Geographic Society sprang up to record what was out there so it could either be exploited or protected. The two are not mutually exclusive.
What I think we can learn from this is that institutions have histories. They are formed by real human beings in response to challenges/conditions which may no longer pertain.
What happened next
It kept going and did some nice magazines. Climate change has been “in the mix” in those magazines. Not enough, obviously, but eh, whaddyagonnado.?
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.
References
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Also on this day:
January 27, 1967 – James Lovelock told to keep schtum about climate change by Shell science boss
January 27, 1989 – UN General Assembly starts talking #climate
January 27, 1986 – Engineers try to stop NASA launching the (doomed) Challenger Space Shuttle