Thirty six years ago, on this day, February 9, 1990
Blue Sky Mining is the seventh studio album by Australian alternative rock band Midnight Oil, released on 9 February 1990 under the Columbia Records label.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 354ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that the Oils had been around since the mid-1970s, doing extremely exciting (ymmv) music and lyrics. 10 to 1 is a stunner, and they kept it up.
The specific context was that well, they were on a roll. You can read about it (see what I did there?) here.
What I think we can learn from this is that good music is part of the “map” you need. Certainly a big part of my map.
What happened next: The Oils did a gig outside Exxon’s HQ.
May 30, 1990 – Midnight Oil do a gig outside Exxon’s HQ in New York – All Our Yesterdays
See also my piece on the album track “Shakers and Movers”
Midnight Oil’s “Shakers and Movers” – a profound beautiful gem of a song
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:
February 9, 1956 – Scientists puzzle over where the carbon dioxide is going….
February 9, 1970 – HRH Prince of Netherlands points to carbon dioxide build-up