Fifty four years ago, on this day, June 19th, 1972, a letter in the Adelaide Advertiser about Concorde ends thus –
“The effects on the ozone layer caused by the Concorde or other high altitude fliers are, it seems from tests, very minor compared to those caused by our burning of fossil fuels at the surface, such as the car and ordinary aircraft.
Reg. T. FiskGlenelg
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 327ppm. As of 2026, 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 for this was in the late 1960s and into the early 1970s there was a huge upsurge in concern about environmental issues (local, but also global).
The specific context was that Concorde and other supersonic transports were being campaigned against by various ‘eco’groups for various reasons, including the potential damage to the ozone layer. This letter is responding to them in a fairly typical style (I may bother to unpick it at some point). The mention of fossil fuels is mildly interesting….
What I think we can learn is this: in the early 1970s, we knew enough to be worried…
What happened next: The wave of eco-concern faded (though some brave and diligent people tried to keep the flame alive – shout out to the Environment Information Centre people, on Rundle Street).
On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays
September 10, 1973- Ozone concerns on display in Kyoto…
References
You can see the chronological list of All Our Yesterdays “on this day” posts here.
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.
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Also on this day:
June 19, 1989 – George Brown speech to Student Pugwash – All Our Yesterdays