Fifty four years ago, on this day, March 27th, 1971,
In 1971, in Norway’s largest tabloid newspaper, a journalist reported [on March 27] that global warming “may cause the polar ice to melt, that the ocean will rise above its shores, that cities and large territories of land will be under water, [and] that humans will be displaced to mountain regions” (Anonymous 1971). This alarming news story, possibly the first reference to the issue of global warming in Norwegian press, was buried in a host of similar stories of doom and gloom. Since Earth Day a year before, readers had become used to hearing about a fast approaching environmental Ragnarök. This was alarming news to Norwegians who would typically spend their vacations enjoying the country’s beautiful fjords and mountains.
Anonymous (1971) Og havet vil stige, VG March 27
Source: Anker, 2018
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 326ppm. As of 2025 it is 427ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the previous year, in February, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands had mentioned CO2 build up. There were probably other mentions in the press, but crucially, this is apparently the first one in the Norwegian press, alongside a general sense of ecological problems, there was also a very specific climatological issue.
What I think we can learn from this
Climate change was among the other late 1960s-early 197s eco-concerns…
What happened next
Well, nine years later, the Minister for Statoil said it was a long way off. [see March 21, 1980]
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:
March 27, 1966 – The “Conservation Society” to be launched
March 27th, 1977- what we can learn from Dutch arrogance and aviation disasters