Fifty years ago, on this day, July 27, 1976,
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 332ppm. 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 was that from the late 1960s onwards, there was a marked uptick in work on global atmospheric change, especially in Europe and the US.
The specific context was that by about 1976 people on either side of the iron curtain were beginning to look closely at carbon dioxide build-up.
What I think we can learn from this – fifty bloody years
What happened next. The 1979 First World Climate Conference could have been the tipping point, but it wasn’t. Oh well.
On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays
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References
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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.
If you want to get involved, let me know.
If you want to invite me on your podcast, that would boost my ego and probably improve the currently pitiful hit-rate on this site (the two are not-unrelated).
Also on this day:
July 27, 1977 – Pro-nuclear professor cites #climate concerns at Adelaide speech
July 27, 1979 – Thatcher’s Cabinet ponders burying climate report
July 27, 1988 – The greenback effect
July 27, 2001 – COP6-bis ends – the show is back on the road
July 27, 2001 – Minerals Council of Australia versus the Kyoto Protocol