Category: Egypt

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Egypt World Meteorological Organisation

January 10, 1978 – World Meteorological Organisation outlines World Climate Programme…

Forty seven years ago, on this day, on January 10

“An ad hoc group of expert members of the EC (WMO Executive Committee) met in Cairo from 10 to 12 January 1978 to outline essential elements of a World Climate Programme (WCP), and this program was approved by the thirtieth meeting of the EC in May 1978. 

(Cain, 1983: 83)

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 335ppm. As of 2025 it is 425ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was that that the WMO had, of course, been looking at carbon dioxide build up falongside or in front of the United Nations Environment Program, the folks at IIASA and others (though still in the 1970s the number of scientists working on C02 build-up could comfortably fit in a conference hall, I think).

And there was a push to have a world climate conference. I think it had already been agreed by the time that this meeting took place.

What I think we can learn from this is that the scientific wheels for international collaboration grind, necessarily, relatively slowly. Which gives all the more amazing kudos to the IPCC in its early days for getting that first report out In 1990 having only been agreed at the end of 1988.

What happened next is that the World Climate Program got going, and the first world climate conference happened in Geneva in February of 1979 and there was a lack of consensus around the dangers of CO2, in large part to John Mason, who had been digging his heels in on this issue for a decade and a half

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: 

FILL THIS IS!!! WITH PREEXISTING BLOGS (You can do the links during deadtimes)

Categories
Egypt

November 17, 1869 – Suez Canal opens

One hundred and fifty-five years ago years ago, on this day, November 17th, 1869, the Suez Canal opens.

The water of the two seas met on August 18th, 1869, and the Suez Canal was born; “the artery of prosperity for Egypt and the world”. That Canal was described by the late renowned geographer, Dr. Gamal Hemdan, as “the pulse of Egypt”. Six thousand guests attended the Canal’s legendary inauguration ceremony on November 17th, 1869; most importantly Empress Eugenie of France – wife of Emperor Napoleon the Third – as well as the Emperor of Austria, the King of Hungary, the Crown Prince of Prussia, the brother of the King of the Netherlands, the British Ambassador in Istanbul, Emir Abdelkader El-Djazairi, Prince Tawfiq – Crown Prince of Egypt -, the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, Prince Toson – son of the late Said Pasha -, Nubar Pasha, and many others. A procession of ships entered the canal that day (November 17th, 1869), headed by the L’Aigle; carrying the most important figures attending the inauguration ceremony on board, and followed by 77 ships; 50 of which were warships. The inauguration extravaganza cost Khedive Ismail approximately one and a half million Egyptian Pounds.

[source]

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 288ppm. As of 2024 it is 423ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was British imperialism, and the desire to be able to get to places they wanted to get to, without having to schlep all the way around. Cape of Good Hope, which has a long way and occasionally dangerous. And also, of course, to be able to get things from those places. This was before railways had made it that far. 

What I think we can learn from this is that money makes the world go round and go round.

What happened next? So much! The British invasion of Egypt in 1883. The Suez crisis of 1956. And on and on…

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

Fred Jameson’s stuff in “Postmodernism” about this…

Also on this day: 

November 17, 1968 – UK national newspaper flags carbon dioxide danger…

November 17, 1980 – International meeting about carbon dioxide build up.

November 17, 2018 – XR occupy five bridges in London

Categories
Egypt International processes

December 17, 1989 – a big #climate conference in Egypt begins…

On this day, December 17 in 1989, a big conference on climate change began in Egypt. 

“During 17-21 December, the World Conference on Preparing for Climate Change was held in Cairo, Egypt. At the opening address, Suzanne Mubarak from Egypt referred to the ‘grim irony’ of the fact that, while the ‘primary responsibility’ for global warming lay with the industrialised countries, the effects would be experienced ‘mostly in the countries of the South, where the capacity to cope [was] weaker.’”

Paterson, M (1996) p.38

Also http://www.climate.org/about/archives/Cairo%20Climate%20Conference%201989.pdf

[The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 353ppm. At time of writing it was 419ishppm- but for what it is now,well, see here for the latest.]

The context was this – 

Everyone was running around holding conferences back then. Each one was going to be the one that history remembered as The Moment It All Started To Go Right. Not a single one of them was…

Funny how nobody (that I saw) brought this up during the recent COP27 nonsense. Presumably would raise too many awkward questions about how little has been achieved…?

Why this matters. 

It doesn’t, I guess. But good to remember, as we circle the drain, that there was a time when we tried to sort ourselves out.  Or gave the impression of trying to, in any case…

What happened next?

More meetings in 1990 and then, finally, the negotiations for a climate treaty began in early 1991. And the US, predictably, did everything it could to slow down/stop progress, with considerable success…