Tag: 1962

Categories
Venus

August 27, 1962 – Mariner 2 sets off for Venus

Sixty two years ago, on this day, August 27th, 1962, humans go exploring.,

On August 27th 1962, the Mariner 2 spacecraft built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) was successfully launched on its way to Venus. On December 14th 1962 it passed within 35,000 km of Venus and observed the planet with its onboard instruments and returned the resulting data to Earth [1]. It was the first successful spacecraft to another planet.

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 318ppm. As of 2024 it is 424ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was that now we’d put balls, chimps and men in orbit, and JFK had set the goal for a man on the moon by the end of the decade, other planets were getting a look-see.

What we learn is that ideas about greenhouse effects are nice metaphors. And if you can apply them to other planets like Venus, then I guess it helps with the general understanding and acceptance of the problem on Earth.

What happened next? There was a flurry of articles about Venus’s Greenhouse Effect thanks to the enormous amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, meaning that the temperature on the surface of the planet was very, very high. This had already been known in scientific circles, but having the measurements and the attention meant that it got a bit more of a run in the mass media.

We kept sending rockets to other planets, especially Mars in the Vikings in the 1970s. And within another three, four years, C02 was building up in the public sphere as well as in the atmosphere. 

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: 

August 27, 1859 – The Oil Age begins. UPDATED TO BE a) accurate b) less Eurocentric

August 27, 1993 – international negotiations edge forward

August 27, 2013 – absurd claim of Nobel-prize winners’ support for Liberal non-policy is debunked.

Categories
United States of America

January 14, 1962 – As much truth as one can bear, James Baldwin

Sixty two years ago, on this day, January 14th 1962, American thinker and writer James Baldwin delivers a crucial bit of wisdom –  “Not everything that can be faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” – in a New York Times opinion piece.

AS MUCH TRUTH AS ONE CAN BEAR: To Speak Out About the World as It Is, New York Times Jan 14, 1962 

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 318ppm. As of 2024 it is 422ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was that James Baldwin had fled the United States to France, simply to stay alive. Being a queer, smart black man well, you were in a “bummer of a birthmark Hal” situation, weren’t you? But he’d obviously stayed in touch with what was happening. And my god, he was a brilliant essayist, and thinker. And the reason I’m citing this is that it contains the apparently first use of his crucial phrase, “not everything that can be faced, can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

What we can learn is that there are smart people all around and we ought to pay more attention to them and to their ideas.

What happened next. Baldwin was heavily involved in advocating for civil rights. There is a movie that you simply must see. called I am not your Negro. Baldwin died in 1987.

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: 

Jan 14, 1972 – “A Blueprint for Survival” hits the headlines

January 14, 2010 – Investors hold UN summit on #climate risk

Categories
United States of America

July 9, 1962 – rainbow bomb parties as hydrogen bomb explodes

Sixty one years ago, on this day, July 9, 1962, 

“ the US launched a thermonuclear warhead into space from the Pacific Ocean. The resulting explosion turned the skies into a technicolor light show of nuclear fallout. In Hawaii, where the effects were most visible, hotels arranged “rainbow bomb parties” so their guests could have a rooftop view of the radioactive particles drifting across the sky.”

Source

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 319.6ppm. As of 2023 it is 423ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was that the atmospheric test ban was about to come into force. And the nut job Dr. Strangeloves just wanted to see what would happen if they burst an H-bomb in the Pacific atmosphere. Could have wiped out the Van Allen belt for all they knew, but hell, why not have a laugh? 

What I think we can learn from this is that boys and their toys, get drunk on power.  And could easily have been the quick death of us, and definitely are going to be the slow death of us.

What happened next

The bombs moved underground.

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.

Categories
United States of America

 July 8, 1962 – New York Times  on ‘Glasshouse Effect”

Sixty one years ago, on this day, July 8, 1962, mentions the “Glasshouse Effect” in an article by George Kimgle, about the weather and climate – “But Somebody Does Something About It” New York Times Magazine,

The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 319.6ppm. As of 2023 it is 423ppm, but check here for daily measures. 

The context was

This article includes a useful summation of the carbon dioxide issue, which by this time was popping up in newspapers everywhere (though not at the same level as it had appeared in the 1950s).

What I think we can learn from this  is that people, educated people in 1962 would have been aware of a problem. 

What happened next

The following year, the Conservation Foundation held a meeting in New York about carbon dioxide buildup. And within a couple of years, the first book that wasn’t about the weather to mention climate was published – Murray Bookchin’s Crisis in Our Cities.

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.