Sixty four years ago, on this day, September 20th, 1962,
“In a 1962 report by its international science panel, the PSAC recognized that “alteration of our environment has reached the point of requiring intensive study and understanding on an urgent basis.” Penned in unusual gravitas, the report stated that “never before has man had the power he now has to bring about changes, some of them irreversible, on a scale that can affect people in all parts of the world and that can cause major but indeterminate environmental changes.”145 The panel distinguished between two types of problematic large-scale experiments. The first related to actions that were individually small but whose compounded effects could be serious, and the continuous release of CO2 was cited as an example. The second category comprised nuclear tests, which were comparatively fewer, but had much larger consequences (or so it was thought at the time). The committee thus recommended that ecological factors be considered along the technological, military and scientific objectives….
“Interestingly, the PSAC called for a U.N. conference on “environmental contamination” exactly a decade before the first global environmental meeting took place in Stockholm in June 1972, under the auspices of the U.N. As a matter of fact, the PSAC report concluded: “We urge active consideration of this proposal for a UN conference, especially in the light of what we believe to be an important need for the United States to be a leader on this issue instead of sometimes appearing to be one of the chief offenders.”147
144 E. B. Skolnikoff, PSAC, “International Science Panel: The Problem with Large-Scale Experimentation with Possible Environmental Effects,” 20 Sept 1962,
Loetscher Audrey, 2022. A History of Unsustainability: The U.S. Government, the Fossil Fuel Industry, and Climate Change ( 1957 -1992). PhD Thesis
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 317ppm. 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 concern about the possible consequences of industrialization were growing. There had already been the invention of the word “fall out” thanks to the (un)Lucky Dragon. There had been the pesticides and cranberries incident of 1959. There had been Rachel Carson’s articles in The New Yorker that were causing one hell of a storm as this came out, and there were fears about H-bomb tests setting fire to the atmosphere and even the planet being knocked off its orbit.
The specific context was that the PSAC, which had been set up in the aftermath of Sputnik, was beginning to join the dots.
What I think we can learn from this is that there are beneath the headlines, behind the scenes, people beavering away. They are shoved on stage, blinking for their line or two lines, and then they are hooked off stage.
What happened next Roger Revelle and others were looking at carbon dioxide build-up and this was one of the issues that got into Johnson’s mouth in February of 1965, and the PSAC report was released in November of ‘65.
On this topic, you might like these other posts on All Our Yesterdays
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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.
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Also on this day:
September 20, 1848 – the AAAS is born…
September 20, 1893 – first American-made gasoline-powered car hits theroad.
September 20, 1982 – “Carbon Dioxide, Science and Consensus” event
