Forty-eight years ago, on this day, December 8th, 1976,
IASA workshop on climate and solar energy conversion. Report released in 1977.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 332ppm. As of 2024 it is 425ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that IIASA was a new outfit and needed to get hold of some issues that nobody else was really talking about, and to play to its strengths across the Iron Curtain. Climate was a good choice. They ran with it.
This is also in the context of Kissinger making his speech to the United Nations General Assembly and National Academy of Sciences pushing their Energy and Climate report and so forth. And the meeting in the UEA Climatic Research Unit in 75 that had said “yeah, it’s gonna get warmer.” I mean serious people were not doubting this at this point.
What we learn is that smart people have been thinking about it for a long time.
What happened next? The issue could have broken through in the late 1970s, but it would actually be 1988 before things got real.
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:
December 8, 1981 – Thames TV shows “Warming Warning” documentary
December 8, 2003 – Chief Scientific Advisor under microscope for Rio Tinto role