Seventy six years ago,
The idea for the IGY is said to have taken off at a dinner hosted by the American geophysicist James Van Allen and his wife, Abigail Halsey Van Allen, on 5 April 1950.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 310ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that World War Two had set off an astonishing amount of accelerated progress around the ability to travel the world, to measure the world, etc, etc, radar, sonar, jet engines, the promise of satellites, etc.
The specific context was that the Cold War was on, all these concerns around whether modification etc were live, and a dinner at which the IGY was brainstormed makes a neat starting point and is worthy of further study. If I recall correctly, Fred Singer was present, which is kind of ironic.
What I think we can learn from this is that the longest journey starts with a single step. An avalanche begins with a single rock falling.
What happened next: the IGY did take place from July 1, 1957 to December 31 1958 and amidst that awareness of concerns about carbon dioxide build up started to hit the public. For example, the 1958 documentary by Frank Capra, the Unchained Goddess, needs to be seen in that context.
Also on this day:
April 5, 2005 – Coal21 holds first conference
April 5, 1971- a UK scientist explains “pollution in context”
April 5, 2008 – Charlton Heston dies, star of first movie to mention the greenhouse effect