Sixty five years ago, on this day, June 8th, 1958, another of those ‘the world is warming’ articles…,
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 314ppm. As of 2024 it is 426ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that Australian newspapers were fond of articles about the changing climate and droughts because Australia is a land of scorching droughts, or whatever the Dorothea Mackellar poem goes. And of course, the International Geophysical Year was just behind us, so everyone was able to have an opinion about the weather. It fills column inches.
What we learn is that the idea of ice caps melting, for whatever cause, was not new. And it wasn’t new in 1958. As we’ve shown here, the great deluge in 1932 in The New York Times, “is the world warming?” and Time and so forth in 1950.
What happened next? Various little mentions of carbon dioxide build up. In Australia press, possibly notably the cartoon in 1965 in the Sydney Morning Herald, and two years later, Canberra Times. It’s fairly niche, though, it’s got to be said.
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:
June 8, 1973 – Australian Treasury dismisses carbon dioxide build-up. Yes, 1973.
June 8, 1973 – Australian Treasury forced to acknowledge carbon dioxide…