Forty four years ago, on this day, May 8th, 1980, there was an ironic juxtaposition in the British science journal Nature…
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 338.7ppm. As of 2024 it is 425ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The context was that the synfuels battle had just happened. And Americans, political leaders had been warned about the geopolitical consequences of CO2. Other people were saying the same stuff.
What we learn is that CO2 was a really live issue in the late 70s, early 80s. People knew what was coming, they couldn’t say exactly when. And history is full of these delicious little moments, I guess.
What happened next, Exxon gave up on renewables and being vaguely responsible and all the rest of it and switched to denial very effectively. American politicians continued to be aware of CO2. There were congressional hearings, Senate hearings and then after 1985 it really picked up steam.
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:
May 8, 1972 – “Teach-in for Survival” in London
May 8, 1992 – UNFCCC text agreed. World basically doomed.
May 8, 2013 – we pass 400 parts per million. Trouble ahead.
May 8, 2015 – denialist denies in delusional denialist newspaper