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Questions 1. Which scientist first suggested that the atmosphere was similar to a greenhouse? Is the idea that the atmosphere works like a greenhouse a good one? (This Internet site might help - Bad Greenhouse) 2. An Irish scientist discovered that another gas besides carbon dioxide was a greenhouse gas. What was the gas and who was the scientist? Use the Internet or other information sources to find out about the life and work of this Irish scientist. 3. Look at the chart at the bottom of the page. Is there any evidence that global warming may have started in the 19th. century? 4. When and why did some scientist predict a new ice age? 5. When was the first major international conference on the greenhouse effect? What prediction were made? 6. If you compare the 1980s and the 1880s what evidence is there for climate change? 7. What happened in the 1990s that seems to have reversed global warming temporarily? 8. Why are small island states so concerned about global warming? 9. The USA and Europe and other developed parts of the world produce more greenhouse gases than undeveloped countries. Why is this the case? 10. Developing countries are likely to increase their output of CO2 and other gases. What future action would you suggest these developing countries should take to limit the impact of their industrialisation on the atmosphere? What should developed countries do in order to take a lead and influence the leaders of the developing countries? |
1827:French polymath Jean-Baptiste Fourier suggests the existence of an atmospheric effect keeping the Earth warmer than it would otherwise be. He also uses the analogy of a greenhouse 1863:Irish scientist John Tyndall publishes paper describing how water vapour can be a greenhouse gas 1890s: Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius and an American, P.C. Chamberlain, independently consider the problems that might be caused by a CO2 building up in the atmosphere. Both scientists realise that the burning of fossil fuels could lead to global warming, but neither suspects the process might already have started 1890s to 1940:Average surface air temperatures increase by about 0.25 °C. Some scientist see American dustbowl as a sign of the greenhouse effect at work 1940 to 1970:Worldwide cooling of 0.2 °C; scientific interest in greenhouse effect wanes. Some climatologists predict a new ice age 1957:US oceanographer Roger Revelle warns that humans were conducting a "large-scale geophysical experiment" on the planet by releasing greenhouse gases. Colleague David Keeling sets up first continuous monitoring of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Immediately Keeling finds regular year-on-year rise 1970s: Series of studies by US Department of Energy crank up concern about future global warming 1979:First World Climate Conference adopts climate change as major issue and calls on governments "to foresee and prevent potential manmade changes in climate." 1985:First major international conference on the greenhouse effect, at Villach, Austria, warns that greenhouse gases will "in the first half of the next century cause a rise of global mean temperature which is greater than any in man's history." Says this could cause sea levels to rise by up to a metre. Also warns that gases other than CO2, such as methane, ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide, will contribute to warming 1987:Warmest year on record. The 1980s turn out to be the warmest decade, with seven of the eight warmest years up to 1990. The coldest years in the 1980s were warmer than the warmest years of the 1880s 1988:Global warming attracts worldwide headlines after scientists at Congressional hearings in Washington DC blame major US drought on its influence. Meeting of climate scientists in Toronto subsequently calls for 20 per cent cuts in global CO2 emissions by year 2005. UN sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to analyse and report on scientific findings 1990:IPCC's first report finds that planet has warmed by 0.5 °C in the past century. Warns that only strong measures to halt rising greenhouse gas emissions will prevent serious global warming. Provides scientific clout for UN negotiations for a climate convention. Negotiations begin after December UN General Assembly 1991:Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Philippines, throwing debris into the stratosphere that shields Earth from solar energy and helps interrupt the warming trend. Average temperatures drop for two years before rising again. Scientists point out that this event shows how sensitive global temperatures are to disruption 1992:Climate Change Convention, signed by 154 nations in Rio, agrees to prevent "dangerous" warming from greenhouse gases and sets initial target of pegging emissions from industrialised countries to 1990 levels by year 2000 1994:Alliance of Small Island States from all over the world--many of whom fear they will disappear beneath the waves as sea levels rise -- adopt demand for 20 per cent cuts in emissions by the year 2005. This, they say, will cap sea-level rise at 20 centimetres 1995:Hottest year yet. In March, first full meeting of convention signatories in Berlin, agrees Berlin Mandate. Industrialised nations agree on the need to negotiate real cuts in their emissions, to be concluded by the end of 1997 In November, the IPCC casts caution to the winds and agrees that current warming "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and that "the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate". Report predicts that, under a "business as usual" scenario, global warming by the year 2100 will be in the range of 1 degree C to 3.5 °C 1996:At second meeting of the Climate Change Convention, the US agrees for the first time to legally binding emissions targets and sides with the IPCC against influential "sceptical" scientists After four-year pause, global emissions of CO2 resume steep climb. Growing warnings that most industrialised countries will not meet Rio agreement to stabilise emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000 Early 1997:Republican-dominated Congress backtracks on Berlin
Mandate, and states that it will only ratify a new agreement
limiting US emissions if developing countries also accept limits.
US Administration calls for "flexibility measures"
such as emissions trading. Meanwhile European Union agrees to
propose 15 per cent cuts for industrialised nations (Source - New Scientist) |
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