Frank GresslinAug 14, 2023

#History
Mayor milestones from Eunice Foote, 1856, to the UK stating in 2023 that it will ‘max out’ fossil fuels. A threat! 🧵

1856: Eunice Foote
1896: Svante Arrhenius
1912: Rodney/Otamatea Times
1953: Gilbert Plass
1966: Mining Journal
1972: The Limits to Growth
1977: Exxon knew
1977: White House Memo
1981: Warming Warning
1985: Carl Sagan
1988: James Hansen
1992: Rio Summit
1997: Kyoto Protocol
2015: Paris Agreement
2023: UK ‘max out’ fossil fuels

Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1856] #EuniceFoote
“Foote’s brief scientific paper was the first to describe the extraordinary power of #CarbonDioxide gas to absorb heat – the driving force of #GlobalWarming.” [2/16]
https://theconversation.com/scientists-understood-physics-of-climate-change-in-the-1800s-thanks-to-a-woman-named-eunice-foote-164687
Scientists understood physics of climate change in the 1800s – thanks to a woman named Eunice Foote

The results of Foote’s simple experiments were confirmed through hundreds of tests by scientists in the US and Europe. It happened more than a century ago.

The Conversation
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1896] #SvanteArrhenius
“[Arrhenius] warned that if those same [#CO2] levels increased by 50%, the planet would experience a warming of between 5 and 6°C” [3/16]
https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/leading-figures/svante-arrhenius-the-man-who-foresaw-climate-change/
Svante Arrhenius, the Man Who Foresaw Climate Change | OpenMind

Svante Arrhenius, awarded with the Nobel prize, discovered at the end of the 19th century that CO2 emissions caused an increase in the planet's temperature.

OpenMind
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1912] #Rodney&OtamateaTimes
“The furnaces of the world are now burning about 2,000,000,000 tons of #Coal a year […] adding about 7,000,000,000 tons of #CarbonDioxide to the #Atmosphere yearly. […] The effect may be considerable in a few centuries." [4/16]
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ROTWKG19120814.2.56.5
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1953] #GilbertPlass
“The large increase in industrial activity during the present century is discharging so much #CarbonDioxide into the #Atmosphere that the average temperature is rising at the rate of 1.5 degrees per century.” [5/16]
https://theconversation.com/climate-change-first-went-viral-exactly-70-years-ago-205508
Climate change first ‘went viral’ exactly 70 years ago

In May 1953, scientist Gilbert Plass made some extraordinarily prescient comments.

The Conversation
Show threadFrank Gresslin
[1966] #MiningCongressJournal
“Such changes in temperature will cause melting of the #PolarIcecaps, which, in turn, would result in the inundation of many coastal cities, including New York and London.” [6/16]
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/coal-industry-climate-change_n_5dd6bbebe4b0e29d7280984f
Coal Knew, Too

A newly unearthed journal from 1966 shows the coal industry, like the oil industry, was long aware of the threat of climate change.

HuffPost UK
Aug 14, 2023 at 5:49pmWeb
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1972] #TheLimitsToGrowth
“If industrial society continued to grow unchecked, it would exhaust Earth’s resources and lead to civilisational #Collapse by the middle of the 21st century.” [7/16]
https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-civilization-collapse-mit-2653980183.html
1972 Warning of Civilizational Collapse Was on Point, New Study Finds

In 1972, a group of MIT scientists published an alarming prediction: If industrial society continued to grow unchecked, it would exhaust Earth's resources and lead to civilizational collapse by the middle of the 21st century. The Limits to Growth sparked controversy, but new research says we are currently on track to living out its warnings.

EcoWatch
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1977] #ExxonKnew
“It gives us airtight evidence that #ExxonMobil accurately predicted global warming years before, then turned around and attacked the #Science underlying it.” [8/16]
https://phys.org/news/2023-01-exxon-mobil-accurately-1970s.html
Study: Exxon Mobil accurately predicted warming since 1970s

Exxon Mobil's scientists were remarkably accurate in their predictions about global warming, even as the company made public statements that contradicted its own scientists' conclusions, a new study says.

Phys.org
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1977] #WhiteHouseMemo
“A rapid #ClimateChange may result in large scale #CropFailures at a time when an increased world population taxes agriculture to the limits of productivity.” [9/16]
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/14/1977-us-presidential-memo-predicted-climate-change
The 1977 White House climate memo that should have changed the world

Years before the climate crisis was part of national discourse, this memo to the president predicted catastrophe

The Guardian
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1981] #WarmingWarning
“ITV broadcast an hour-long #Documentary. It was among the earliest occasions […] where a major broadcaster aired a documentary dedicated solely to the topic of human-caused #ClimateChange.” [10/16]
https://www.carbonbrief.org/warming-warning-1981-tv-documentary-warned-climate-change/
The 1981 TV documentary that warned about global warming - Carbon Brief

On 8 December, 1981, the UK's only commercial TV channel, ITV, broadcast an hour-long documentary called "Warming Warning", about global warming.

Carbon Brief
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1985] #CarlSagan in Congress
“It is an intergenerational problem. If we don’t do the right thing now, there are very serious problems that our children and grandchildren will have to face.” [11/16]
https://youtu.be/Wp-WiNXH6hI
Carl Sagan testifying before Congress in 1985 on climate change

YouTube
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1988] #JamesHansen in Congress
''It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the #GreenhouseEffect is here.'' [12/16]
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/24/us/global-warming-has-begun-expert-tells-senate.html
Global Warming Has Begun, Expert Tells Senate

The New York Times
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1992] #RioSummit
“The international community adopted #Agenda21, an unprecedented global plan of action for #SustainableDevelopment.” [13/16]
https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3-14 June 1992 | United Nations

United Nations
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[1997] #KyotoProtocol
“The protocol called for reducing the emissions of six #GreenhouseGases in 41 countries plus the European Union to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels.” [14/16]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol
Kyoto Protocol - Wikipedia

Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[2015] #ParisAgreement
“We struggle to name any #Climate scientist who at that time thought the #ParisAgreement was feasible. […] No one thought limiting [warming] to 1.5°C was possible.” [15/16]
https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368
Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap

Prominent academics, including a former IPCC chair, round on governments worldwide for using the concept of net zero emissions to ‘greenwash’ their lack of commitment to solving global warming.

The Conversation
Show threadFrank GresslinAug 14, 2023
[2023] #UKmaxOutFossilFuels
“[The Prime Minister] has unveiled a plan to authorise more than 100 new licences to drill for #OilAndGas in the North Sea, pledging to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves” [16/16]
https://www.carbonbrief.org/daily-brief/dismay-as-rishi-sunak-vows-to-max-out-uk-fossil-fuel-reserves/
Dismay as Rishi Sunak vows to ‘max out’ UK fossil fuel reserves - Carbon Brief

Rishi Sunak plans to authorise more than 100 new licences to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea, pledging to “max out” the UK’s oil and gas reserves.

Carbon Brief