Global Warming Events

300BC Theophrastus observes that human activity affects climate
Theophrastus, a student of Greek philosopher Aristotle, documents that human activity can affect climate. He observes that drainage of marshes cools an area around Thessaly and that clear...
1760
to 1830
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomi...
1824 Joseph Fourier discovers "greenhouse effect"
Fourier is credited with the discovery in 1824 that gases in the atmosphere might increase the surface temperature of the Earth. This was the effect that would later be called the greenho...
1837 Louis Agassiz shows changes in Alpine glaciers
In 1837 Agassiz was the first to scientifically propose that the Earth had been subject to a past ice age. In the same year, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy o...
1860 Scientist John Tyndall shows that gas molecules trap heat
Tyndall explained the heat in the Earth's atmosphere in terms of the capacities of the various gases in the air to absorb radiant heat, a.k.a. infrared radiation. His measuring device, wh...
1896 Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius quantifies carbon dioxide's role in warming the Earth
Arrhenius developed a theory to explain the ice ages, and first speculated that changes in the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could substantially alter the surface temperature...
1957
to 1958
U.S. scientist Charles Keeling measures carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
U.S. scientist Charles Keeling sets up stations to measure carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere at the South Pole and at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. The measurements have shown a steady...
1965 U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's Science Advisory Committee issues report on global warming
The report of the Environmental Pollution Panel, President's Science Advisory Committee, dated November 1965, is entitled "Restoring the Quality of Our Environment" (Government Printing O...
1988 The United Nations sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific intergovernmental body tasked with evaluating the risk of climate change caused by human activity. The panel was estab...
1990 The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change completes its first assessment report
The IPCC first assessment report was completed in 1990, and served as the basis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The executive summary of the WG I...
1995 The IPCC issues its second assessment report
Climate Change 1995, the IPCC Second Assessment Report (SAR), was finished in 1996. It is split into four parts: * A synthesis to help interpret UNFCCC article 2. * The Scienc...
1997 Dec 11 Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases is agreed on
The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at combating global warming. The UNFCCC is an international environme...
2000 Apr 22 Earth Day 2000
The time is long overdue to begin constructing energy systems based on indigenous solar, wind, biofuels, and other sustainable sources. In rich countries and poor, Earth Day 2000 will agg...
2001 The IPCC issues its third assessment report
The Third Assessment Report (TAR) consists of four reports, three of them from its working groups: * Working Group I: The Scientific Basis * Working Group II: Impacts, Adaptat...
2006 Feb 16 Study from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Determines Greenland's Glaciers Melting Twice as Fast as Previously Estimated
Satellite observations indicate that Greenland's glaciers have been dumping ice into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that's doubled over the past five years, researchers reported here on Thu...
2006 May 24 An Inconvenient Truth Hits Theaters
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film, directed by Davis Guggenheim, about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a...
2007 Jul 7 Live Earth 2007
The first series of benefit concerts were held on July 7, 2007. The concerts brought together more than 150 musical acts in eleven locations around the world which were broadcast to a mas...
2009 Dec 7 Day One of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Reporting from Copenhagen - After a long day of dire warnings and impassioned pleas about the world's changing climate, hundreds of Danes and visitors from around the globe bundled themse...
2009 Dec 8 Day Two of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The second day of the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen for a 12-day conference kicked off on a high note with encouraging words from UNFCCC Executive S...
2009 Dec 9 Day Three of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The U.S. and China exchanged barbs Wednesday at the Copenhagen climate talks, underscoring the abiding suspicion between the world's two largest carbon polluters about the sincerity of th...
2009 Dec 10 Day Four of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
While negotiations continue over the formation of an international emissions treaty in Copenhagen (COP15), the run up to the conference helped develop a rash of announcements regarding em...
2009 Dec 11 Day Five of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
A first draft text presented to the Copenhagen Climate on Friday sets a minimum goal of halving world emissions by 2050. Earlier in the week, emerging nations said that such a target ...
2009 Dec 12 Day Six of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The protests didn’t prove to be too much of a distraction, however, as lead Chinese climate negotiator Su Wei said during a press briefing on Saturday (Day 6) that he wasn’t aware of them...
2009 Dec 13 Day Seven of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Held December 12 and 13 at Forum Copenhagen, the Bright Green Expo featured exhibits by more than 170 companies from 19 countries showing their cutting-edge products. "There is no need to...
2009 Dec 14 Day Eight of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Poor countries ended their temporary boycott of the UN climate change summit on Monday, receiving assurances that rich nations were not conspiring against them to reduce their commitments...
2009 Dec 15 Day Nine of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
The gesture seemed lighthearted, but the message was not: Progress has been halting in international climate negotiations here. Yvo de Boer, the top United Nations climate official her...
2009 Dec 16 Day Ten of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Danish police today arrested 230 people at various points around Copenhagen, where world leaders and officials are meeting for UN climate talks. The news came as thousands of protester...
2009 Dec 17 Day Eleven of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday just as climate negotiations had “reached a critical junction” and talks were “difficult”, as she said at a press b...
2009 Dec 18 Day Twelve of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009
Wen delivered a speech titled "Build Consensus and Strengthen Cooperation to Advance the Historical Process of Combating Climate Change" at the opening session of the leaders' meeting of ...