-
Evidence for the rise in global temperature
In 1938, Guy Callendar, a British engineer, was the first to demonstrate a link between rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and global warming, showing that global temperatures had risen by about 0.3°C over the previous 50 years. He argued that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) from the combustion of fossil fuels was responsible for much of this modern climate change. -
The solar cell
In 1954, the invention of the first practical silicon solar cell by Bell Labs, led by Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson, marked a significant milestone, paving the way for the development of solar energy technology and its widespread applications today. -
Connection between rising CO2 and fossil fuel emissions
In 1958, Charles David Keeling's measurements at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which became known as the Keeling Curve, provided the first concrete evidence of rising atmospheric CO2 levels, directly linking them to the burning of fossil fuels and human activities. -
First model of Earth's changing climate
In 1967, Syukuro Manabe and Richard Wetherald published a paper, now considered foundational in climate science, which used a 1D radiative-convective model to predict a global temperature increase of roughly 2°C if atmospheric CO2 doubled, a prediction that aligns well with observed warming. -
First prediction of melting ice caps
In a landmark paper, Mercer, a glaciologist at Ohio State University, predicted that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), which is grounded below sea level, could collapse and lead to a rapid rise in sea levels. -
Earth's temperatures measured by satellites
In 1969, the NASA's Nimbus-3 satellite provided the first global temperature measurements from orbit, revolutionizing climate and weather studies by enabling accurate temperature retrievals from the tropospheric column, particularly over oceans. -
Drilling deep into ice caps
When a team of French and former Soviet scientists extracted an Antarctic ice core over 2,000 metres long in 1985, they were able to tell what atmospheric conditions were like 150,000 years ago. -
Ozone hole detected
In 1985, three scientists from BAS reported that they had detected abnormally low levels of ozone over the South Pole, the world was shocked. They suggested that compounds called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), often used in aerosol cans and fridges, could be responsible. Their findings led to the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which called for the reduction, and then total ban of CFCs. -
IPCC begins
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), provides governments with the scientific basis for developing climate policies by assessing the science of climate change, its impacts, and potential response options. So far, the IPCC has published five Assessment Reports written by the world’s most renowned experts on climate change. These are the most comprehensive scientific reports produced about climate change worldwide. -
Coral Reefs in danger
US scientists Professor Stephen Smith and Professor Robert Buddemeier were the first to warn of this consequence of ocean acidification. And research by Dr Steve Widdicombe from Plymouth Marine Laboratory has shown that burrowing heart sea urchins are extremely vulnerable to ocean acidification. sea urchins are important. They act like earthworms, stirring up the seabed and releasing nutrients for other organisms to use. -
First climate change legislation
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was the first international treaty designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions and prevent climate change. This also led directly to the 1995 Kyoto Protocol, which committed industrialized countries and economies to limit and reduce greenhouse gases emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets -
Connection between severe weather and climate change
Professor Pete Stott, a scientist at the UK Met Office, published a paper in the scientific journal Nature showing that climate change had doubled the risk of the 2003 European heatwave that killed tens of thousands of people. His finding led to a growing scientific movement called extreme event attribution. -
Impacts of the Arctic
Around 50,000 scientists, students and support staff from over 60 nations convened to unlock the secrets of the Arctic and Antarctic. The Greenland ice sheet, parts of the Antarctic ice sheet, and Arctic sea ice are melting at rates that are unprecedented in the last 10,000 years. Climate change is already having a measurable effect on lifeforms throughout the food chain, from microbes to polar bears. The poles are also warming faster than the rest of the planet. -
Ice collapse is irreversible
A special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that part of an ice sheet known as the Amundsen Sea embayment of West Antarctica might have already passed a tipping point, with collapse now unavoidable. Climate models suggest that when this sector collapses, it could destabilize the rest of the West Antarctic ice sheet like falling dominoes. This would cause sea levels to rise by three meters over a timescale of centuries to millennia. -
Losing life on Earth is unprecedented
Up to one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, and many could die out within decades. Up to one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, and many could die out within decades. The rate of species extinctions is also accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world. More than 40% of amphibian species are now at risk of extinction. Over a third of all marine mammals and 33% of reef-forming corals are also threatened.