Climate Change Timeline

  • Svante Arrhenius publishes first calculation of global warming from human emissions of carbon dioxide.

  • U.S. Office of Naval Research begins generous funding of many fields of science to gain understanding of climate change

  • Studies suggest a possibility of collapse of Antarctic ice sheets, which would raise sea levels catastrophically.

  • Strong global warming since mid-1970s is reported, with 1981 the warmest year on record.

  • Mean global temperature is 14.8°C, the warmest in tens of thousands of years. Level of CO2 in the atmosphere is 418 ppm, the highest in millions of years.