A timeline of climate change milestones, from 1800 to now

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Who coined "the greenhouse effect"? Which year was the hottest on record? A timeline of climate change milestones, from 1800 to now.

1800: At the dawn of the industrial revolution, planet's CO₂ concentration is around 280 ppm—38% lower than today.

1896: Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius publishes first study tying CO₂ emissions to fossil fuels.

1937: University of Wisconsin geographer Glenn Trewartha helps coin the term "greenhouse effect."

1938: English engineer G.S. Callendar asserts that CO₂ increases are warming the planet, suggests this will make cold areas more habitable.

1958: Scientists begin to track CO₂ levels and soon observe increases. First official studies show level at 315 ppm.

1960: Soviet Union publishes essay titled "Man Versus Climate" that advocates deliberate planet heating to unthaw Arctic and boost farm output.

April 22, 1970: First Earth Day. US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) created 5 months later.

1975: National Academy of Sciences report warns of "serious worldwide cooling" in the next 100 years, sparking fears of new ice age.

July 1981: A young US represent-ative from Tennessee, Albert Gore Jr., organizes climate change hearing on Capitol Hill. Media attendance sparse.

1985: Scientists at Villach conference in Austria reach consensus that global warming is happening and international treaties needed to curb emissions.

1988: UN-led Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is established to assess state of knowledge on climate change.

1989: National Association of Manufacturers along with oil and auto companies form Global Climate Coalition to fight carbon restrictions.

1992: At Rio Earth Summit, US blocks calls for serious action; President George H.W. Bush declares, "The American way of life is not negotiable."

1995: UN-led international climate negotiations begin.

December 11, 1997: First global climate treaty, Kyoto Protocol, adopted.

November 12, 1998: President Bill Clinton signs the Kyoto Protocol, a symbolic gesture; Senate has already rejected it 95-to-0.

March 2001: President George W. Bush withdraws US from Kyoto treaty.

2001: Hottest year on record.

July 28, 2003: US Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) says on Senate floor that global warming is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die.

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million.

December 7, 2004: Michael Crichton's State of Fear, which features climate change as environmentalist hoax, published; Bush reported to have "avidly read" book.

February 16, 2005: Kyoto Protocol goes into effect for 130 countries.

May 2005: Mother Jones reveals ExxonMobil spent more than $8 million from '00 to '03 funding climate change deniers.

December 8, 2006: Inhofe's Senate committee releases 68-page "A Skeptic's Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism."

January 2007: New House Speaker Nancy Pelosi creates climate change committee.

2007: IPCC releases fourth report, concluding again that global warming is caused by humans.

May 7, 2007: Three decades ahead of projections, scientists report record lows in Arctic summer ice.

October 12, 2007: IPCC and Al Gore awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

December 15, 2007: Papua New Guinea's delegate tells US reps at Bali climate negotiations to step up or "get out of the way."

February 1, 2008: ExxonMobil reports $40.6 billion profit—the largest for any US company ever.

February 2008: An iceberg bigger than Manhattan breaks off the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

April 2008: Hansen warns that a CO₂ concentration over 350 ppm isn't compatible with "a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted."

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record.

February 1, 2009: NOAA finds that effects of climate change will be "largely irreversible" for more than 1,000 years after emissions stop.

June 26, 2009: American Clean Energy and Security Act, a.k.a. Waxman-Markey bill, passes House.

2009: Conservative Washington Post columnist George Will pens several syndicated pieces saying planet is actually cooling; readers, scientists go ballistic; Post reporters so embarrassed, they debunk claims in paper's news pages.

April 2009: Global CO₂ concentration reaches 387 ppm, projected to reach 866 ppm by century's end if unchecked.

December 7-18, 2009: Nations to meet in Copenhagen to negotiate successor treaty to Kyoto Protocol.

Andy Kroll is an editorial intern at Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/200...nd-warming-road

[Joseph & Ana 0]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

[one...two...tree 2,762]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

Global temperature records are relevant to tracking Climate Change. However, if you said it was the hottest day on record for Detroit...that would be completely different.

It's funny that you zeroed in on the fictional movie but overlooked the timeline entry of Michael Crighten's fictional book about Global Warming being a conspiratorial hoax.

[Joseph & Ana 0]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

Global temperature records are relevant to tracking Climate Change. However, if you said it was the hottest day on record for Detroit...that would be completely different.

It's funny that you zeroed in on the fictional movie but overlooked the timeline entry of Michael Crighten's fictional book about Global Warming being a conspiratorial hoax.

You forget that he wrote Jurassic Park - your favorite movie.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

Global temperature records are relevant to tracking Climate Change. However, if you said it was the hottest day on record for Detroit...that would be completely different.

It's funny that you zeroed in on the fictional movie but overlooked the timeline entry of Michael Crighten's fictional book about Global Warming being a conspiratorial hoax.

You forget that he wrote Jurassic Park - your favorite movie.

He's a great fictional writer...no doubt about that.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I thought 98 was the hottest year?

[Joseph & Ana 0]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

Global temperature records are relevant to tracking Climate Change. However, if you said it was the hottest day on record for Detroit...that would be completely different.

It's funny that you zeroed in on the fictional movie but overlooked the timeline entry of Michael Crighten's fictional book about Global Warming being a conspiratorial hoax.

You forget that he wrote Jurassic Park - your favorite movie.

He's a great fictional writer...no doubt about that.

He's dead - just FYI

I thought 98 was the hottest year?

Don't worry, it'll take them some time to get their stories straight.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

Global temperature records are relevant to tracking Climate Change. However, if you said it was the hottest day on record for Detroit...that would be completely different.

It's funny that you zeroed in on the fictional movie but overlooked the timeline entry of Michael Crighten's fictional book about Global Warming being a conspiratorial hoax.

You forget that he wrote Jurassic Park - your favorite movie.

He's a great fictional writer...no doubt about that.

He's dead - just FYI

May he RIP

[Joseph & Ana 0]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

Global temperature records are relevant to tracking Climate Change. However, if you said it was the hottest day on record for Detroit...that would be completely different.

It's funny that you zeroed in on the fictional movie but overlooked the timeline entry of Michael Crighten's fictional book about Global Warming being a conspiratorial hoax.

You forget that he wrote Jurassic Park - your favorite movie.

He's a great fictional writer...no doubt about that.

He's dead - just FYI

May he RIP

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I really wish there were a 4.. Is it for real?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Why would you want a JP4 - the last 3 were $hit.

[Joseph & Ana 0]

Why would you want a JP4 - the last 3 were $hit.

I like them.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

2001: Hottest year on record. (weather again)

Summer 2003: Heat wave hits Europe; 35,000 die. (weather again)

May 30, 2004: Climate change dystopia The Day After Tomorrow released; will bring in more than $544 million. (I thought this movie was all BS as Hal said in another post?)

2008: Ties 2001 as hottest year on record. (weather again)

Global temperature records are relevant to tracking Climate Change. However, if you said it was the hottest day on record for Detroit...that would be completely different.

It's funny that you zeroed in on the fictional movie but overlooked the timeline entry of Michael Crighten's fictional book about Global Warming being a conspiratorial hoax.

You forget that he wrote Jurassic Park - your favorite movie.

He's a great fictional writer...no doubt about that.

He's dead - just FYI

May he RIP

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I really wish there were a 4.. Is it for real?

lol

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Why would you want a JP4 - the last 3 were $hit.

I like them.

Yeah I really felt the tension in the last one. Not.

[Joseph & Ana 0]

Why would you want a JP4 - the last 3 were $hit.

I like them.

Yeah I really felt the tension in the last one. Not.

I don't watch them for tension

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Storytelling then? It was very gripping when Sam Neill had to search through the pile of dino ####### looking for his lost cell phone.