For billions of years, natural processes alone, often working over millennia, drove Earth’s temperature and climate. For the last several centuries, human activities are a new driving force that is acting on a very short time scale. Knowing history helps chart necessary future actions with greater confidence. Since the end of the 17th century, investigations relating to Earth’s temperature and its climate have evolved from only scientific interest to also include practical concerns triggered by global warming. The early studies were relatively episodic with gaps of a decade or more common until the mid 20th century when they burgeoned starting with the International Geophysical Year. From the early to mid 1800s, to the early to mid 20th century, the investigations were at the initiation of the individual researchers. Starting in the mid 1950s, the investigations became more extensive, comprehensive and interrelated. Early researchers inferred that the atmosphere played a role in Earth’s temperature, and as far back as the 1850s it was concluded that higher CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere could result in warming Earth. Later investigations provided information on the mechanism which established that atmospheric CO2 concentration and its absorption and re-emitting of infrared radiation was a major factor in Earth’s temperature. Further, its increasing atmospheric concentration is a major driver of a warming globe at a rate far surpassing those detected in the geologic record. This paper traces the history of those researches based on the premise that knowing how we arrived at our current knowledge helps in supporting future research and actions to address the consequences of Earth’s warming.
Published in | International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 12, Issue 4) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13 |
Page(s) | 88-97 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Earth’s Temperature, Early Climate Studies, Summary of Early Climate Studies, Foundational Studies of Earth’s Temperature
GAS | HEAT RADIATION ABSORBED? | |
---|---|---|
FOOTE | TYNDALL | |
DRY AIR | NO | NO |
HYDROGEN | NO | NO |
OXYGEN | NO | NO |
CARBON DIOXIDE | YES | YES |
MOIST AIR | YES | YES |
AAAS | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
AIP | American Institute of Physics |
IGY | International Geophysical Year |
IPCC | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
NAP | National Academy of Sciences |
NOAA | National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration |
UCAR | University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Center for Science Education |
USDA | United States Department of Agriculture |
USGS | United States Geological Survey |
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APA Style
Isaac, R. A. (2024). A Brief Review of Investigations into Earth’s Temperature Since the Year 1800. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 12(4), 88-97. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13
ACS Style
Isaac, R. A. A Brief Review of Investigations into Earth’s Temperature Since the Year 1800. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2024, 12(4), 88-97. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13
@article{10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13, author = {Russell Anthony Isaac}, title = {A Brief Review of Investigations into Earth’s Temperature Since the Year 1800 }, journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis}, volume = {12}, number = {4}, pages = {88-97}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20241204.13}, abstract = {For billions of years, natural processes alone, often working over millennia, drove Earth’s temperature and climate. For the last several centuries, human activities are a new driving force that is acting on a very short time scale. Knowing history helps chart necessary future actions with greater confidence. Since the end of the 17th century, investigations relating to Earth’s temperature and its climate have evolved from only scientific interest to also include practical concerns triggered by global warming. The early studies were relatively episodic with gaps of a decade or more common until the mid 20th century when they burgeoned starting with the International Geophysical Year. From the early to mid 1800s, to the early to mid 20th century, the investigations were at the initiation of the individual researchers. Starting in the mid 1950s, the investigations became more extensive, comprehensive and interrelated. Early researchers inferred that the atmosphere played a role in Earth’s temperature, and as far back as the 1850s it was concluded that higher CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere could result in warming Earth. Later investigations provided information on the mechanism which established that atmospheric CO2 concentration and its absorption and re-emitting of infrared radiation was a major factor in Earth’s temperature. Further, its increasing atmospheric concentration is a major driver of a warming globe at a rate far surpassing those detected in the geologic record. This paper traces the history of those researches based on the premise that knowing how we arrived at our current knowledge helps in supporting future research and actions to address the consequences of Earth’s warming. }, year = {2024} }
TY - JOUR T1 - A Brief Review of Investigations into Earth’s Temperature Since the Year 1800 AU - Russell Anthony Isaac Y1 - 2024/08/27 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13 T2 - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis JF - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis JO - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis SP - 88 EP - 97 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-7667 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20241204.13 AB - For billions of years, natural processes alone, often working over millennia, drove Earth’s temperature and climate. For the last several centuries, human activities are a new driving force that is acting on a very short time scale. Knowing history helps chart necessary future actions with greater confidence. Since the end of the 17th century, investigations relating to Earth’s temperature and its climate have evolved from only scientific interest to also include practical concerns triggered by global warming. The early studies were relatively episodic with gaps of a decade or more common until the mid 20th century when they burgeoned starting with the International Geophysical Year. From the early to mid 1800s, to the early to mid 20th century, the investigations were at the initiation of the individual researchers. Starting in the mid 1950s, the investigations became more extensive, comprehensive and interrelated. Early researchers inferred that the atmosphere played a role in Earth’s temperature, and as far back as the 1850s it was concluded that higher CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere could result in warming Earth. Later investigations provided information on the mechanism which established that atmospheric CO2 concentration and its absorption and re-emitting of infrared radiation was a major factor in Earth’s temperature. Further, its increasing atmospheric concentration is a major driver of a warming globe at a rate far surpassing those detected in the geologic record. This paper traces the history of those researches based on the premise that knowing how we arrived at our current knowledge helps in supporting future research and actions to address the consequences of Earth’s warming. VL - 12 IS - 4 ER -