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Milestones in Global Climate Change, by Victor M. Ponce * | ||||||||
Contributor | Name | Lifespan | Country | Field | Title | Accomplishments | Impact | Reference |
Arrhenius, Svante August | 1859-1927 | Sweden | Physics, physical chemistry | Rector and Professor of Physics, Stockholm University, Sweden; Nobel Prize (Chemistry), 1903 | Wrote a scientific paper entitled: On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground," published in the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Series 5, Vol. 41, No. 251, April 1896, p. 237-276. | First to extensively document the science of global climate change as a function of the secondary constituents of the atmosphere. | Arrhenius, G., K. Caldwell, and S. Wold. (2008). "A tribute to the memory of Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927), a scientist ahead of his time," Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden. | |
Rossby, Carl Gustaf | 1898-1957 | Sweden/ USA | Meteorology, atmospheric chemistry | Professor of Meteorology, University of Chicago; Director of the Institute of Meteorology, Stockholm, Sweden | A pioneer in the field of atmospheric chemistry. He initiated atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements in Sweden in the 1950s. | First to perform atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements. | "A tribute to the memory of Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927), a scientist ahead of his time." | |
Revelle, Roger Randall Dougan | 1909-1991 | USA | Oceanography | Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California | Instrumental in creating the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1958, and founding chairman of the first Committee on Climate Change and the Ocean. In 1957, Revelle coauthored a paper which suggested that anthropogenic gas emissions might create a "greehouse effect" that would cause global climate change over time. | Among the first to recognize the global reach of anthropogenic gas emissions. | Roger Revelle, Wikipedia. | |
Keeling, Charles David | 1928-2005 | USA | Chemistry | Professor of Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California | Measured atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, and developed the Keeling curve, which shows the growth of measured carbon dioxide concentration, starting in 1958. The Keeling curve is the longest continuous record of measured atmospheric carbon dioxide in the world. | First to alert the world to the anthropogenic contribution to the "greenhouse effect" and global climate change. | Charles David Keeling, Wikipedia. | |
Gore, Albert Arnold (Al) | 1948- | USA | National politics, environmental activism | Vicepresident, USA, 1993-2001; Nobel Prize (Peace), 2007 | In 1991, he wrote the book "Earth in the Balance," which first alerted society at-large to the dangers of global warming. His 2006 Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" popularized the concept of global climate change. | Made "global warming" a household word. | Gore, Al. (1991). Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. Plume. |
* This contribution was inspired by Jeanne Vloyanetes and Rosemary Caliendo, New Jersey educators. | 200415 |