Why did government organizations become worried about global climate change?

Answer 1

Until the 1950s, climate scientists took little notice of climate change. There was not enough evidence to justify it as a field of study, and it was felt that even if the climate was changing, it would have no real effect on society for centuries to come. So scientists advised governments and their organisations to fund what were seen as more useful fields of study.

During the 1970s, the greenhouse effect became a major topic in many overlapping scientific fields. Scientists began to realise that climate change was happening and eventually determined that a bit over half of the effect of humans on climate change is due to emissions of CO2 (mainly from fossil fuels but also from deforestation and cement manufacture), while the rest is due to methane and other gases emitted by human activities; atmospheric pollution by smoke and dust; and changes in land use. Many scientists pointed out that if humanity's emissions continued they seemed bound to bring a warming unprecedented in the past million years, with changes "much faster than previously experienced by natural ecosystems..."

In the first decade of this century, international panels of experts reviewed the evidence, and announced conclusions that were checked by virtually all the major national science academies, scientific societies, government science agencies and other bodies representative of scientific expertise. All these bodies agreed that the world faced a serious problem and recommended that governments adopt strict policies to restrict greenhouse gas emissions. It is on the basis of reports such as these that government organisations have become worried about global warming and climate change.