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In 1896 Svante Arrhenius speculated that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could raise the temperature through the greenhouse effect.

He wrote his "Greenhouse Law":

If the quantity of carbonic acid increases in geometric progression, the augmentation of the temperature will increase nearly in arithmetic progression.

He was the first person to predict that carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) would lead to global warming.

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How long have scientists been aware of the issue of global warming?

Scientists have been aware of the issue of global warming since the late 19th century, when the concept was first introduced by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius.


What scientists described a base as a compound that accepts a proton?

Swedish chemists Jöns Jacob Berzelius and Svante Arrhenius were among the first to describe bases in this manner in the early 19th and 20th centuries, respectively. They established the concept that bases are compounds that accept protons (H+ ions) in chemical reactions, forming salts.


Who are three scientists who discovered global warming?

The first serious research conducted on the effect of changes in CO2 levels was in 1896, when Arrhenius completed a laborious numerical computation which suggested that cutting the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by half could lower the temperature in Europe some 4-5°C (roughly 7-9°F) - that is, to an ice age level. Arrhenius made a calculation for doubling the CO2 in the atmosphere, and estimated it would raise the Earth's temperature some 5-6°C (averaged over all zones of latitude). Arrhenius did not see that as a problem. He figured that if industry continued to burn fuel at the current (1896) rate, it would take perhaps three thousand years for the CO2 level to rise so high. In any case Arrhenius and other researchers were only interested in explaining the Ice Ages. No one seriously believed that global warming was coming. After much criticism, the work of Arrhenius was ignored by the scientific community. In 1931, an American physicist, E.O. Hulburt, produced calculations supported Arrhenius's estimate that doubling or halving CO2 would bring something like a 4°C rise or fall of surface temperature, but he was a relatively uknown scientist and published his work in a little known Journal. In 1938 an English engineer, Guy Stewart Callendar, compiled measurements of temperatures from the nineteenth century onwards and confirmed that there was a warming trend. He went on to evaluate old measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and concluded that over the previous hundred years the concentration of the gas had increased by about 10 per cent. Callendar asserted that this could explain the observed warming.


When did scientists first find out about greenhouse gas?

The first serious research conducted on the effect of changes in CO2 levels was in 1896, when Arrhenius completed a laborious numerical computation which suggested that cutting the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by half could lower the temperature in Europe some 4-5°C (roughly 7-9°F) - that is, to an ice age level. Arrhenius made a calculation for doubling the CO2 in the atmosphere, and estimated it would raise the Earth's temperature some 5-6°C (averaged over all zones of latitude). Arrhenius did not see that as a problem. He figured that if industry continued to burn fuel at the current (1896) rate, it would take perhaps three thousand years for the CO2 level to rise so high. In any case Arrhenius and other researchers were only interested in explaining the Ice Ages. No one seriously believed that global warming was coming. After much criticism, the work of Arrhenius was ignored by the scientific community. In 1931, an American physicist, E.O. Hulburt, produced calculations supported Arrhenius's estimate that doubling or halving CO2 would bring something like a 4°C rise or fall of surface temperature, but he was a relatively uknown scientist and published his work in a little known Journal. In 1938 an English engineer, Guy Stewart Callendar, compiled measurements of temperatures from the nineteenth century onwards and confirmed that there was a warming trend. He went on to evaluate old measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and concluded that over the previous hundred years the concentration of the gas had increased by about 10 per cent. Callendar asserted that this could explain the observed warming.


Who invented greenhouse effect?

Joseph Fourier discovered the greenhouse effect in 1824. He examined the experimental data and worked out that the Earth gets most of its energy from the sun. He thought that gases absorbed the radiation and warmed the earth.In May 1859, Irish physicist John Tyndall proved that some gases have a strange ability to capture and retain heat, so demonstrating the physical basis of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect.In 1896, Svante Arrhenius calculated that carbon dioxide emissions from human industry might someday bring a global warming.In 1938 G S Callendar argued that carbon dioxide levels were rising and warming the earth, but few scientists supported him.In 1960 C D Keeling, using accurate measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in Antarctica and in Mauna Loa in Hawaii, showed that levels of CO2 were rising even in just two years of data.