I'm thinking of adding some landmark works to give a small timeline of developments in the scientific community and the mounting recognition.
Limits to Growth is one that comes to mind, there was a paper in the late 1800s too I believe. I'll scrounge around for others too...
Ok got a crappy timeline, gonna verify the dates and sources and I'll try to work it into the wiki page.
I'll post the prospective timeline here for posterity's sake.
1824: Fourier's Greenhouse Effect Theory – 🌍 Fourier Proposes the Earth's atmosphere retains heat, suggesting a natural "greenhouse effect"
1896: Svante Arrhenius's Research – 📈 Arrhenius calculates the impart of CO2 on Earth's temperature, pioneering climate change science
1958: Keeling Curve Begins – 📊 Charles David Keeling starts recording atmospheric CO2 levels, showing a steady rise over time
1988: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Formation – 🌐 The IPCC is established to assess climate change science and provide guidance to governents
1997: Kyoto Protocol Adoption – 📜 Countries adopt the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
2006: "An Inconvenient Truth" – 🎥 Al Gore's documentary raises public awareness about climate change
2015: Paris Agreement – 🤝 The Paris Agreement is signed, aiming to limit global warming to well below 2ºC
2021: IPCC Sixth Assessment Report – 🔍 The IPCC's comprehensive report warns of increasingly severe climate impacts without significant emissions reductions
Some more timeline stuff...
1998: API's Global Climate Science Communications Plan – 📜 The American Petroleum Institute (API) devises a plan to challenge the scientific consensus on climate change and emphasize uncertainty
2004: Invention of the Carbon Footprint Calculator – 📊 BP popularizes the term 'carbon footprint' and introduces a calculator, shifting focus to individual responsibility for climate change
2008: "Cool It" Campaign – 🔄 The API launches the "Cool It" campaign, suggesting that individuals can significantly impact climate change by making small lifestyle changes
Appendix – API Memo
AGAIN, this is speculative, I need to verify ALL the dates and claims, NONE of this is verified, treat it all as conjecture or brainstorming.
1959: American Petroleum Institute Acknowledges Climate Risks – 🌍 The American Petroleum Institute (API) receives a report warning that fossil fuels could lead to global warming
1988: Formation of the Global Climate Coalition – 🏭 Major fossil fuel companies form the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) to cast doubt on climate science
1995: IPCC Second Assessment Report – 📊 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that human activities are influencing the climate, which the GCC disputes
1998: American Petroleum Institute's "Victory" Memo – 📝 API's leaked memo outlines a strategy to make climate science uncertain among the public and decision-makers
2000: GCC Disbands – 🛑 Under public pressure, the Global Climate Coalition disbands, but individual companies continue misinformation efforts
2007: Union of Concerned Scientists Report – 🔍 The Union of Concerned Scientists exposes how ExxonMobil funded organizations to misrepresent climate science
2010: Citizens United v. FEC – 💼 The Supreme Court decision increases corporate influence in politics, affecting climate change legislation
2015: "Exxon Knew" Investigations – 🕵️♂️ Investigations reveal that ExxonMobil knew about climate change for decades but funded denial campaigns
2019: Big Oil's Climate Denial Machine – 📢 Reports show that oil companies continue to fund climate denial despite public commitments to address climate change