1. History of Climate Change Timeline Thomas McGann

2. 1837 Naturalist Louis Agassiz proposes the Ice Age theory. His theory was not taken well at first but set into motion the idea that the global climate could change on its own. 1896 Svante Arrhenius proposes the impact of CO2 on the earth’s temperature (Greenhouse Effect). Thought that the burning of fossil fuels could have long term effects.

3. 1955 The U.S. Weather Bureau reports a rise in the earth’s temperature of the past 50 years. 1957 Christian Science Monitor releases the article “Are Men Changing the Earth’s Temperature?” It was one of the first articles to point out the connection between CO2 emissions and the rising temperature.

4. 1958-1961 Charles Keeling collects first quantitative data on atmospheric CO2. 1962 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring published. This book highlighted the consequences of unmonitored technological development.

5. 1968 Apollo astronauts send pictures of the entire earth back. The new environmental ethic had truly begun. 1970 First Earth Day celebration.

6. 1970 EPA and NOAH created under Nixon. 1970 The first international conference on climate change was held. The group released the article “A Study of Man’s Impact on the Environment” which highlighted the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions.

7. 1973-1974 Arab Oil Embargo and resulting U.S. energy crisis. Forced U.S. leaders to provided funding for energy alternatives and promoted U.S. energy independence. 1974 British TV documentary on climate change. Helped to educate people worldwide about climate change.

8. 1974 Washington Energy Conference. Dependence on foreign energy was discussed as well as alternatives. 1975 Science News cover story on climate change emphasizing global cooling. Created confusion and exposed a lot of the inconsistencies in climate change opinions.

9. 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act. 1981 1/3 of U.S. citizens have heard of the “Greenhouse effect.” Global awareness of the dangers of climate change has increased.

10. 1983 The EPA reports global warming may have real, potentially catastrophic consequences to the earth’s climate. 1985 British researches discover a hole in the ozone layer. This was widely covered by the media over the next few years.

11. 1987 The Montreal Protocol halts the production of ozone destroying substances in response to the hole discovered prior. 1987 Reagan signs Global Climate Protection Act. This outlined a plan to stabilize the level of greenhouse gas emissions.

12. 1988 A deadly heat wave occurred. It caused a drought that affected crops and dried rivers halting commerce. 1988 James Hanson testifies to Senate on global warming trend. He waited for a hot day and claimed the earth was entering a long term warming.

13. 1988 The UN establishes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC). 1989 The Global Climate Coalition (GCC) was formed. It was formed of mostly U.S. businesses and represented corporate interests.

14. 1990 First IPCC report issued. 1992 First Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Emission standards were set and some on the U.S. which were mostly ignored.

15. 1993 Greenland ice cores show great climate changes can occur in a single decade. Raised some doubts as the legitimacy of climate change. 1995 The IPCC issues its second report.

16. 1997 Toyota introduces the first mass-market electric hybrid car (Prius). Made it easier for people to buy an eco friendly car. 1997 International Climate Control Conference in Kyoto Japan. The U.S. remained the strongest holdout against emissions standards and refused them unless standards were placed on developing countries.

17. 1990’s The warmest decade of the millennium. 1998 Borehole data confirms extraordinary warming trend.

18. 1998 Super El Nino causes weather disasters and warmest year on record. Raised the question of could global warming affect the weather and its severity. 2000 GCC disbanded after membership declines.

19. 2001 Warming observed in ocean basins. 2001 Phil Cooney, a lobbyist for the oil industry, named to White House Council on Environmental Quality. Showed corruption and power that the oil companies possess.

20. 2001 Third IPCC report. Declared that global warming is definitely man-made and temperatures were increasing rapidly. 2003 Lieberman-McCain Climate Stewardship Act proposing caps on emission levels defeated.

21. 2004 Michael Crichton’s book State of Fear published. 2004 The film The Day After Tomorrow is released. The plot of the movie revolves around climate change.

22. 2005 2005 is the warmest year on record. 2005 Hurricane Katrina hits the gulf coast. Leads some to question if the severity of storms is increasing.

23. 2005 Kyoto treaty goes into effect. It was signed by all major industrial nations except the U.S. 2006 Al Gores film An Inconvenient Truth wins Oscar for best documentary.

24. 2007 U.S. Climate Change Program issues first State of Carbon Cycle report. 2007 Al Gore awarded Nobel Peace Prize for his work global warming and climate change.

25. 2007 George W. Bush’s first mention of global warming in a State of the Union address. 2007 Fourth IPCC report released. Stated that the worst was certain to happen if changes were not made.

26. 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. World leaders met to try and create an agreement to limit global greenhouse gases. 2009 “Cap and Trade” bill defeated by congress. Lobbying by U.S. energy industry caused congress not to pass a bill that would have imposed limits on greenhouse gas emissions.