Climate Change First Detected in 1938

CO2's First Link to Global Warming 

In 1938, British scientist Guy Stewart Callendar was the first person to publish about the relationship of carbon dioxide and global warming.  That was 76 years ago!

He was a steam engineer.  He was also the first person to show that temperatures had increased over the previous 50 year period.  We now know that climate change started with the dawn of the industrial revolution; and it continues to this day.

Paradoxically, Mr Callendar was in favor of global warming, as he believed it would be a deterrent to deadly glaciers.   So Mr Callendar realized the earth was warming but did not understand the full significance.

At the time his work got little notice, but modern climate scientists now recognize his contribution.  Callendars work not only made the connection between CO2 and warming, but also laid the groundwork for the idea that man's activities can directly affect the climate of our planet.
  

  
He did not have a computer, but his work was surprisingly accurate. He found the earth had warmed 0.3 degrees over the previous 50 years.  He believe that half of the rise was from CO2 alone.  The Climate scientists of his era ignored is work, because they believed - incorrectly - that mankind's activities could not affect the planet.  It was not until the 1950's that scientists started to understand the full CO2 cycle, including that CO2 in the atmosphere can absorb solar radiation.

As early as 1963 people were seeing pictures of the icecaps melting, but there was too much resistance to take it seriously.

Mr Callendar died in 1964; far too early to see how important his work has become.