Global Warming Blurb From 1932
by EcoGeek.org on 12. 3.06
I just had my mind blown over at Modern Mechanix, a site that shows old clippings from science magazines from decades passed. "Tomorrow's Future Today" is the tagline of the site, and it is certainly a fun read. From flying tanks to cows wearing pants, tomorrow's future sure is good for a laugh.
But what's not good for a laugh is this blurb from an 1932 Modern Mechanics magazine (above).
Are you kidding me! I did some research and this E. O. Hulburt guy was an extremely well-respected physicist with the Naval Research Laboratory. He was, in fact, the very first director of the Naval Research Laboratory and is the namesake of the Hulburt Center for Space Research.
Further digging reveals a story from the '50s that does a marvelous job of explaining the problem, a "growing blanket of carbon dioxide" and even goes as far to present some fairly accurate predictions based on research by a professor at Johns Hopkins.
Amazing find by Linton at Hugg.
"If most of man's industrial growth were over a period of several thousand years, instead of being crowded within the last century, oceans would have absorbed most of the excess carbon dioxide......Man's smoke-making abilities have multiplied over the past hundred years"
Yup, that just about sums it up.
Except now we can add another 50 years.
I have quite a few of these old Popular Mechanics type mags now and they are fascinating. My latest is from 1935 and has a big feature on 'getting better mpg'. There are hints on how to drive more efficiently, and adverts for miracle additives that will boost your Ford from 26 to 33 mpg.
Sound familiar?
I am not sure what your point is here.
Are you saying that you did not know that western governments have been facing with this problem for 70 years?
I am 45 years old, and I was taught about global warming in high school.
Sure, the whole problem was underestimated, but science has improved since the 30s and 50s, and our understanding of the issue is much clearer today.
Emmissions from manufacturing and other industrial sectors have been constantly improved since the 1960s, directly as a result of the realisation of these issues in articles such as the one in your example.
Unfortunately, we now know that these efforts were too little, too late, and THAT is the issue we are facing today.
Now, each individual has to act immediately to make big changes in how they live their lives. Turn off appliances, don't use aircon, sell your car and use mass transport instead, work from home if your occupation allows it.
Do you really need:
- a third pair of training shoes?
- another T-shirt?
- a new games console?
- a games console at all?
- a carrier bag from the store? (what happened to the one they gave you last week)
- a newly-painted room - have you tried cleaning the old paint?
There are a jillion ways that the choices you make will affect the future of this planet.
Make a difference today, do it yourself!
This is amazing to see research this old concluding that CO2 was contributing to global warming. I wonder what sort of studies they were conducting back then.
It sure seems clear that the science is indisputable. We need to act now!