Climate Science Discoveries: 1931 - 1965

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Part 2 of 3

200-Years of Scientific Discovery About Global Climate Change

Adapted from John Mason's article at SkepticalScience.com

The previous article introduces the early observations, questions and scientific reasoning of Fourier (France), Tyndall (England) Arrhenius (Sweden) and others.  These early contributions started to shed a light on the important role of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere as a direct regulator of earth’s temperature and climate.   But legitimate objections remained unanswered, and work on these questions remained intermittent.

In 1931, an American physicist, E.O. Hulburt, took a fresh approach to calculate the global average temperature increase that would result from a doubling of the atmospheric CO2 level.   Hulbert refuted objections by x Angstrom that heat convection needed to be accounted for.  His calculation focussed on the escape of infra-red radiation to space, and it included the known increase in water vapour (7% per 1°C).  The result was a prediction of 4°C.

Later that decade, an English meteorology enthusiast...summary to be continued...

 Part 1 <<  |  >> Part 3

Full Series

CO₂.Earth  Part 1: 1820 - 1930 | Fourier to Arrhenius  [SKS 1]

CO₂.Earth  Part 2: 1931 - 1965 | Hulburt to Keeling  [SKS 2]

CO₂.Earth  Part 3: 1966 - 2012 | Manabe to present day  [SKS 3]

SKS  History of Climate Science (1820 to present day | Long version)

Related

AIP  Weart | The Discovery of Global Warming (online book)

CO₂.Earth  Weart | The Discovery of Global Warming