The Discovery of Global Warming December 2011
A hypertext history of how scientists came to (partly) understand what people are doing to cause climate change. This Website created by Spencer Weart supplements his much shorter book, which tells the history of climate change research as a single story. On this Website you will find a more complete history in dozens of essays on separate topics, occasionally updated. If you want basic facts about climate change, or detailed current technical information, you might do better using the links page. But if you want to use history to really understand it all... | Second edition, revised and updated (2008)
A GOOD PLACE TO START is the Summary of the history of climate change science. For a scholarly preface, look at Methodology and Sources. If you are somewhat familiar with the subject, you could select topics from the Table of Contents (site map). You can download this site (Zip file) and put in on your own hard drive or burn a CD/DVD, or print out individual essays using PDF files. These files are for the July 2009 version and will not include more recent updates. You can Search the entire text.
Basic navigation: On the right of each essay are links to essays about other topics. Follow forward an arrow to see how the events that you are reading about gave something => TO the other topic. Follow back an arrow to track influence <= FROM the other topic. Double arrow <=> shows MUTUAL interaction. Click on a numbered note, e.g., (12) for references. Some notes, indicated thus: (12*) have additional text. In the note, click on a reference to reach the bibliography—use your browser's BACK button to return. About this site: top of page
Contents/Site Map December 2011 version
Introduction and Summary of the history SEARCH all the essays
Influences on climate The Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Effect Roger Revelle's Discovery Other Greenhouse Gases Aerosols: Volcanoes, Dust, Clouds Biosphere: How Life Alters Climate Changing Sun, Changing Climate? Interview with Jack Eddy Ocean Currents and Climate Climate data The Modern Temperature Trend Rapid Climate Change Abrupt climate change Uses of Radiocarbon Dating Greenland Ice Drilling (J. Genuth) Past Climate Cycles and Ice Ages Temperatures from Fossil Shells Theory Simple Models of Climate Change Chaos in the Atmosphere Venus & Mars General Circulation Models of Climate Basic Radiation Calculations Arakawa's Computation Device LINKS to basic and current information SEARCH all the essays | Climate and society Impacts of Climate Change The Public and Climate Change (1) (2) Wintry Doom Ice Sheets and Rising Seas Government: The View from Washington Climate Modification Schemes Money for Keeling: Monitoring CO2 Levels International Cooperation Climatology as a Profession Reflections on the Scientific Process Conclusions: A Personal Note Talking Points (pdf) About this site/Reference/Utilities History in Hypertext - methods, sources TIMELINE of milestones List of external influences BIBLIOGRAPHY by author Bibliography by year LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Please contribute comments, corrections. Author, Spencer Weart DOWNLOAD entire site (Zip file) PDF files to download and print
This is mounted on the Website of the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics. Discovery of Global Warming site created by Spencer Weart with initial support from the American Institute of Physics, the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The statements on this site represent the views of the author and are not positions endorsed by the American Institute of Physics. Two of the Institute's Member Societies have taken positions on climate change; see the American Physical Society's statement and the American Geophysical Union's statement. Copyright © 2003-2011 Spencer Weart and the American Institute of Physics. Index terms: anthropogenic climate change, history of global warming, greenhouse effect, temperature change geophysics meteorology climatology, computer models,proof evidence research pollution aerosols Sun,\ solar atmosphere,\ carbon dioxide, CO2, history of science - Book cover photo © AbleStock.