The Discovery of Global Warming    CLIMATE CHANGE

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, updated annually.
     See what critics say about the book - where to buy it.

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...


climate change : global warming discovery book

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.

Contents/Site Map                 June 2008 version

About this site: TOP OF PAGE        
Summary of the History of Climate Change Science           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 
     GCM Family Tree (P. Edwards)



SEARCH all the essays

LINKS to basic and current information

Climate and society
Impacts of Global Warming

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
History in Hypertext  - methods, sources
List of illustrations
Please contribute comments, corrections.
Author, Spencer Weart

Reference/Utilities
Timeline of milestones
     List of external influences
BIBLIOGRAPHY by author
     Bibliography by year

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PDF files
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This is mounted on the Web site of the Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics.
Discovery of Global Warming
site created by Spencer Weart with support from the American Institute of Physics, the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Copyright © 2003-2008 Spencer Weart and the American Institute of Physics
.
Index terms: climate change, global warming, greenhouse effect, temperature change, history, science, geophysics, meteorology, computer models, aerosols, ice. Book cover photo by Frank Cezus © Getty Images.

history of global warming - anthropogenic climate change - greenhouse effect history