Whose experiments first measured how carbon dioxide changes Earth’s heat balance?
Quick Answer
Svante Arrhenius estimated in 1896 that more carbon dioxide could raise global temperatures. He is often credited with the first quantitative climate-warming calculation.
The Full Story
Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist and physicist, made one of the earliest numerical estimates of climate change from carbon dioxide. In 1896 he calculated that doubling atmospheric CO2 could significantly warm Earth, using the science available at the time. His estimate was rough by modern standards, but it was remarkably prescient. Arrhenius is still remembered as a pioneer of climate modeling because he tried to calculate the warming effect rather than simply describe it.
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