The media hardly remarked when global population reached 3 billion in 1960. Because news of 17 African nations becoming independent preoccupied the world. Other noteworthy events were John F Kennedy becoming president, and commencement of construction of Egypt’s giant Aswan Dam. By 1960, the Cold War was in full swing. If there were signs of concern for the environment, these were on the back burner.
U.S. Government Shows Signs of Concern in 1965
After President John Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, President Lyndon Johnson’s administration became curious about the geophysical environment in 1965. What was the best way to dispose of nuclear waste in the oceans? How could it increase the power of a hydrogen bomb, and so on.
The administration asked eminent scientists from its Environment Pollution Panel for an update as signs of concern among the general public mounted. At the time, non-military budgets were small, and most scientists were working elsewhere. However, they managed to produce a 23-page annexure titled Appendix Y4: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
What the Scientists Discerned for the Future
The scientists’ report confirmed that greenhouse warming was a “real concern”. They warned that there could be “marked climate change in the future”, and this would “not be controllable through local or even national efforts”.
Moreover, they cautioned that burning fossil fuels “was measurably increasing the atmospheric carbon dioxide.” Then they added, “within a few short centuries, we are returning to the air a significant part of the carbon that was slowly extracted by plants and buried in the sediments during half a billion years. . . . The part that remains in the atmosphere may have a significant effect on climate.”
The President warned Congress about these signs of concern regarding an increase of atmospheric pollutants, but little came of the warning. Perhaps our politicians had ‘more important things to deal with’ at the time.
Related
Climate Change Part 9: The Callendar Line
Climate Change Part 8: 2 Billion Souls in 1930
Preview Image: Impact of Nuclear Tests
