Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Summary
So a combination of several factors—(1) the science of climate change essentially carried
out by the mid-1960s; (2) the 'hockey stick' upturn in the global temperature data set,
which was first observed at the end of the 1980s; (3) our increased knowledge in the 1980s
of how past climate has reacted to changes in atmospheric CO
2
; (4) our greater ability in
the late 1970s and 1980s to model future changes in climate with supercomputers; (5) the
emergence of global environmental awareness in the late 1980s; (6) the media's savage en-
gagement in the confrontational nature of the debate; and (7) politicians, medics, and eco-
nomists taking the threat of climate change seriously since the late 1990s—has led to re-
cognition and acceptance that climate change is occurring and that it is anthropogenic.
