Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
increasing percentage of carbonic acid [CO
2
] in the atmosphere, we may hope to
enjoy ages with more equable and better climates, especially as regards the colder
regions of the earth, ages when the earth will bring forth much more abundant
crops than at present, for the benefit of rapidly propagating mankind.”
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In any case, Arrhenius presumed that such benefits lay far in the future, since
for carbon dioxide to increase appreciably would surely take thousands of years.
In 1997, 101 years after Arrhenius's classic article, two modern climate model-
ers from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography reviewed its significance, writing
that “the successes of Arrhenius' model are many, even when judged by modern-
day data and computer simulations.”
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