Editing 2889: Greenhouse Effect
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by CREATING CRETACEOUS PARK - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
− | This comic | + | This comic is the latest to have "climate change" as its topic. It depicts a timeline of three events: The advent of the {{w|Industrial Revolution}}, marked by the introduction of the {{w|Watt steam engine}} by {{w|James Watt}} in 1776; the first quantitative prediction of the {{w|greenhouse effect}} by {{w|Arvid Högbom}} and {{w|Svante Arrhenius}} in 1896; and the present in 2024. The distance between the start of the Industrial Revolution and the mathematical demonstration of the role of carbon dioxide as a mediator of global temperature (the "greenhouse effect") is stated to be 120 years, whilst the distance between that demonstration and the present day is 128 years. Climate discussions may cite [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2153-3490.1957.tb01849.x a 1957 paper by Revell and Seuss] as "the starting point" for contemporary inquiries into global warming, but the comic points out that the matter was being debated, and the underlying mechanism correctly worked out, a full half century before that. The implication, consistent with [https://xkcd.com/1732/ other climate-changed-themed xkcd comics], is that humans have taken insufficient action to slow or stop global warming despite knowing the mechanism for more than a century, and understanding, at least intellectually, the consequences of inaction. |
− | The | + | The title text notes that the seemingly trivial prediction of CO<sub>2</sub> levels in the far future have turned out to be very important, quoting Arrhenius as believing it wouldn't be valuable at all.<ref>Crawford, Elisabeth (1997). [https://courses.seas.harvard.edu/climate/eli/Courses/EPS281r/Sources/Greenhouse-effect/Arrhenius/3-optional-Crawford-1997.pdf "Arrhenius' 1896 Model of the Greenhouse Effect in Context"]. ''Ambio'' '''26'''(1):6-11. JSTOR [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4314543 4314543].</ref> Ironically, Arrhenius's calculations turned out to be both accurate and significant. |
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− | + | ==References== | |
− | + | <references/> | |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[ | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
− | + | :[A timeline with three dots marking years.] | |
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− | :[ | + | :[First dot:] |
:'''1776''' | :'''1776''' | ||
:James Watt develops a steam engine that helps kick off the Industrial Revolution | :James Watt develops a steam engine that helps kick off the Industrial Revolution | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Span from 1776 to 1896:] |
+ | :120 years | ||
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+ | :[Second dot:] | ||
:'''1896''' | :'''1896''' | ||
:Arvid Högbom and Svante Arrhenius note that industrial activity is adding CO<sub>2</sub> to the atmosphere, and calculate how much the Earth will heat up if the CO<sub>2</sub> concentration doubles. Their answer closely matches modern estimates. | :Arvid Högbom and Svante Arrhenius note that industrial activity is adding CO<sub>2</sub> to the atmosphere, and calculate how much the Earth will heat up if the CO<sub>2</sub> concentration doubles. Their answer closely matches modern estimates. | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Span from 1896 to 2024:] |
+ | :128 years | ||
+ | |||
+ | :[Third dot:] | ||
:'''2024''' | :'''2024''' | ||
:Today | :Today | ||
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:[Caption below the panel:] | :[Caption below the panel:] | ||
:We figured out the greenhouse effect closer to the start of the Industrial Revolution than to today. | :We figured out the greenhouse effect closer to the start of the Industrial Revolution than to today. | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Climate change]] | [[Category:Climate change]] | ||
[[Category:Timelines]] | [[Category:Timelines]] | ||
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