The Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Earth’s atmosphere and Its Possible Influence on the Temperature at the Surface - as discussed in Sweden in 1894-96
Abstract
On November 15, 1894, Arvid Högbom, geologist, presented a paper at a meeting of the Swedish Chemical Society (“Kemistsamfundet) in Uppsala. His title: “On the probability of secular changes in the atmosphere’s carbonic acid concentration”. The possibility that changes in the carbon dioxide concentration would produce changes in the surface temperature came up in the discussion after the talk. In the audience was Svante Arrhenius. In early 1896, at another meeting of Kemistsamfundet, Arrhenius followed up on this with a paper “The influence of the carbonic acid concentration on the temperature at the surface of the Earth”. Both papers were published in Svensk Kemisk Tidscrift - Vol. 6 and Vol. 7 - as part of the minutes of the corresponding meetings. Arrhenius continued to pursue the idea, presenting and writing about it outside of Sweden. Most histories credit Arrhenius’s work as the first on global warming, although some mention Högbom’s prior report. Högbom’s paper has never been translated from the Swedish, at least not so far as I have been able to discover. I will present a translation and review of Högbom’s elegant paper and Arrhenius's initial response.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #223
- Pub Date:
- January 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014AAS...22310708W