Believe it or not, it’s been 50 years since our government was warned about climate change – on February 8, President Johnson gave a speech to Congress, called a "Special Message to the Congress on Conservation and Restoration of Natural Beauty:
"Air pollution is no longer confined to isolated places. This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through radioactive materials and a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels," he said just weeks after his 1965 inauguration, reports Daily Climate.
That year, Johnson signed six environmental laws and proposed a nuclear non-proliferation treaty to the United Nations, along with working toward the Voting Rights Act.
Early estimates by scientists were surprisingly accurate: "Man is unwittingly conducting a vast geophysical experiment," said Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee. "Within a few generations, he is burning the fossil fuels that accumulated in the earth over the past 500 million years."
They predicted carbon concentrations in the atmosphere would rise 14-30% by 2000 from coal, oil, and gas burning, and in fact, carbon increased 15.5% by 2000 – 25% higher than in 1965.
Read the full article at Daily Climate:
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