Greenhouse effect: Fourier, Tyndall and Arrhenius
Efecto invernadero: Fourier, Tyndall y Arrhenius
- Date
- 1824 / 1859 / 1896 · confidence high
- Place
- Royal Institution, London, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Joseph Fourier (1824), Eunice Foote (1856), John Tyndall (1859), Svante Arrhenius (1896)
- People
- 👤 Eunice Newton Foote1819–1888👤 Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier1768–1830👤 John Tyndall1820–1893👤 Svante August Arrhenius1859–1927
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Fourier deduced that the atmosphere retains heat; Foote and Tyndall measured that CO2 and water vapour absorb infrared radiation; Arrhenius calculated that doubling CO2 would warm the Earth by about 5-6°C. The basic physics of climate was established in the 19th century.
Coordinates of the Royal Institution, where Tyndall carried out his experiments. Eunice Foote published a pioneering experiment in 1856, ignored for 150 years.
What it led to
- Theory of anthropogenic climate change
- Explanation of ice ages by CO2
- Physical climatology and radiative models
Built on
- Discovery of Infrared Radiation1800
- Thermodynamics and Fourier's theory of heat
Made possible
- Keeling Curve: measured rise of atmospheric CO21958-1961
- Anthropogenic climate change1938 / 1979 / 1988
- Infrared spectroscopy of gases
- Radiative balance models