Math & science · 1896

Greenhouse effect quantified

Arrhenius calculates that doubling CO2 would warm the Earth by several degrees.

Building on Tyndall's 1859 measurements of infrared absorption, Svante Arrhenius made the first estimate of climate sensitivity. It is the scientific root of climate science.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Spectroscopy 1859
Laws of thermodynamics 1850

What it led to 1

Keeling curve 1958

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

CO2 emissions Latest: 39B t (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Fossil fuel consumption Latest: 144k TWh (2025) Source: Our World in Data