CLIMATE ACTION IN ALASKA

Scientists just got done predicting an ice age?

Although many blogs and bloviators claim the scientists of the 1960s and 1970s predicted a coming ice age, that distorts the truth.


At that time, it was well-known that greenhouse gases warm the earth by trapping Earth's outgoing heat, and that aerosols cool the earth by blocking sunlight.  There were a few scientists who thought the latter effect would be more significant, but the vast majority of scientific papers concluded carbon dioxide would prevail over aerosols, resulting in global warming.  


Yes, even in the 1960s and 1970s, there was an 86% consensus that the world would warm due to human activity.  This is confirmed via a review of the scientific literature of the time and via a summary by Exxon's chief scientist of the state of the science in 1977:  "In the first place, there is general scientific agreement that the most likely manner in which mankind is influencing the global climate is through carbon dioxide release from the burning of fossil fuels."