October 25, 2010

History of Studying the Greenhouse Effect

The history of thinking about how the Earth's atmosphere traps heat dates back to the 19th Century and French scientist Joseph Fourier, according to a story on National Public Radio. Fourier calculated that some heat from the sun must be reflected from the Earth and back into space but his calculations showed a gap between the amount of heat reflected and the temperature of the Earth. He realized some heat must be held in by the Earth's atmosphere.