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.