National Geographic

HIRTY YEARS AGO, the potentially disruptive impactof heat-trapping emissions from burning fossil fuelsand rain forests became front-page news.It had taken a century of accumulating science,and a big shift in perceptions, for that to happen.Indeed, Svante Arrhenius, the pioneering Swedishscientist who in 1896 first estimated the scope ofwarming from widespread coal burning, mainlyforesaw this as a boon, both in agricultural bountyand “more equable and better climates, especiallyas regards the colder regions of the Earth.”There were scattered news reports through thedecades, including a remarkably clear 1956 article inthe New York Times that conveyed how accumulatinggreenhouse gas emissions from energy productionwould lead to long-lasting environmental changes.In its closing the article foresaw what’s become themain impediment to tackling harmful emissions:the abundance of fossil fuels. “Coal and oil are still###### Climate: The More###### Things Change ...BY ANDREW REVKIN``````IN THE TIME IT TOOK TO BUILD THE CASE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE ISA POLLUTION PROBLEM, IT’S BECOME UNNERVINGLY MORE THAN THAT.# TIN THIS SECTIONYour House Is BuggedBirds Predict QuakesSoccer Players’ RootsResilient Landscapes``````THE DISCOVERIES OF TODAY THAT WILL DEFINE THE WORLD OF TOMORROW``````NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOL. 234 NO. 1EMBARKJULY 2018 17