CARBON-DIOXIDE AND CLIMATE

During the years 1975–1978 concern over the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere expanded from the laboratory into the public policy arena. This was a period during which a profusion of international symposia, technical papers, and public‐policy‐oriented discussions drew wide attention to the potential dangers of unchecked growth of atmospheric CO2 and man's alterations of the global carbon cycle. At the same time, the interdisciplinary interactions focused attention on the gaps in understanding, the uncertainties in the models, the inadequacies of the data, and the difficulties inherent in forecasting. Recognizing the social, political, and economic implications should fossil fuel burning be implicated as a cause of major [unfavorable] changes in climate, the scientists involved have called for increased understanding through stimulated scientific inquiry, and for flexibility in public policy options. Copyright 1979 by the American Geophysical Union.