On 23 June 1988, in the middle of a heatwave and drought across North America, the NASA climate scientist James Hansen testified before the US Senate Energy Committee in a hearing room where the air conditioning had been turned off. He said that he was 99 per cent sure that the record warmth of the previous years was not natural variation but the result of a build-up of carbon dioxide and other gases, and that the greenhouse effect was changing the climate now. The testimony, covered on the front page of The New York Times, made global warming a public issue. The IPCC was set up later that year.
Before and after
- from 27 February 1988 to 1 March 1988Sumgait pogrom
- 13 March 1988Construction of Seikan Tunnel
- 5 May 1988Birth of Adele
- 23 June 1988Creation of Mathematica
- 23 June 1988James Hansen tells the US Senate that global warming has begun
- 3 July 1988Iran Air Flight 655 shootdown
- from 16 August 1988 to 18 August 1988Gladbeck hostage crisis
- 21 August 1988Birth of Robert Lewandowski
- September 1988Publication of The Satanic Verses
More in Earth & climate
- 8 April 1949Establishment of Plitvice Lakes National Park
- 5 April 1979Establishment of Kakadu National Park
- 1980Establishment of Komodo National Park
- 1997Establishment of Lorentz National Park
- 8 September 20232023 Marrakesh-Safi earthquake
- May 20262026 European heatwaves
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.