1913-1914: Swedish scientist and Nobel Laureate Svente Arrhenius coins the term "greenhouse effect" and predicts that the Earth's climate is slowly warming. However, Arrhenius argues that change is thousands of years away and many scientists dismiss the plausibility of the theory. 1949-1950: Amateur scientist, G.S. Callendar claims that the greenhouse effect is coming up and is directly linked to human actions. His claims are largely dismissed, but in response, scientists begin to develop new ways to measure the Earth's climate. 1950-1970: The development of new technologies leads to an increased awareness of global warming and the greenhouse effect. New studies show that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising each year and pollution becomes a daily life concern.. 1980s: Turns out to be the hottest decade on record, with seven of the eight warmest years recorded up to 1990. 1987: Warmest year since records began. 1988 : UN sets up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to analyze and report on scientific findings. 1992: The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) takes place in Rio. More than 150 governments sign a declaration committing to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in their countries. 1995: The hottest year recorded to date. The IPCC states that current warming "is unlikely to be entirely natural in origin" and that "the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate". Under a "business as usual" scenario, it predicts the rise of global temperatures by 2100 to between 1�C and 3.5�C. 1997-2005: In December 1997, the Kyoto Protocol, international treaty designed to limit global greenhouse gas emissions is negotiated among 125 nations in Kyoto, Japan. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on February 16, 2005. While Most of the world's industrialized nations support the Kyoto Protocol, one notable exception is the United States, which releases more greenhouse gases than any other nation and accounts for more than 25 percent of those generated by humans worldwide. It proposed an alternate plan that was not considered sufficient by the terms of the Treaty. 2006: Former US Vice President and prominent environmental activist, Al Gore, stars in the Academy Award-winning documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, discussing global warming and the environment. 2007: Al Gore shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the IPCC "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change". Under Al Gore's leadership, one of his organizations, Save Ourselves organizes a benefit concert Live Earth in an effort to raise worldwide awareness about climate change. 24 November 2007: Science Daily states: " Kyoto was a valiant first attempt to tackle global carbon emissions, and support for the Kyoto Protocol is still needed in the international community, but it will not be enough to make a breakthrough with climate change". (Retrieved November 25, 2007, from http:/ /www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2007/11/ 071123211035.htm) Historical Source up to 1995: Global Warming Newspaper Archive, an online service.
