Wally Broecker, now a professor at Colombia University in the US, first used the term global warming in a paper released on August 8, 1975.

The paper ‘Climatic change: Are we on the brink of global warming?’ gave the world the phrase global warming at a time when environmentalism was a long way from the political or business agenda.

In his paper Mr Broecker argued that research of the time showing the world was cooling, and that would offset CO2 emissions, was ‘complacent’ and ‘unwarranted’.

His report went to say the planet could be on the ‘brink of several decades long period of rapid warming’.

Luke Walsh

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