Humanity’s first influence on climate change could have come much earlier than previously thought
We all know that humans are helping drive climate change. No, we aren’t the only cause of the increasing global temperatures, but there’s no question that we have had a serious impact over the years. Now, new research estimates that humanity’s first influence on global climate change may have come much earlier than previously believed.
By most accounts, it’s believed that the human fingerprint on global warming really began when modern cars took off. However, our first misstep in the fight against climate change may have come far before the first modern cars roamed the streets. Instead, researchers believe the start of the industrial revolution may have been the tipping point.
During that time, more factories sprouted up, leading to increased output of greenhouse gases. To dig a little deeper, the researchers believe that the first signs of human influence on climate change likely happened as early as 1885, just before the gas-powered car became a standard part of life. These findings are detailed in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
However, it’s extremely difficult to tell exactly when we first started to have a noticeable impact on the global climate. While we’ve done plenty to try to combat climate change in recent years, with a mission set to test a solar umbrella happening later this decade, there’s still a long way to go if we truly hope to stop rising sea levels.
While some scientists argue that we’re far past the tipping point, others aren’t sure. But one thing is clear: if we want to truly make a difference, we need to understand where we started to go wrong. Not only can that help us ascertain how much damage we’ve actually done, but it could help us find ways to go about living in a way that doesn’t risk additional climate change pushes, without making us give up the modern luxuries we’ve come to depend on.
One researcher says that had we kept track of the changes in the atmosphere back then like we do now, it’s very likely we could have detected the signals of incoming climate change far before it became such a problem. Instead, we’ll simply have to accept that the world is what it is now, and that human influence on climate change has been running rampant for centuries at this point.
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Humanity’s first influence on climate change could have come much earlier than previously thought originally appeared on BGR.com on Wed, 18 Jun 2025 at 20:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.