SMOKE AND FUMES
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discussed Revelle’s ongoing work and
explained the theory that accumulating
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might
be raising temperatures and contributing
to an intensification of hurricanes.79 The
same year, an article in Time Magazine
noted Revelle’s work and warned that
rising temperatures could “melt the
icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland,
which would flood the earth’s coastal
lands.”80 As experts in the science relevant
to their products, it can be presumed that
the oil and gas industries knew or should
have known about these public
discussions and the relevant science
If anyone would have understood
how fossil fuel combustion and
global warming were going to
change the climate, it was this
industry.
underlying them.
In addition to studying the natural
behavior of hurricanes, the oil industry
also sponsored research into weather
modification techniques. In the 1960s,
for example, James Black of Esso—who
would later warn Exxon executives of the
dangers of rising carbon dioxide levels in
the atmosphere—researched and patented
techniques to trap heat and manipulate
local weather conditions by covering large
areas in asphalt.81 M.L. Corrin, a
consultant to Philipps Petroleum, and
C.A. Stokes of Cities Service (now
CITGO) co-authored a book-length
report on the use of petroleum-based
carbon dust in weather modification
techniques at multiple geographic scales.82
Finally, the oil industry, for its own
business motives, had a deep and
profound understanding of the
relationships between sea levels,
atmospheric temperatures, and carbon in
the environment. In 1961, for example,
API funded a study into the trends in sea
level from 30,000 years before present to
7,000 years before present. The author
discussed the relationship between the
size of glaciers, global temperatures, and
sea level, noting specifically that a rapid
rise in sea level coincided with a warming
of the climate. “Sea level, on the other
hand, rises during warm periods and falls
during cold periods[.]”83 If anyone would
have understood how fossil fuel
combustion and global warming were
going to change the climate, it was this
industry.
It is clear that the purpose of the
previously described research into
hurricanes, sea level, and paleoclimate
was not to investigate climate change, but
rather to determine where to explore for
oil. However, these research priorities
armed the petroleum industry with
cutting-edge knowledge about changes in
sea levels and hurricanes, two natural
phenomena implicated by climate
change.
The idea that accumulating carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere could lead to
increased hurricane formation and rising
sea levels was being discussed openly in
newspapers and magazines as early as
1956. While we cannot know for certain
that the entire industry was aware of these
theories, they had as much expertise in
the field as any other industry, academia,
or the government. Moreover, scientists
hired by API explicitly connected
temperatures, glaciers, and sea levels in
research paid for by API. Given the
advanced knowledge and expertise, it is
fair to ask whether the major oil and gas
companies, and the petroleum industry as
a whole, knew or should have known
about the emerging science focused on
the relationship between fossil fuel
combustion, global temperatures, sea
levels, and extreme weather events.
The Petroleum Industry was
Unequivocally Warned of Climate Change Due Primarily to
the Combustion of Fossil Fuels
By 1968
In 1968, a report from the Stanford
Research Institute called Sources,