Arrhenius' 1896 model of the greenhouse effect in context

Arrhenius' 1896 model of the influence of carbonic acid (CO2) in the air on the temperature on the ground arose from debates concerning the causes of the Ice Ages in the Stockholm Physics Society. The calculation of the absorption-coefficients of H2O and CO2, which were the key to the construction of the model, was made possible through Arrhenius's use of Samuel P. Langley's measurements of heat emission in the lunar spectrum. The model enabled Arrhenius to show variations in mean temperature in sectors from 70 degrees N to 60 degrees S during four different seasons given five different levels of CO2. The immediate reactions to the model concerned the question which Arrhenius had attempted to answer, i.e., the causes of the Ice Ages. Since the 1970s Arrhenius's work has received much wider attention due to the concern with global warming resulting from the burning of fossil fuels.