workingclasshistory:

On this day, 28 November 1985, an internal document circulated within the Shell oil corporation stated that “there has been a global warming over the last 100 years, that the 0.5 degrees increase is a result of CO2 [carbon dioxide] buildup, that we will see a further 1-2 degree warming over the next 40 years… Such a rise would be greater than any change in the last 1,000 years… The global mean sea level has risen by some 15 cm over the last 100 years… By 2050, the range of uncertainty of the rise in global mean sea level is 20-120 cm.” It formed part of an extensive confidential internal report by the company produced in 1988 on the greenhouse effect which definitively showed that from at least 1981 Shell was aware of climate change, that it was man-made, that burning fossil fuels was its primary cause, and that it would have catastrophic effects. Despite this, for decades the company covered up its findings, sponsored fake public studies to try to deny climate change, and fought any government attempts to limit CO2 emissions.
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