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The planet's future seemed grim even 35 years ago

A 1983 E.P.A. report said the Earth's atmosphere was warming up -- and there wasn't much to be done about it.

U.S. report predicted what the 'greenhouse effect' would mean for humanity

CBC Archives ·

"At least we'll have warmer winters"

41 years ago
Duration 1:38
A 1983 United Nations report suggests there's not much that can be done about climate change.

Earlier this month, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a dire report warning of the implications of a warming planet.

These outcomes have been known for a long time — at least 35 years, judging by a 1983 news item on CBC's The National by reporter Joe Schlesinger. He was summarizing a report by the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. called "Can We Delay a Greenhouse Warming?"

Short answer: not really

Rising sea levels due to melting ice caps was just one prediction in the 1983 EPA report on the greenhouse effect. (CBC Archives/The National)

"The carbon dioxide rises way above those acid rain clouds to form a blanket around the earth that traps heat and raises temperature," said Schlesinger. "That's the greenhouse effect."

(Acid rain was a pollution problem plaguing North America in the '80s. It was largely mitigated after the U.S. and Canada signed a 1991 accord that cut acid rain by 40 per cent between 1991 and 2006.)

"The principle has been known for years," said Schlesinger. "What today's report does is spell out the results: polar ice will melt, and by the end of the century, this will bring floods to low-lying coastal areas."

"Inland, there will be drought, and in other places, there will be an increase in storms," he went on. "Some crops could be devastated."

Gloomy forecast

The warming effect, he said, would begin to be felt by the 1990s. By the end of the 21st century, the report predicted temperatures would be five degrees higher.

Despite a dire warning about climate change in 1983, CBC reporter Joe Schlesinger said there was not much to be done about it. (CBC Archives/The National)

"According to the report, there's nothing much we can do about it," summed up Schlesinger. "Even if we cut out burning fossil fuels entirely, it says, we can only delay the greenhouse effect for a few years."   

But it wasn't all doom and gloom. The report came early enough for people to prepare for the future by contouring land, building dikes, and developing heat-resistant crops.

And the kicker?

"At least our great-grandchildren should have warmer winters," concluded Schlesinger, "and who in Canada would complain about that?"