LONDON, EDINBURGH, and DUBLIN 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 



AND 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



[FIFTH SERIES.] 



APRIL 1896. 



XXXI. On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon 

 the Temperature of the Ground. By Prof. Svante 

 Arrhenius *. 



I. Introduction : Observations of Langley on 

 Atmospherical Absorption. 



A GREAT deal has been written on the influence of 

 the absorption of the atmosphere upon the climate. 

 Tyndall f in particular has pointed out the enormous im- 

 portance of this question. To him it was chiefly the diurnal 

 and annual variations of the temperature that were lessened by 

 this circumstance. Another side of the question, that has long- 

 attracted the attention of physicists, is this : Is the mean 

 temperature of the ground in any way influenced by the 

 presence of heat-absorbing gases in the atmosphere ? Fourier J 

 maintained that the atmosphere acts like the glass of a hot- 

 house, because it lets through the light rays of the snn but 

 retains the dark rays from the ground. This idea was 

 elaborated by Pouillet § ; and Langley was by some of his 

 researches led to the view, that " the temperature of the 

 earth nnder direct sunshine, even though our atmosphere 

 were present as now, would probably fall to —200° C, if 

 that atmosphere did not possess the quality of selective 



* Extract from a paper presented to the Royal Swedish Academy of 

 Sciences, 11th December, 1895. Communicated by the Author, 

 t ' Heat a Mode of Motion/ 2nd ed. p. 405 .(Lond., 1865). 

 \ Mem. de V Ac. R. d. Sci. de VInst. de France, t. vii. 1827. 

 § Comptes rendus, t. vii. p. 41 (1838). 



Phil. Mag. S. 5. Vol. 41. No. 251. April 1896. S 



