Happy Birthday, Global Warming: Climate Change at 33

Global warming entered politics in June 1988

A small globe above a fire to illustrate global warming is seen during the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21/CMP11), in France, on Nov. 4, 2015. Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

Commentary

This month, climate change celebrates its 33rd birthday. On June 23, 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen testified that the greenhouse effect had been detected. “Global Warming Has Begun,” The New York Times declared the next day. Indeed, it had. A year older than Alexander the Great when he died, climate change took less than one-third of a century to conquer the West.