Guy Stewart Callendar

Academic

1898 – 1964

 Credit »
54

Who was Guy Stewart Callendar?

Guy Stewart Callendar was an English steam engineer and inventor. His main contribution to knowledge was developing the theory that linked rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere to global temperature. This theory, earlier proposed by Svante Arrhenius, has been called the Callendar effect. Callendar thought this warming would be beneficial, delaying a "return of the deadly glaciers."

Callendar expanded on the work of several 19th century scientists, including Arrhenius and Nils Gustaf Ekholm. Callendar published 10 major scientific articles, and 25 shorter ones, between 1938 and 1964 on global warming, infra-red radiation and anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Others, such as the Canadian physicist Gilbert Plass, expanded upon Callendar's work in the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1938, Callendar was the first to demonstrate that global land temperatures had increased over the previous 50 years, and these estimates have now been shown to be remarkably accurate, especially as they were performed without the aid of a computer. Callendar assessed climate sensitivity value at 2°, which is on the low end of the IPCC range.

Callendar was the son of Hugh Longbourne Callendar, an English physicist who studied thermodynamics.

We need you!

Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!

Born
Feb 1, 1898
Montreal
Parents
Nationality
  • England
Profession
Died
Oct 1, 1964

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Guy Stewart Callendar." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/guy_stewart_callendar>.

Discuss this Guy Stewart Callendar biography with the community:

0 Comments

    Browse Biographies.net