The term “global warming” gains widespread use after publication of an article titled  “Climatic Change: Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?” by U.S. geochemist Wallace Broecker in the journal Science.

The Graduate School of Geography hires Professor Billie Lee Turner II, who becomes an internationally recognized environmental research scientist and pioneer in the field of land change science. He later is named to the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and American Association for the Advancement..Read More

The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) publishes the “Climate Impact Assessment: Studies of the Interaction of Climate and Society,” co-edited by Clark Geography Professor Robert Kates. The report notes that scientists widely agree “long-term global warming … is underway” and that a “scientific study of climate and..Read More

Under the direction of J. Ronald Eastman, Clark Labs debuts IDRISI, an integrated geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing software affordable and accessible to researchers, nonprofit organizations, and students around the world, essentially democratizing a valuable resource. Clark Labs’ GIS and remote sensing software technologies are used by climate..Read More

Clark Geography Professor Roger Kasperson promotes research and international discussions around global environmental change, receiving funding from the United Nations University. He also begins a National Science Foundation-funded examination of “Critical Zones in Global Environmental Change: Comparing Driving Forces, Awareness, and Societal Response.”

Organized by Clark geographers Robert Kates and Billie Lee Turner and Harvard’s William C. Clark, an international symposium, “The Earth as Transformed by Human Action,” draws widespread attention from the global scientific community. The symposium will help lay the foundation for the creation of Clark’s George Perkins Marsh Institute, and..Read More

Clark establishes the George Perkins Marsh Institute, emerging out of earlier research clusters around environmental risk and hazards. The institute is named for George Perkins Marsh, who, in the 19th century, spoke of the impact of humans on the environment.