Google on July 17th paid tribute to the American scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Newton Foote, who was the first person to discover the greenhouse effect and its role in the warming of Earth’s climate.
While science became a lifelong passion for Foote, she also dedicated time to campaigning for women’s rights. Google has depicted a Doodle dedicated to Foote celebrating her 204th birthday.
In an interactive graphic with 11 slides, Google explained the concept of greenhouse effect through Foote’s achievements.
What is greenhouse effect?
The greenhouse effect occurs when greenhouse gases in a planet’s atmosphere cause some of the heat radiated from the planet’s surface to build up at the planet’s surface.
When the earth absorbs radiation from the sun, some gets re-emitted as infrared radiation. Gases like carbon dioxide absorb and reflect heat back to Earth creating what we know today as the greenhouse effect. Over time, the higher levels of these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere raise the temperature of Earth, thus contributing to issues like global warming and heating.
Observing outdoor air temperatures versus various gases when heated, Foote found out carbon dioxide and water vapour heated up more than outdoor air.
Foote’s research
Foote was born on this day in 1819 in Connecticut. In 1848, Foote attended the first Woman’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls. She was the fifth signatory of the Declaration of Sentiments— a document that demanded equality for women in social and legal status.
At a time when women were widely shunned from the scientific community, Foote conducted experiments on her own. After placing mercury thermometers in glass cylinders, she discovered that the cylinder containing carbon dioxide experienced the most significant heating effect in the sun. Foote was ultimately the first scientist to make the connection between rising carbon dioxide levels and the warming of the atmosphere.
Foote died in 1888 and for almost a hundred years her contributions were unknown, before being rediscovered by women academics in the twentieth century. After Foote published her findings, she produced her second study on atmospheric static electricity. Foote published two U.S. physics studies, the first by a woman. Those discussions led to further experiments that uncovered what is known as the greenhouse effect.
“Today, scientists all over the world are advancing climate science thanks to the foundation that Foote laid.
Happy Birthday, Eunice Newton Foote!,” Google Doodle said.
- Google on July 17th paid tribute to the American scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Newton Foote, who was the first person to discover the greenhouse effect and its role in the warming of Earth’s climate.
- The greenhouse effect occurs when greenhouse gases in a planet’s atmosphere cause some of the heat radiated from the planet’s surface to build up at the planet’s surface.
- Observing outdoor air temperatures versus various gases when heated, Foote found out carbon dioxide and water vapour heated up more than outdoor air.
