I don't think there was much prior uncertainty in the literature
over the general notion that orbital forcing changes were an initiating factor and that consequent
rises in CO2 contributed a major subsequent warming
influence, but the
timing (regional vs global) and the interaction between the hemispheres has not been well illuminated.
While scientists long understood the greenhouse effect and understood that the earth's climate is complex and always changing, our company scientists and the scientific community did not know with precision to what extent and in what ways
rising CO2 emissions from industrial activity might
influence the earth's climate
over time.