{"id":8,"date":"2026-04-07T14:36:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/07\/earthrise-to-earthset-how-the-planets-climate-has-changed-since-the-photo-that-inspired-the-environmental-movement\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:36:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:36:52","slug":"earthrise-to-earthset-how-the-planets-climate-has-changed-since-the-photo-that-inspired-the-environmental-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/07\/earthrise-to-earthset-how-the-planets-climate-has-changed-since-the-photo-that-inspired-the-environmental-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthrise to Earthset: how the planet\u2019s climate has changed since the photo that inspired the environmental movement"},"content":{"rendered":"
Earthrise. The view of the rising Earth as photographed by the Apollo 8 astronauts on December 24 1968 as they came from behind the Moon after the fourth nearside orbit. <\/span> Nasa\/William Anders<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new Earthset image has been captured by the crew of Artemis II, 58 years since the iconic Earthrise photograph taken by the crew of Apollo 8. Over these past six decades, the climate has changed dramatically. <\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God, look at that picture over there! There\u2019s the Earth comin\u2019 up. Wow, is that pretty.\u201d That was Nasa astronaut Bill Anders\u2019 reaction<\/a> to seeing the Earth appearing to rise above the lunar horizon as their Apollo 8 spacecraft came around the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968.<\/p>\n

Theirs were the first human eyes to see our planet at such a distance and from another celestial body. As fellow astronaut Jim Lovell said<\/a> a few hours later: \u201cThe Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.\u201d<\/p>\n

That original Earthrise image<\/a> is widely credited with helping to set the mainstream environmental movement in motion. Although I wasn\u2019t born when the Apollo 8 photo was taken, a framed print of it hangs above my desk as a reminder of the beauty and fragility of our planet.<\/p>\n

\n \"view<\/a>
\n \u2018Earthset\u2019 is the new photo from the far side of the Moon, captured on April 6 2026 by the crew of Artemis 2 as Earth dips behind the lunar horizon.<\/span>
\n Nasa<\/span><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me as a climate scientist, these photos, taken 58 years apart, inspire me to reflect on how the Earth\u2019s climate has changed in the interim. <\/p>\n

The concentration of carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) in our atmosphere has rapidly increased as a result of over half a century of continued and spreading industrial development, driven primarily by burning fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

This is clearly illustrated by the Keeling curve<\/a> \u2013 a graph that plots the continuous record of atmospheric CO\u2082 from Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii (started by Charles Keeling in 1958). <\/p>\n

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\n Read more:
\n Mauna Loa Observatory captured the reality of climate change. The US plans to shut it down<\/a>
\n <\/strong>
\n <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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This curve shows a steep and steady increase from approximately 320 parts per million (ppm) in 1968 to about 430ppm in 2026. This increase of over one-third in the total carbon dioxide in our atmosphere shows little sign of slowing down.<\/p>\n

That additional blanket of greenhouse gases has increased the surface temperature of our planet. Data from the World Meteorological Organization shows how the global mean temperature record (the average temperature of the Earth\u2019s surface) has risen by approximately 1.2\u00b0C since the Apollo 8 Earthrise photo was taken. This represents most of the warming that has happened since the early industrial period in the mid-19th century. <\/p>\n

While an average global temperature increase of 1.2\u00b0C may not sound large, it means that regional hot extremes and new records are now much more likely. For example, my team\u2019s recent research<\/a> has shown that a 40\u00b0C day in the UK (first recorded on July 19 2022) is now over 20 times more likely than it was in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

The global average temperature has surged in the past three years \u2013 most probably driven by a combination of internal climate variability and human-made emissions (including strong reductions in industrial aerosol particle emissions that largely act to cool the planet). In 2023, temperatures jumped from the previous record of 1.29\u00b0C (set in 2016) to 1.45\u00b0C above the early-industrial 1850-1900 baseline. <\/p>\n

This record was then immediately broken in 2024 \u2013 the first year to temporarily exceed 1.5\u00b0C. Going beyond that boundary in a single year doesn\u2019t mean we have breached the 1.5\u00b0C target set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which is generally accepted to refer to a 20-year average. However, it does highlight how rapidly we are now approaching that level of warming. <\/p>\n

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\n Read more:
\n Record January heat suggests La Ni\u00f1a may be losing its ability to keep global warming in check<\/a>
\n <\/strong>
\n <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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Temperatures in both years were partly boosted by warmer conditions in the tropical Pacific due to El Ni\u00f1o, a climate phenomenon that affects weather patterns globally. Last year, after El Ni\u00f1o had subsided, was slightly cooler at 1.43\u00b0C. However, current forecasts give a high probability for another El Ni\u00f1o developing during the second half of 2026. If this materialises, we could easily exceed 1.5\u00b0C again.<\/p>\n

A key question is whether global warming is accelerating. This is difficult to detect directly from the surface temperature record. However, a recent study<\/a> found a significant acceleration after accounting for the \u201cnoise\u201d of year-to-year variability.<\/p>\n

The view from above<\/h2>\n

Climate science isn\u2019t just about measuring changes in temperature. <\/p>\n

One of the legacies of the 1960s space race was the subsequent launch of many satellite observation platforms that have transformed our ability to monitor, understand and predict changes to the global climate.<\/p>\n

We now have continuous monitoring of many key components of Earth\u2019s climate system, including sea surface temperature, sea level, and the extent of polar sea ice, glaciers and land surface changes. Unfortunately, many of these reveal worrying trends, such as more frequent heatwaves on land and sea, loss of Arctic sea-ice, melting glaciers and sea-level rise.<\/p>\n

One of the most concerning recent trends comes from a set of satellite instruments called the Nasa Ceres<\/a>, which have measured changes in the Earth\u2019s energy imbalance<\/a> (EEI) since 2000. EEI is the difference between the amount of solar energy absorbed by the planet and the thermal energy radiated back into space. <\/p>\n

The Ceres data shows a strong upward trend, indicating a growing rate of accumulation of energy, consistent with an acceleration in global heating.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, I hope that by the time astronauts take the first Earthrise photo from Mars (perhaps in the late 2030s), we are heading towards net-zero carbon emissions and more stable global temperatures.<\/p>\n

Achieving net zero is this century\u2019s Moonshot. The prize is minimising the severity of the worst climate consequences of global heating \u2013 leaving our children and future generations a sustainable \u201cgrand oasis\u201d here on Earth.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Nick Dunstone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earthrise. The view of the rising Earth as photographed by the Apollo 8 astronauts on December 24 1968 as they came from behind the Moon after the fourth nearside orbit. Nasa\/William Anders A new Earthset image has been captured by the crew of Artemis II, 58 years since the iconic Earthrise photograph taken by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}