A new study has revealed that human-caused climate change may have been detectable as early as 1885, decades earlier than believed. Scientists found a clear warming signal in the upper atmosphere, even before cars existed.

A new scientific study has suggested that human-caused climate change may have started affecting the planet’s atmosphere as early as 1885. This is decades earlier than experts had previously believed.

The discovery comes from a detailed study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It shows that the fingerprint of human activity was likely visible in the upper layers of the atmosphere just 25 years after the start of the industrial revolution.

Signs spotted before the age of cars

Researchers used advanced computer models, modern climate theory, and old climate records to go back in time. They found that by 1885, greenhouse gases had already started to cool the upper atmosphere, a key sign of human-caused global warming.

This was before the invention of gas-powered cars, which many thought marked the beginning of human impact on climate. The scientists found that just a 10 parts per million increase in carbon dioxide between 1860 and 1899 was enough to trigger a noticeable effect.

Focus on the stratosphere

Most climate studies focus on surface temperatures. But this new study looked higher up, in the stratosphere, the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere. While greenhouse gases warm the lower atmosphere (troposphere), they cool the stratosphere. That cooling effect helped scientists identify the early signal.

Ben Santer, lead author and climate expert at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said the results surprised him.

“It was really surprising to me that we could have detected a human signal in the stratosphere so early by 1885 that if we had the tools we have now,” Santer told reporters.

Experts react to early signal

Gabi Hegerl, a climate scientist at the University of Edinburgh who was not part of the study, said the results show how powerful greenhouse gases are in shaping our atmosphere.

Andrea Steiner from the University of Graz in Austria added that the upper atmosphere offers an early warning system. She said:

“This shows that temperature changes high in the atmosphere are strong signals of climate change and can help us track how well we are managing to reduce emissions.”

The warnings

The study also warns about current threats to climate monitoring. Budget cuts to agencies like NOAA, NASA, and the Department of Energy could hurt future research. Santer said losing climate satellites and measurement tools would make us “less safe.”

“When we lose the capability to measure how our world is changing, we all suffer,” he warned.

The study ends with a call to action: if we want to understand and respond to climate change, we must continue investing in science and monitoring.