Vol. 6 No. 1 (2025): The science of climate changes

Climate change is one of the most heated scientific debates today, especially with the evidence that we are experiencing a period of global warming. The increase in the rate of global warming, linked to human activities, gives rise to discussions where scientific aspects clash with political issues, sometimes assuming contours that we can call ideological. Cadernos de Astronomia dedicates this edition to texts that address the climate issue from various points of view, from paleoclimatology, the great extinctions already observed, to studies on the impacts of climate change in the Amazon, Antarctica and other important biomes. We seek to address the various aspects of climate analysis in a scientific context, seeking to clarify how certain statements about global warming, and its possible anthropic origin, are based on objective and technical studies.

This issue also features an annotated translation of an article by chemist Svante Arrhenius, written over 100 years ago and one of the first to scientifically address the consequences of human action on the climate. The issue is complemented by research articles on archaeoastronomy, history of general relativity, propaganda and the production of scientific ignorance, and the legitimization of scientific knowledge.