Google Doodle Features Eunice Newton Foote, The First Person To Discover Greenhouse Effect; On Her 204th Birth Anniversary

Google on Monday, July 17, paid tribute to Eunice Newton Foote (1819-1888) an American scientist and women's rights activist born in Connecticut who was the first to identify the greenhouse effect and its impact on global warming

At a time when women were widely shunned from the scientific community, Ms Foote conducted an experiment in 1856 that shaped the understanding of climate change today. After placing mercury thermometers in glass cylinders, she discovered that the cylinder containing carbon dioxide experienced the most significant heating effect in the sun

As a result, Ms Foote was ultimately the first scientist to make the connection between rising carbon dioxide levels and the warming of the atmosphere

After Ms Foote published her findings, she produced her second study on atmospheric static electricity. She 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 she laid

Not only that, she also dedicated time to campaigning for women's rights. In 1848, Ms 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

Ms Foote died in Brooklyn in 1888