Google doodle celebrates 204th birthday of American climate scientist

New Delhi: At a time when the world is reeling with a warming climate, Google on Monday celebrated the 204th birthday of American scientist Eunice Newton Foote, who was the first person to discover the greenhouse effect, with a coloured 11-slide Doodle. Foote who was also a women’s rights activist discovered the role of greenhouse effect in the warming of Earth,s climate.

Her study on greenhouse gases and atmospheric static electricity were the first two physics studies published by a woman in the US, which was then presented by a male scientist around 1856 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The discussions led to further experiments which uncovered what is known as the greenhouse effect -- when gases like carbon dioxide trap heat from the sun, the temperature of Earth’s atmosphere gradually rises.

”Today, scientists all over the world are advancing climate science thanks to the foundation that Foote laid,” Google said in a statement. Foote was born on July 17, 1819 in Connecticut, US. She attended the Troy Female Seminary, a school that encouraged students to attend science lectures and participate in chemistry labs.