The 1912 article predicted a horrible accuracy of today's problems

When the prophecies became too true, everyone seemed to be shaking their heads.

There's no denying that our lives will be a lot easier if we somehow predict the future. But the economic predictors are always respected and the fortune-teller profession always has living land. To "rain is a story of heaven" is also guessed by people with the industry forecasting weather.

Called the future, there is nothing fixed, so it is normal to make a mistake. But hardly any prophecy can achieve the same accuracy as this New Zealand newspaper . And know what, that newspaper dates from 1912 - 106 years ago.

Specifically, on August 14, 1912, the newspaper with a long name " New Zealand's Rodney and Otamatea Times, the Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette" printed a bulletin of scientific prediction. Briefly described, the report warns that the Earth's atmosphere is changing, because the economy is too focused on fossil fuels.

"Coal affects the climate" - that is the title of the news.

Short newsletter forecasting the situation of Earth's climate.(Photo from the National Library of New Zealand).

"Kilns in the world are consuming 2 billion tons of coal every year. When burned, it absorbs oxygen and releases 7 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere" - quoted in the news.

"This process will make the air more like a blanket covering the Earth, raising the temperature. That effect is happening, and the consequences will come in the next century."

That's all that is explained in the newsletter. Very brief, but extremely accurate about what happens to the Earth's climate today.

In fact, the Kiwi newspaper is not the first to publish this forecast. In July 1912, Australia's Braidwood Dispatch published a similar news. Before that, in March 1912, Popular Mechanic was probably the first place to make this prediction.

Rate of increase in temperature and density of CO2 in the air.

If retrieved further, the first reports of the effects of climate change due to coal were also available. As in 1850, the New York Times issued a report on the effects of coal on the climate, but did not receive much support.

And sadly, every human prediction at that time came true.

In 2016, the world consumed more than 5.3 billion tons of coal. And the Earth's atmosphere today contains a tremendous amount of CO ₂ : over 411 parts per million - the highest in 800,000 years.

The Earth's atmosphere today contains a terrific CO ₂ density.

The high rate of air pollution also attacks health, killing many human lives at an alarming rate. That is not to mention that rising temperatures are easy to cause forest fires, sea level rise, and ecosystem destruction.

Currently, the rate of coal production and use is decreasing in developed countries, but the opposite trend is happening in developing countries. There are still billions of tons of coal being burned, and the consequences are still very serious.