Svante Arrhenius and the greenhouse effect

Svante Arrhenius (1859-1927; 1903 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) is one of the most famous scientists of the last century. His theories about electrolyte dissociation, chemical kinetics, physical chemistry, and immunochemistry set the direction for the development of modern electrochemistry, theory of solutions, and catalytic processes. Very few are aware of his substantial contribution to the study of the effect of atmospheric contamination upon climate and the possible reasons of the different Ice Ages that the Earth has experienced during different historical epochs. Here a general description of the so-called greenhouse effect and Arrhenius's contribution to its interpretation is being presented.