Even further back than the 50’s (we knew this because video existed from the TV Science lesson that was then broadcast….see it at this link on YouTube: ).
Now this, from 1912. I expect that there was a flurry of research that transpired after that study in 1912 (and which was probably and “skillfully” kept under wraps by the rapidly expanding growth of the oil companies who were “seeing gold in them thar’ hills”. )
For those of us who have been learning about the history of this in the process of learning abut the science of the Ecological Crisis, we also know things like this:
“In the 1820s in France, Jean Fourier was investigating the behaviour of heat when his calculations revealed that the earth should not be as warm as it is” https://buff.ly/2uGtdFV
More from this link that looks back over the past 200 years of the science on this:
“In the 1820s, Fourier did not have the technology to make the measurements needed to explore his hypothesis. Decades later, the Victoria natural historian, John Tyndall, brought a fresh perspective to Fourier’s question and suggestion. As an avid mountain climber, Tyndall observed evidence of climate-induced changes in ice caps, and he conducted experiments to measure the heat trapping propertities. This led to his discovery that water vapour and carbon dioxied are good at trapping heat.
Tyndall’s insights captured the interst of a Swedish scientist. Svante Arrhenius figured out that earth’s temperature is not regulated by water vapour because it recycles rapidly in and out of the atmosphere. Rather, he saw that carbon dioxide regulates temperature directly as it is a long-lived resident of the atmosphere that changes relatively slowly over time.
As Arrhenius explored these issues, he worked with his colleage Arvid Hogbom, a Swedish geologist who was studing natural carbon dioxide cycles. Hogbom had discovered that CO2 emissions from coal-burning factories were similar to emissions from some natural sources. The two investigators asked what would happen if emissions from human sources increased and accumulated over centuries. Arrhenius calculated that doubling the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere would raise the global average temperature by 5 to 6°C. His conclusion was challenged and not accepted. Confirmation would take decades.”