![The historical figure Eunice Newton Foote is illustrated standing in front of chemistry equipment, reading from a piece of paper.](https://www.climate.gov/sites/default/files/EuniceFoote_Illustration_lrg.jpg)
Greenhouse gasses trapping heat re-emitted from the Earth and as a result warming Earth’s atmosphere is not a new line of study. As early as the 1850s, scientists like Eunice Newton Foote and John Tyndall demonstrated that gases like carbon dioxide and methane were capable of trapping heat, but they are both relatively unknown for their contributions. Additionally, Tyndall went on to make many other discoveries before his death in 1893, including why the sky is blue.