ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, knew about the potential effects of fossil fuels on global warming decades ago, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The study shows that Exxon’s own climate modeling data from the 1970s not only confirmed what scientists were saying at the time, but actually predicted the rise in global temperatures with precision and accuracy equal to or even better than government and academic scientists, according to the Associated Press.
Specifically, Exxon’s projections showed that the world would warm at a rate of about 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade and that human-influenced global warming would be detected around the year 2000.
This revelation came as a surprise given that ExxonMobil went on to publicly deny clear links between fossil fuels and global warming, with the company’s leadership calling climate models “sheer speculation” in 1999 and “not competent” in 2013. The company also funded numerous climate denial campaigns until at least 2018.
ExxonMobil has been the target of several lawsuits over the years which claim that the company knew about the potential effects of oil and gas on the climate but chose to mislead the public in its advertisements.
In response to the study, ExxonMobil issued a statement dismissing the recent revelations, writing that its climate science “has developed along with that of the broader scientific community” and that those who claim “Exxon knew” are wrong.
