Han talte kullindustrien i mot, det var ikke veldig populært. Han gjorde alle beregningene sine for hånd, og fikk Nobelprisen i kjemi i 1903 (for noe annet).
“Many of these theories, discoveries and predictions—for which he would also be recognised, though long after his death—were very controversial in his time”.
" Arrhenius warned of the risks of the growing CO2 emissions by man and the consequent climate change, almost a century before the world decided to fight global warming. Despite all its serious implications, his study was largely ignored at the time. It was not until the 1970s, when the greenhouse effect began to emerge as a real and imminent concern , that the work of the Swedish scientist was given the value that it deserved".