Climate change: The science briefing that convinced Boris Johnson - BBC Newshttps://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60203674"I got them to run through it all and, if you look at the almost vertical kink upward in the temperature graph, the anthropogenic climate change, it's very hard to dispute. That was a very important moment for me," Mr Johnson told reporters on the prime ministerial plane.
He has also described it as his "road to Damascus" on climate - a phrase from the bible meaning a turning point in someone's life.
Some climate experts have told the BBC they are surprised the prime minister was not already familiar with much of the material in the briefing.
A version of the temperature graph that made such an impression on Mr Johnson plays a key role in Al Gore's 2006 film and book, An Inconvenient Truth, for example.
"It is shocking he only had his Damascene moment in 2020 given how much effort scientists have made to communicate the risks of climate change over the years," said Emily Shuckburgh, head of Cambridge Net Zero, the university's climate change initiative.