CO2 was at very safe levels in 1974. That was the year when Nixon resigned, as well as a few other things.
The worst tornado outbreak in US history
http://www.april31974.com/images/outbreakmaplarge.jpg
A hurricane which killed 8,000 people
Hurricane Fifi (later Hurricane Orlene) was a catastrophic tropical cyclone that killed between 3,000 and 10,000 people in Honduras in September 1974, ranking it as the fourth deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record
Darwin was destroyed by a cyclone in December
The Montreal Gazette – Google News Archive Search
Thirty four inches of rain in January at Brisbane
http://news.google.com/newspapers/
The worst heat wave in Arizona history
Not to mention record drought, floods, famine, heat, cold and a global cooling scare.
http://news.google.com/newspapers/
Another Ice Age?
Monday, June 24, 1974
In Africa, drought continues for the sixth consecutive year, adding terribly to the toll of famine victims. During 1972 record rains in parts of the U.S., Pakistan and Japan caused some of the worst flooding in centuries. In Canada’s wheat belt, a particularly chilly and rainy spring has delayed planting and may well bring a disappointingly small harvest. Rainy Britain, on the other hand, has suffered from uncharacteristic dry spells the past few springs. A series of unusually cold winters has gripped the American Far West, while New England and northern Europe have…
http://www.climatemonitor.it/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1974.pdf
