"2nd iceage" and "uncontrollable acid rain" doom and gloom. It would be an interesting object of study in the history of science to look at old papers in t

"2nd iceage" and "uncontrollable acid rain" doom and gloom. It would be an interesting object of study in the history of science to look at old papers in these fields, and at the structure of funding, who was benefitting from funding given to these research subjects, how political pressure was used to silence critics of the scientific merit e.g. forest dieback etc. In retrospect we know that none of the hypotheses held up. Why did they gain such a currency at the time? The "acid rain will destroy our forests" doom/gloom seems to have originated from a single person, Bernhard Ulrich [1] from the University of Göttingen. His dire warning gained immediate currency in a political climate where a new form of left-wing activism (now known as "Green Party" in various countries) was beginning to emerge. Political activists from the "Green" side of the spectrum effectively demonised all criticism of "acid rain will destroy our forests" and lead to generous funding for any research that seemed to corroborate the doom/gloom, triggering a self-reinforcing spiral. [1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Ulrich_(Forstwissenschaftler) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Ulrich_(Forstwissensc...