3 ms·

I remember that when I was in school good parts of the Harz mountains were destroyed by the Bark Beetle, but at that time it was acid rain that made matters wor

by jansan 3y ago

I remember that when I was in school good parts of the Harz mountains were destroyed by the Bark Beetle, but at that time it was acid rain that made matters worse. It was a poster example of the Waldsterben (dying of forests) at that time. This phenomenon has been politically abused at least since the 80s.

flohofwoe 3y ago
The classic 1980's "Waldsterben" meme photo was a strip of dead forest along the Czech border near the Fichtelberg though, this was most likely caused by dirty coal power station emissions from across the border, at times the air would reek of cat piss which we used to call "Bohemian Air".. or maybe better translated as "Bohemian Wind" :)
- jansan 3y ago
  That acid rain certainly had an effect in some regions, but people at that time were very fast to attribute every single dying tree to that cause, just like today they do it with climate change. However, Bark Beetles don't need any helpers like acid rain or climate change, they can destroy a forest perfectly by themselves if they are in the right mood.
  - flohofwoe 3y ago
    I agree that the topic was 'exploited' mainly by the Green Party in the 80s, but in the area I grew up (south east Germany near the Czech border) the forest is definitely in a much worse state now than at any time during the last 40 years, even including the heavy environmental pollution caused by the GDR industry. Since the last 5 years or so there's so many grey, brown and empty patches in the forests that it's getting downright scary.
    - jansan 3y ago
      So what do locals think is the reason for this? The past few summers have been exceptionally dry and hot here (north of your place), but is this the only reason? If so, let's hope natures uses this cooler and rather wet year to recover a bit. Btw, Inidentially my teenage son just came back from "Boofen" there :)

3 ms·

I remember that when I was in school good parts of the Harz mountains were destroyed by the Bark Beetle, but at that time it was acid rain that made matters wor

by jansan 3y ago

flohofwoe 3y ago
The classic 1980's "Waldsterben" meme photo was a strip of dead forest along the Czech border near the Fichtelberg though, this was most likely caused by dirty coal power station emissions from across the border, at times the air would reek of cat piss which we used to call "Bohemian Air".. or maybe better translated as "Bohemian Wind" :)
- jansan 3y ago
  That acid rain certainly had an effect in some regions, but people at that time were very fast to attribute every single dying tree to that cause, just like today they do it with climate change. However, Bark Beetles don't need any helpers like acid rain or climate change, they can destroy a forest perfectly by themselves if they are in the right mood.
  - flohofwoe 3y ago
    I agree that the topic was 'exploited' mainly by the Green Party in the 80s, but in the area I grew up (south east Germany near the Czech border) the forest is definitely in a much worse state now than at any time during the last 40 years, even including the heavy environmental pollution caused by the GDR industry. Since the last 5 years or so there's so many grey, brown and empty patches in the forests that it's getting downright scary.
    - jansan 3y ago
      So what do locals think is the reason for this? The past few summers have been exceptionally dry and hot here (north of your place), but is this the only reason? If so, let's hope natures uses this cooler and rather wet year to recover a bit. Btw, Inidentially my teenage son just came back from "Boofen" there :)