A compilation of news articles on the global cooling scare of the 1970’s
Does the bullet point list for solutions to global cooling at right look familiar? It reads almost like some of the manifestos we get from warmists today, including the suspension of Democracy as the article in the Owosso Newspaper clearly demonstrates. Thanks to Poptech for the compilation.
During the 1970s the media promoted global cooling alarmism with dire threats of a new ice age. Extreme weather events were hyped as signs of the coming apocalypse and man-made pollution was blamed as the cause.
Environmental extremists called for everything from outlawing the internal combustion engine to communist style population controls. This media hype was found in newspapers, magazines, books and on television;
News articles*:
1970 – Colder Winters Held Dawn of New Ice Age – Scientists See Ice Age In the Future (The Washington Post, January 11, 1970)
1970 – Is Mankind Manufacturing a New Ice Age for Itself? (L.A. Times, January 15, 1970)
1970 – New Ice Age May Descend On Man (Sumter Daily Item, January 26, 1970)
1970 – Pollution Prospect A Chilling One (Owosso Argus-Press, January 26, 1970)
1970 – Pollution’s 2-way ‘Freeze’ On Society (Middlesboro Daily News, January 28, 1970)
1970 – Cold Facts About Pollution (The Southeast Missourian, January 29, 1970)
1970 – Pollution Could Cause Ice Age, Agency Reports (St. Petersburg Times, March 4, 1970)
1970 – Pollution Called Ice Age Threat (St. Petersburg Times, June 26, 1970)
1970 – Dirt Will .Bring New Ice Age (The Sydney Morning Herald, October 19, 1970)
1971 – Ice Age Refugee Dies Underground (The Montreal Gazette, Febuary 17, 1971)
1971 – U.S. Scientist Sees New Ice Age Coming (The Washington Post, July 9, 1971)
1971 – Ice Age Around the Corner (Chicago Tribune, July 10, 1971)
1971 – New Ice Age Coming – It’s Already Getting Colder (L.A. Times, October 24, 1971)
1971 – Another Ice Age? Pollution Blocking Sunlight (The Day, November 1, 1971)
1971 – Air Pollution Could Bring An Ice Age (Harlan Daily Enterprise, November 4, 1971)
1972 – Air pollution may cause ice age (Free-Lance Star, February 3, 1972)
1972 – Scientist Says New ice Age Coming (The Ledger, February 13, 1972)
1972 – Scientist predicts new ice age (Free-Lance Star, September 11, 1972)
1972 – British expert on Climate Change says Says New Ice Age Creeping Over Northern Hemisphere (Lewiston Evening Journal, September 11, 1972)
1972 – Climate Seen Cooling For Return Of Ice Age (Portsmouth Times, September 11, 1972)
1972 – New Ice Age Slipping Over North (Press-Courier, September 11, 1972)
1972 – Ice Age Begins A New Assault In North (The Age, September 12, 1972)
1972 – Weather To Get Colder (Montreal Gazette, September 12, 1972)
1972 – British climate expert predicts new Ice Age (The Christian Science Monitor, September 23, 1972)
1972 – Scientist Sees Chilling Signs of New Ice Age (L.A. Times, September 24, 1972)
1972 – Science: Another Ice Age? (Time Magazine, November 13, 1972)
1973 – The Ice Age Cometh (The Saturday Review, March 24, 1973)
1973 – Weather-watchers think another ice age may be on the way (The Christian Science Monitor, December 11, 1973)
1974 – New evidence indicates ice age here (Eugene Register-Guard, May 29, 1974)
1974 – Another Ice Age? (Time Magazine, June 24, 1974)
1974 – 2 Scientists Think ‘Little’ Ice Age Near (The Hartford Courant, August 11, 1974)
1974 – Ice Age, worse food crisis seen (The Chicago Tribune, October 30, 1974)
1974 – Believes Pollution Could Bring On Ice Age (Ludington Daily News, December 4, 1974)
1974 – Pollution Could Spur Ice Age, Nasa Says (Beaver Country Times, December 4, 1974)
1974 – Air Pollution May Trigger Ice Age, Scientists Feel (The Telegraph, December 5, 1974)
1974 – More Air Pollution Could Trigger Ice Age Disaster (Daily Sentinel – December 5, 1974)
1974 – Scientists Fear Smog Could Cause Ice Age (Milwaukee Journal, December 5, 1974)
1975 – Climate Changes Called Ominous (The New York Times, January 19, 1975)
1975 – Climate Change: Chilling Possibilities (Science News, March 1, 1975)
1975 – B-r-r-r-r: New Ice Age on way soon? (The Chicago Tribune, March 2, 1975)
1975 – Cooling Trends Arouse Fear That New Ice Age Coming (Eugene Register-Guard, March 2, 1975)
1975 – Is Another Ice Age Due? Arctic Ice Expands In Last Decade (Youngstown Vindicator – March 2, 1975)
1975 – Is Earth Headed For Another Ice Age? (Reading Eagle, March 2, 1975)
1975 – New Ice Age Dawning? Significant Shift In Climate Seen (Times Daily, March 2, 1975)
1975 – There’s Troublesome Weather Ahead (Tri City Herald, March 2, 1975)
1975 – Is Earth Doomed To Live Through Another Ice Age? (The Robesonian, March 3, 1975)
1975 – The Ice Age cometh: the system that controls our climate (The Chicago Tribune, April 13, 1975)
1975 – The Cooling World (Newsweek, April 28, 1975)
1975 – Scientists Ask Why World Climate Is Changing; Major Cooling May Be Ahead (PDF) (The New York Times, May 21, 1975)
1975 – In the Grip of a New Ice Age? (International Wildlife, July-August, 1975)
1975 – Oil Spill Could Cause New Ice Age (Milwaukee Journal, December 11, 1975)
1976 – The Cooling: Has the Next Ice Age Already Begun? [Book] (Lowell Ponte, 1976)
1977 – Blizzard – What Happens if it Doesn’t Stop? [Book] (George Stone, 1977)
1977 – The Weather Conspiracy: The Coming of the New Ice Age [Book] (The Impact Team, 1977)
1976 – Worrisome CIA Report; Even U.S. Farms May be Hit by Cooling Trend (U.S. News & World Report, May 31, 1976)
1977 – The Big Freeze (Time Magazine, January 31, 1977)
1977 – We Will Freeze in the Dark (Capital Cities Communications Documentary, Host: Nancy Dickerson, April 12, 1977)
1978 – The New Ice Age [Book] (Henry Gilfond, 1978)
1978 – Little Ice Age: Severe winters and cool summers ahead (Calgary Herald, January 10, 1978)
1978 – Winters Will Get Colder, ‘we’re Entering Little Ice Age’ (Ellensburg Daily Record, January 10, 1978)
1978 – Geologist Says Winters Getting Colder (Middlesboro Daily News, January 16, 1978)
1978 – It’s Going To Get Colder (Boca Raton News, January 17, 1978)
1978 – Believe new ice age is coming (The Bryan Times, March 31, 1978)
1978 – The Coming Ice Age (In Search Of TV Show, Season 2, Episode 23, Host: Leonard Nimoy, May 1978)
1978 – An Ice Age Is Coming Weather Expert Fears (Milwaukee Sentinel, November 17, 1978)
1979 – A Choice of Catastrophes – The Disasters That Threaten Our World [Book] (Isaac Asimov, 1979)
1979 – Get Ready to Freeze (Spokane Daily Chronicle, October 12, 1979)
1979 – New ice age almost upon us? (The Christian Science Monitor, November 14, 1979)
And from the National Center for Atmospheric Research:
Source: http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Magazines/Bulletin/Bull165/16505796265.pdf
While a silent majority of the scientific community may have been more skeptical, you ironically find one of the most outspoken supporters of modern day Al Gore style global warming alarmism was promoting global cooling in the 1970s, the late Dr. Steven Schneider;
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.“ – Life of Reason, George Santayana
Related articles
- CIA 1974 National Security Threat: Global Cooling/Excess Arctic Ice Causing Extreme Weather (climatedepot.com)
- 1974 Shock News: Global Cooling To Kill One Billion People (junkscience.com)
- NCAR 1974 : Global Cooling And Extreme Weather Is The New Normal (stevengoddard.wordpress.com)
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After a period of rising sun spot maximums with each sucessive cycle until the 60’s, the 70’s cycle was a lot lower. The sun spot maximums then again rose until the 1990’s, then the sun spot maximums began to fall. A perfect fit to global temperatures.
With rising maximums the oceans store up the heat. As the maximums fall the oceans release the heat thus acting as a damper on the temperatures.
Here are some more for the list.
———–
George J. Kukla (of the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory) and R. K. Matthews (Chairman, Dept of Geological Sciences, Brown University) Letter to the President – 1972
“The cooling has natural cause and falls within the rank of processes which produced the last ice age. This is a surprising result based largely on recent studies of deep sea sediments.”
http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2009/10/an-important-letter-sent-to-the-president-about-the-danger-of-climate-change/
———–
White House letter to Secretary of Commerce – 1974
Changes in climate in recent years have resulted in unanticipated impacts on key national programs and policies. Concern has been expressed that recent changes may presage others. In order to assess the problem and to determine what concerted action ought to be undertaken, I have decided to establish a subcommittee on Climate Change.
http://www.meteohistory.org/2004polling_preprints/docs/abstracts/reeves&etal_abstract.pdf
———–
H/t Washington’s Blog
In the “In Search of…” video, along with Nimoy’s voice, the bitter-wind sound makes the show even more alarming. But listen more closely: the scenes change, but the wind sound is continuous. Done for dramatic effect.
Mid-clip, the wind sound gets quieter when the woman is interviewed, so you can hear her better.
Listen more closely: you will also hear the 1970s synthesizer background music.
Listen more closely: the wind sound is synthesized – this could and can be done by many of the analog synthesizers of the day, by their noise functions. Done for dramatic effect: PANIC!!!
Pull My Finger: You are spot on. But remember, Nixon and those damn republicans are responsible of enactment of the Clean Air Act. The air became cleaner and it started to warm up. That is when CO2 became significant. Its odorless, colorless properties rendered it inconsequential during the cold, dirty air days. Now with clean air it is the main culprit responsible for warming, mostly because it is an invisible “pollutant.”
@ur momisugly pointman 11:23.
Nice comment,very flowing explanation for the chemistry challenged, I have on occasion told the alarmed they should remove all carbon from their own lives, before they return to lecturing me.
Their ignorance is legion.
I wonder what would happen if the local paper ran a spread of just these headlines and a question; How gullible are you?
I remember Global Cooling (Nuclear Winter) and Global Warming stories running in the press at the same time. Late ’80s or early ’90s as I recall.
“The 1970′s Global Cooling Compilation – looks much like today”
Except today there is a supporting scientific base.
REPLY: and there was then too, note NCAR for example – Anthony
Rigid Controls on the marketing of new products which will be required to prove a minimum pollution potential
Remarkably similar to the World Future Council’s
The “Top Runner” policy mandating ongoing resource-saving product improvements by banning the least efficient products, to become legally binding. This system compares the energy efficiency of all appliances or machines of a particular kind (for example refrigerators, laptops or vehicles). The appliance that uses the least energy is then defined as a standard for the entire sector.
Appliances that exceed this energy use threshold may not be sold after a certain date.
The WFC also believe that
Global common goods to be placed in trusts, coordinated by a revived UN Trusteeship Council, setting sustainable usage caps and distributing “commons income” usage fees as a basic citizen’s income.
A certain John Gummer, who will be familiar to British readers, has been a policy making Council Member for the WFC during 2012, despite never declaring such in his Register of Interests in Parliament.
http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/john-gummer-and-the-world-future-council/
I can attest to the scare. I was a kid in the UK and in school our Environmental Studies teacher often reminded us of a looming ice age. We sometimes talked about it in the playground.
As for Warmists who say there was no scare I say it’s like people who never went to Vietnam telling people that no one got shot. 🙂
Here is the Jekyll and Hyde New York Times which has been blowing hot and cold over the weather for one and a half CENTURIES! Oh, the humanity.
Get ready for their next offering:
“The Earth is cooling. Scientists are agreed [again] that we could be heading towards another ice age……………..”
A Global-Warming Cultist provides an answer to the question:
“Question: Weren’t scientists all predicting global cooling in the 1970′s?”
http://climatechangesme.com/?p=105
@ur momisugly Bart says: March 1, 2013 at 12:16 pm
One thing I find amusing is the use of children in their scare tactics. While I was not a child in the 70s (chronologically), my siblings were (half of them). When the scare started, they were excited! Why? They figured more snow days which meant more days out of school.
In other words, children are not easily scared – until a parent or authority figure tells them they must be scared. Since the Cooling of the 70s was at best a miscalculation, and at worst a hoax, I consider the scaring of children with false calamities to be akin to child abuse. Now as it was then.
It is apparent that those who seek power over everyone do not care about anyone but the amassing of power. Least of all the “children” which they pretend to be in favor of.
Very often the folk wisdom captured in proverbs is more accurate then we may like to believe.
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same) I was more then skeptical of the cooling stuff then just as I am about AGW. Both movements are examples of faith overpowering reason.
A question – who is plagiarising who – This http://www.populartechnology.net/ is a dead ringer for this article and is dated one day earlier
@oldjim Poptech invited me to repost it here and a link is given with his name at the top. Consider reading before bloviation of accusation. – Anthony
A few years ago I ran across a book by Lowell Pointe, titled “Global Cooling: The Coming Ice Age”, published in about 1974. It struck me at the time that all the language was the same as today–just substitute warming for cooling. It was an easy read–not overly technical, but lots of great(?) ideas for preventing the next ice age, such as a dam across the Bering Strait, to keep the cold water up in the Arctic. The times may change but there is always a crisis.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/03/01/global-cooling-compilation/#comment-1236065
David (UK), islam is a real problem no government scare. Maybe you try to fools us Here?
News articles*:
1970 – Colder Winters Held Dawn of New Ice Age – Scientists See Ice Age In the Future (The Washington Post, January 11, 1970)
Held not Herald? Who screwed-up?
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/157892192.html?dids=157892192:157892192&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=JAN+11%2C+1970&author=Washington+Post+Staff+WriterBy+David+R.+Boldt&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Colder+Winters+Held+Dawn+of+New+Ice+Age&pqatl=google
ignore – following comments
This is the start of a serious compilation that you should peg on your homepage. A straight html list that people could add to (with moderation). Maybe a graphic frame on the right called Global Cooling History with a link to a place under Resources?
I remember being told in school in 1971 that the upper half of the northern states and all of Canada would be under 6 Ft of ice by 2001. Scared the hell out of me. Then.
Thank you, Poptech.
I wasn’t accusing anyone – I was asking a semi serious question – just because I missed the link is no need to be so unkind
=========================================================
The lever keeps changing but what they want to tip over remains the same.
And what those of us (and those who believe them) who do have ethics and morals need to remember is that to “them”, the end justifies the means.
Don’t expect them to “play fair”.
To add – I had never heard the abbreviation Poptech before which is the reason I missed it
Two diametrically opposed problems, both mythical, are proposed to be solved by the self-same solution. Does this make sense? No, but it brings in the funding that we want, so that’s quite OK. Give us your money and give us all power over your life.
A couple of years ago I was informed by some youngsters that the stories about the Ice Age scare was an invention of Evil Oil. When I told them I lived through it and remembered it clearly, and also remembered how we laughed when the story suddenly changed to Global Warming, they told me my memory was faulty and that it never happened at all. I couldn’t believe just how cock-sure of themseves these youngsters were, how unprepared to listen, and how arrogant to dismiss my life experience simply because it didn’t fit their narrative. It also made me wonder why it was so important for them to believe that it never happened; as if they believe that Science has to be correct about everything all the time, rather than being an iterative process.
So: thank you. This is a very useful resource. A whole decade’s worth of references should shut up all but the most rabid 70’s Ice Age Scare Denier 🙂
[Mods, if my use of the D-word (which was intended as humour) is deemed inappropriate, please snip.]
@ur momisugly Oldjim;
See here for PopTechs ‘treatment’ at SkepSci:
http://www.populartechnology.net/2012/09/skeptical-science-censorship-of-poptech.html
Derek Sorensen says:
March 1, 2013 at 2:21 pm
“I couldn’t believe just how cock-sure of themseves these youngsters were, how unprepared to listen, and how arrogant to dismiss my life experience simply because it didn’t fit their narrative. ”
____________________
Yep. They certainly fit the profile.
It would not shut them up if you showed them this thread.
I call them the “Oh, but…” people; able to rationalize anything to support their reality.