14 Combatting “Acid Rain”: Protecting the Common European Sky
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Arne Kaijser
Abstract
In the late 1960s, Scandinavian scientists asserted that the long-range air pollution was causing serious acidification and that emissions all over Europe would have to be diminished. The prevailing view at the time was that air pollution was a local phenomenon best handled by building high smokestacks, and the major polluting countries were opposed to spending money on protecting areas far away in other countries. This chapter analyses how the discovery of “acid rain” triggered the first international research projects to confirm long-range air pollution and how, in a second phase, international negotiations involving scientists, policymakers, and diplomats resulted in the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979. Later on, special protocols were adopted, and the signing nations promised to decrease their emissions in accordance with specific goals. Cold War politics played an interesting role in the negotiations and led to an unexpected alliance between Nordic countries and the Soviet Union.
Abstract
In the late 1960s, Scandinavian scientists asserted that the long-range air pollution was causing serious acidification and that emissions all over Europe would have to be diminished. The prevailing view at the time was that air pollution was a local phenomenon best handled by building high smokestacks, and the major polluting countries were opposed to spending money on protecting areas far away in other countries. This chapter analyses how the discovery of “acid rain” triggered the first international research projects to confirm long-range air pollution and how, in a second phase, international negotiations involving scientists, policymakers, and diplomats resulted in the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979. Later on, special protocols were adopted, and the signing nations promised to decrease their emissions in accordance with specific goals. Cold War politics played an interesting role in the negotiations and led to an unexpected alliance between Nordic countries and the Soviet Union.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- On the “Contemporary European History” Handbook Series IX
- 1 Introduction: Writing a European History of Environmental Protection 1
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I Conserving Nature
- 2 Counting Birds: Protecting European Avifauna and Habitats 17
- 3 Europe and its Environmental Other(s): Imagining Natures for “Global” Conservation 47
- 4 Restoring, Reintroducing, Rewilding: Creating European Wilderness 73
- 5 Protecting Eurofisch: An Environmental History of the European Eel and its Europeanness 101
- 6 Transcending the Cold War: Borders, Nature, and the European Green Belt Conservation Project along the Former Iron Curtain 129
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II Preserving Livelihoods
- 7 Transforming Woodlands: European Forest Protection in a Global Context 157
- 8 Travelling (Western) Europe: Tourism, Regional Development, and Nature Protection 185
- 9 Moving Mountains: The Protection of the Alps 217
- 10 Negotiating the Maritime Commons: Protecting the Baltic Sea in a European Context 243
- 11 Recycling Europe’s Domestic Wastes: The Hope of “Greening” Mass Consumption through Recycling 269
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III Sustaining Environments
- 12 Visualizing the Invisible: Communicating Europe’s Environment 305
- 13 Revealing Risks: European Moments in Nuclear Politics and the Anti-Nuclear Movement 331
- 14 Combatting “Acid Rain”: Protecting the Common European Sky 363
- 15 Developing Europe: The Formation of Sustainability Concepts and Activities 389
- 16 Europeanizing Biodiversity: International Organizations as Environmental Actors 419
- 17 Epilogue: The Nature of Europe 447
- List of Contributors 451
- Index 455
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- On the “Contemporary European History” Handbook Series IX
- 1 Introduction: Writing a European History of Environmental Protection 1
-
I Conserving Nature
- 2 Counting Birds: Protecting European Avifauna and Habitats 17
- 3 Europe and its Environmental Other(s): Imagining Natures for “Global” Conservation 47
- 4 Restoring, Reintroducing, Rewilding: Creating European Wilderness 73
- 5 Protecting Eurofisch: An Environmental History of the European Eel and its Europeanness 101
- 6 Transcending the Cold War: Borders, Nature, and the European Green Belt Conservation Project along the Former Iron Curtain 129
-
II Preserving Livelihoods
- 7 Transforming Woodlands: European Forest Protection in a Global Context 157
- 8 Travelling (Western) Europe: Tourism, Regional Development, and Nature Protection 185
- 9 Moving Mountains: The Protection of the Alps 217
- 10 Negotiating the Maritime Commons: Protecting the Baltic Sea in a European Context 243
- 11 Recycling Europe’s Domestic Wastes: The Hope of “Greening” Mass Consumption through Recycling 269
-
III Sustaining Environments
- 12 Visualizing the Invisible: Communicating Europe’s Environment 305
- 13 Revealing Risks: European Moments in Nuclear Politics and the Anti-Nuclear Movement 331
- 14 Combatting “Acid Rain”: Protecting the Common European Sky 363
- 15 Developing Europe: The Formation of Sustainability Concepts and Activities 389
- 16 Europeanizing Biodiversity: International Organizations as Environmental Actors 419
- 17 Epilogue: The Nature of Europe 447
- List of Contributors 451
- Index 455
