Waldsterben (Dying Forests)
example · ecology-climate ·
retold in 6 talks
The 20-30 year old German environmental panic about forests dying, which turned out to be false as forests are now more abundant, illustrating the paradox of making choices without knowing their effects (e.g., CO2 drying forests).
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026
As told 6
“some 20, 30 years ago... the big topic was waldsterben, the dying of forests.”
“I remember when first there was a talk, some at least years ago, in Germany especially, about Waldsterben, the dying of forests.”
“the big obsession in germany was waldsterben, the dying of forests... there are now more forests in europe then. thirty years ago.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
contents · one story, 3 jobsuses
lifestyle ecology
×2
choices without coordinates
×1
ecology of fear
×1
Its cast and sources
populated by
Greta Thunberg3Eva Wiseman2Marxists (Old)1Andrew Schally1Ed1Cecilia Alemani1Nicaragua1François Laruelle1
alongside works
Every retelling 6
The 20-30 year old German environmental panic about forests dying, which turned out to be false as forests are now more abundant, illustrating the paradox of making choices without knowing their effects (e.g., CO2 drying forests)., illustrating choices without coordinates
The media fascination with 'Waldsterben' (dying forests) in Germany proved false, as there are more forests now than in the 20th century, illustrating how catastrophe fascination immobilizes action., illustrating ecology of fear
50 years ago, the German obsession was 'Waldsterben' (dying forests), predicting no forests by 2000; instead, there are more forests now, showing ecological predictions can be wrong., illustrating ecology-climate
European 'Waldsterben' (forest death) panic of the 1980s predicted total forest loss; forests are now more extensive than at any point in the past century, cited to caution against too-simple catastrophism while insisting the ecological crisis is real and more complex., illustrating ecological ideology,complexity of ecological crisis
In the 1980s, scientific consensus predicted European forests would be dead by now; instead there are more forests than in centuries, not disproving ecological crisis but showing its self-contradictory, tricky nature., illustrating ecological deadlock,limits of scientific prediction
In the 1980s Germany was gripped by the fear that all European forests would soon die; today there are more forests in Europe than ever. Used to warn against ecological eschatology while maintaining the seriousness of ecological problems., illustrating ideology in ecology,avoiding easy eschatology