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- Acid Rain in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany
Acid Rain in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany
Germany
last update:
10 months agoProblems
Causes of Acid rain in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany
The chief cause of the damage, according to most German scientists and forest administrators who have studied the problem, is air pollution and acid rain generated by industry and automobiles. However, some responsible scientists also blame severe climatic stress, an undetected biological pathogen, or perhaps a combination of factors acting synergistically, some not even guessed at. West German scientists have begun major research efforts to pinpoint the exact cause of the crisis. It has been established that the pollution of the air with various pollutants, noxious to plant life, is the prime cause of the dying of the forest. The Black Forest suffered severe drought, subnormal rain for a decade, very heavy snow.
Gallery
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Timelines
2020
The trees in the Black Forest, Germany look much healthier but the damage is still there.
1990
Nearly half of the trees in the Black Forest were damaged by acid rain.
1986
The West Germans have taken steps to ward off further damage. They are adding fertilizer and lime to stricken areas in an effort to reverse the decline. Measures to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide emissions in the region had begun. They have passed new laws to cut pollution from power plants and automobiles. They are pushing for a continentwide agreement to reduce emissions that travel across national boundaries. They are planning to breed trees that are resistant to pollution. And they hope to improve the mix of trees found in the Black Forest, so that the destruction of any one species will be mitigated by the survival of others.
1983
Reports issued by the federal Government and the State of Baden-W"urttemberg estimate that almost 80 percent of the silver fir acreage and almost half of the spruce tree acreage hereabouts is suffering some degree of damage, ranging from moderate needle loss in most cases to terminal illness in a small percentage of trees. Trees that are over 200 years old have been lost. Surveys have found extensive damage to very young trees as well, threatening the future survival of the forest
1982
The Black Forest suffered severe subnormal rain for a decade, very heavy snow that broke many trees in 1981-82 and drought again. Baden-W"urttemberg suffered an $80 million loss in wood production from forest damage, and that further damage disrupt ground water, soil fertility, wildlife and local climate. In the crown of a tree that should be bushy and impenetrable but has lost so many needles that the sky shows through. It is on the innermost portions of a branch, next to the trunk, where the needles should be green but have instead turned yellow or have fallen away. It is in the unexpected appearance of lichens, which normally colonize old trees, on young trees as well, a sure sign that their growth rate has slowed.
1976
The Black Forest suffered severe drought.
1970
Growth rings inside the trunks of silver fir trees show normal growth until the 1950's or 1960's, but greatly reduced growth thereafter. The damage, first detected in aging silver firs in the mid-1970's.
1960
The trees began losing as much as 25 percent of their leaves and needles when compared to previous years. This is one of the most easily observed effects.