The climate change reckoning looms. As scientists try to discern what the Earth’s changing weather patterns mean for our future, Rachel Rothschild seeks to understand the current scientific and political debates surrounding the environment through the history of another global environmental threat: acid rain. The identification of acid rain in the 1960s changed scientific and popular understanding of fossil fuel pollution’s potential to cause regional—and even global—environmental harms. It showed scientists that the problem of fossil fuel pollution was one that crossed borders—it could travel across vast stretches of the earth’s atmosphere to impact ecosystems around the world. This unprecedented transnational reach prompted governments, for the first time, to confront the need to cooperate on pollution policies, transforming environmental science and diplomacy. Studies of acid rain and other pollutants brought about a reimagining of how to investigate the natural world as a complete entity, and the responses of policy makers, scientists, and the public set the stage for how societies have approached other prominent environmental dangers on a global scale, most notably climate change. Grounded in archival research spanning eight countries and five languages, as well as interviews with leading scientists from both government and industry, Poisonous Skies is the first book to examine the history of acid rain in an international context. By delving deep into our environmental past, Rothschild hopes to inform its future, showing us how much is at stake for the natural world as well as what we risk—and have already risked—by not acting.

This collection of essays by noted academicians, lawyers, energy agency administrators, and research analysts focuses on the political and legal aspects of the acid rain debate, the policy options for resolving the controversy, and the international dimensions of acid rain control. The contributors highlight concerns drawn primarily from the developing study of acid rain in political science, economics, public administration, and policy analysis--concerns that are the focal point of the public debate over the nature, impact, and cost of acid rain and the mitigation of its effects. The book complements the impressive body of research from the natural sciences and responds to the need for applied study to help resolve the current policy stalemate on this critical environmental issue. The Acid Rain Debate features a comprehensive annotated bibliography on acid rain and relevant social science research.

The book analyzes the behavior and performance of the market for emissions permits, called allowances in the Acid Rain Program, and quantifies emission reductions, compliance costs, and cost savings associated with the trading program."--BOOK JACKET.

This book provides a unique overview of research methods over the past 25 years assessing critical loads and temporal effects of the deposition of air pollutants. It includes critical load methods and applications addressing acidification, eutrophication and heavy metal pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Applications include examples for each air pollution threat, both at local and regional scale, including Europe, Asia, Canada and the US. The book starts with background information on the effects of the deposition of sulphur, nitrogen and heavy metals and geochemical and biological indicators for risk assessments. The use of those indicators is then illustrated in the assessment of critical loads and their exceedances and in the temporal assessment of air pollution risks. It also includes the most recent developments of assessing critical loads and current and future risks of soil and water chemistry and biodiversity under climate change, with a special focus on nitrogen. The book thus provides a complete overview of the knowledge that is currently used for the scientific support of policies in the field of air pollution control to protect ecosystem services.

From reviews of the first edition: "Covers a wide range of issues with balance and clarity. . . . I can recommend the book highly as an intermediate-level source of information and insight into the international aspects of the acid rain problem."--J. F. Hornig, Ambio "A masterful analysis of the policy problems raised by acid rain in the U.S. and Canada . . . detailed, objective, understandable, and compelling. Weaving substantive and institutional factors into their analysis, the authors skillfully portray the controversy's multifaceted nature."--Tracy Dobson, American Journal of International Law "[A] thorough, well-balanced analysis . . . [that] could serve as a model for analysis of complex policy issues."--Choice "Reveals the interface between science, technology, and public policy as being the co-extensive network it really is. . . . Timely and welcomed."--John de la Mothe, Canadian Public Policy/Analyse de Politiques