2011/01/01 by Matthias Dörries · 2 citations
Social Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Nuclear Issues and Defense #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
paper · doi:10.1086/661272
openalex publication_date 2011/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
This article, by exploring the individual and collective trajectories that led to the "nuclear winter" debate, examines what originally drew scientists on both sides of the controversy to this research. Stepping back from the day-to-day action and looking at the larger cultural and political context of nuclear winter reveals sometimes surprising commonalities among actors who found themselves on opposing sides, as well as differences within the apparently coherent TTAPS group (the theory's originators: Richard P. Turco, Owen Brian Toon, Thomas P. Ackerman, James B. Pollack, and Carl Sagan). This story foreshadows that of recent research on anthropogenic climate change, which was substantially shaped during this--apparently tangential--cold war debate of the 1980s about research on the global effects of nuclear weapons.