If you were around in the 70s, wasnt there a panic being generated about global cooling and the unending winter approaching? I've watched documentaries and discussions on it, but wasnt around to personally experience the panic.
I was around -- born in 1961. In elementary school, we got those little classroom
Scholastic Magazine issues. They had lots of topics nationally and globally intended to "round out" local news.
There wasn't an issue I don't think that didn't have some dire prediction if "we" didn't stop some behavior that was causing the problem. First one I remember was how aerosol deodorant was responsible for depleted ozone, which was going to completely fry the surface of the Earth. Then there was overpopulation exceeding resources (mainly food), which was going to cause massive societal upheaval and a return to the dark ages.
Of course there were also predictions of the coming ice age that our factories, cars, trucks, railroads, etc. were ushering in.
I also remember one magazine said eggs were evil, and the cholesterol they contained were going to cause heart attacks in every single person who eats more than 3 per week. A year later, eggs were being called "the perfect food" based on new studies. Other protein sources compared to eggs were too high in saturated and poly-unsaturated fats.
Hurricanes, tornadoes, famine, gas shortages, pollution, holes in the ozone, cholesterol, saccharine, killer bees, species extinctions, .... there's no end to the number of apocalyptic predictions I've managed to survive!

I learned at a young age not to believe everything I read. First step to determine credibility: find out who paid for the study, and whether they benefit/profit from the findings presented.
"The Science Is Settled!!"