Svante Odén

Svante Odén (29 April 1924 – disappeared July 1986) was a Swedish soil scientist, meteorologist, and chemist. Often referred to as the father of acid rain research,[1][2] Odén was the professor of soil science and eco chemistry at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet) from 1971 to 1986. He was a pioneer of publicizing the problems of acid precipitation in Europe. In 1986, he disappeared while working on a submarine-detecting-device project in the Baltic Sea.

Svante Odén
Oden in 1967
Born29 april 1924
Oscar Parish, Stockholm, Sweden
DisappearedJuly 1986 (aged 62)
Baltic Sea near the Roslagen, Stockholm archipelago, Sweden
Statuspresumed dead
Other namesN F Svante Odén
OccupationScientist
Era1960s-1980s
Known forEnvironmental activism
Parent
  • Sven Odén (father)
RelativesBirgitta Odén (sibling)
Signature

Life

He was born on 29 April 1924, in Oscar's Parish, Stockholm, Sweden.[3] He was the son of Sven Odén, and the brother of Swedish historian Birgitta Odén.[4] Odén became known for publicizing the problems of acidification and acid rain.[5]

For several years, Odén collected data on the chemicals contaminating the precipitation, lakes and land in Sweden; on 24 October 1967, he published an article in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter , entitled Nederbördens försurning (Acidification of precipitation).[3][6][7][8]

He wrote in the article that precipitation in Europe over a 20-year period had gradually acidified, hence the pH value in many places had dropped to below 4.7.[5][9] In his writing, he argued that the Swedish landscape was suffering from environmental degradation due to the effects of industrial activity in other countries, especially Germany and the United Kingdom.[10]

Odén also warned of serious consequences such as fish dying off in the acidified water.[9][11] The newspaper article was later followed up with several scientific reports.[3] Odén's discoveries, which had major international impact, were the starting point for negotiations on measures to reduce sulfur emissions in Europe.[9][3][12][13]

His reports suggested that industrial contaminates could travel through the atmosphere to locations very far away from the original source of the pollution.[10]

Disappearance

In late July 1986, Odén was testing a top-secret newly-invented device that could detect submarines.[14] During this test, he disappeared in the Baltic Sea near the Roslagen, Stockholm archipelago; it is presumed that he died.[15][16][17]

Odén's motorboat was found in good condition, but the submarine-detecting-devices and equipment were not recovered.[15][18] According to the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet, the submarine-tracking device had received attention from the United States and Soviet Union.[15][19]

For over a year, the Norrtälje police department carried out a secret investigation of Odén's disappearance[18]—the authorities told his relatives and friends to keep silent about the matter.[19][18] An investigator told the Associated Press that Odén's fate was considered to be "an ordinary disappearance" at sea. The officer added that, "It was not unusual for dead bodies to go missing, and they didn't exactly know the place where he disappeared, it was a large area of the sea."[18] The police closed the case, giving the following summary: "Finally, it can be said that through the investigation that has taken place, it is not possible to determine exactly how Odén left the motorboat or plastic boat."[16]

See also

References
  1. Håkanson, Lars; Boulion, Viktor V. (2002). The Lake Foodweb: Modelling Predation and Abiotic/biotic Interactions. Backhuys Publishers. p. 285. ISBN 978-90-5782-110-3.
  2. Hannigan, John A. (1995). Environmental Sociology: A Social Constructionist Perspective. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 9780415112543. Retrieved 5 December 2021. Of more immediate impact was the work of Svante Odén, a Swedish soil scientist. Odén, now widely regarded as the 'father of acid rain studies' (Park, 1987:6) not only found that the acidity levels of precipitation were increasing in Scandinavia but he was the first to definitively link source and receptor areas.
  3. "Odén, Svante N. F.(1924-1986) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  4. "skbl.se - Agnes Birgitta Odén". skbl.se. Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  5. Rodhe, Henning (1 December 2013). "Bert Bolin (1925–2007) – a world leading climate scientist and science organiser". Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology. 65 (1): 20583. Bibcode:2013TellB..6520583R. doi:10.3402/tellusb.v65i0.20583.
  6. Luoma, Jon R. (1985). Troubled Skies, Troubled Waters: The Story of Acid Rain. Penguin Books. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-14-008094-0.
  7. Spurr, Henry Clifford (1983). Public Utilities Fortnightly. Public Utilities Reports, Incorporated. p. 22.
  8. Lidskog, Rolf; Sundqvist, Göran (2011). Governing the Air: The Dynamics of Science, Policy, and Citizen Interaction. MIT Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-262-01650-6.
  9. Edinburgh, Royal Society of (1991). Acidic Deposition: Its Nature and Impacts. Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 978-0-902198-07-4.
  10. Mulvaney, Dustin (28 June 2011). Green Politics: An A-to-Z Guide. SAGE. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-4129-9679-2.
  11. Schobert, Harold H. (27 March 2014). Energy and Society: An Introduction, Second Edition. CRC Press. p. 480. ISBN 978-1-4398-2645-4.
  12. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Acid Precipitation and the Forest Ecosystem, May 12-15, 1975, Columbus, Ohio. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 1976.
  13. Disco, Nil; Kranakis, Eda (7 June 2013). Cosmopolitan Commons: Sharing Resources and Risks across Borders. MIT Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-262-31334-6.
  14. "Vetenskapsmannen som försvann | ANDERS JALLAI" (in Swedish). 6 November 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  15. "Swede Working on Sub-Tracking Device Disappears". Los Angeles Times. 4 December 1986. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  16. "Utredningen om Vetenskapsmannen | ANDERS JALLAI" (in Swedish). 24 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  17. Rautenberg (20 August 2020). "Der Fall Svante Odén - Unfall, Selbstmord oder Opfer im Kalten Krieg?". luftgangster.de (in German). Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  18. MOLLERSTROM, HARALD (5 December 1986). "Report Missing Scientist Was Testing Sub-Detecting Device". Associated Press. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  19. "Forskare spårtöst försvunnen" [Researcher disappeared without a trace]. Svenska Dagbladet. 4 December 1986. p. 3.
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