JCC 90s Scares.

The bee thread reminded me of how when I was a kid growing up in the 90s, my grade school was abuzz (sorry) with the imminent threat of killer bee swarms that could attack and even kill you at any moment. My family even had an action plan involving a garden hose in case any of is were ever swarmed by the totally real killer bees.

Another scare that I remember being "in the air" at roughly the same time was used syringes in fast food restaurant ball pits.

What were some other silly imminent threats from the 90s?

EDIT: Just remembered another one: Households that handed out Halloween candy with razor blades hidden inside.

 

The American government killing people. Oh how those were simpler times.

 

Obviously 1999 was a interesting year with the millennium bug threating world order and civilization as we knew it.

 

There was an epidemic of young men who needed to pull up their pants.

 

There was also the Satanic panic craze around death metal, and teens in cults going around to kidnap and sacrifice cats

Y2K definitely. Also remember the razor blades in halloween candy fears.

Oh and that JK Rowling was brainwashing kids to be homosexual satanists with her magic books that taught witchcraft.

And that history had ended, and the fear that the news would now be too boring and just be focused on celebrity gossip and the missing white girl of the month.

 

Semi-related to the Satanic Panic was the "revelation" that Marilyn Manson was, in fact, Josh Saviano from The Wonder Years!

 

There were vigorous ad campaigns from Vegas casinos opposing the expansion of gaming on Native American reservations here in California, because it would decrease SoCal flow to Sin City... ha!

 

Gawd I miss the 90’s

 

There was a huge "stranger danger" panic craze during my elementary years in the late 90's and early 00's. The teachers at my particular school told us to beware of middle aged men with baseball caps and beards sitting on park benches. They will, at any moment, kidnap you, dip you in chocolate sauce, and tickle you. I'm, unfortunately, not making any of this up.

My school was ****ing weird.

 

I never got the appeal of wearing your pants below your ass.

 

My school had that, too, but I regard it more as sound advice than hysteria; kids really *shouldn't* talk to adults they don't know.

 

Oh I agree, but it's just that the message was so utterly bizarre and goofy.

 

It’s ironic that Rowling and Manson would both turn out to be awful people, but not in the ways that the “think of the children” crowd meant.

 

Goths.

I literally thought they were an Anti-Christ movement that kidnapped children.

 

Climate Change.

 

I also remember the Ozone Hole being a big deal threat.

 

saw one of those yesterday. in 2040 they'll get onto the skinny jeans trend

 

SCUD missiles.

 

The ever-present worry that one was just running.

 

All trees will die because of pollution.
We all die from mad cow disease (btw. how comes that there are still people left in the UK??)

 

Bill Clinton. though he was real

 

Bar codes and implanted chips in your hand/forehead.

 

Oh yes - I hate to go here but I will: The Global Warming( they used to call it that but changed it) machine was alive and well in that time period too. We were all "gonna be dead by <insert date a few years ahead> unless we do all this stuff right now! " Blah blah, bleh bleh.

Old LA times article:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-29-mn-194-story.html

Y2K of course. Ouija Boards, IIRC.

 

But... we actually did do stuff right away on the Ozone Hole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_depletion

Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere (the ozone layer), and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone around Earth's polar regions.[1] The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. There are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events in addition to these stratospheric events.

The main cause of ozone depletion and the ozone hole is manufactured chemicals, especially manufactured halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants, and foam- blowing agents (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), HCFCs, halons), referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS). These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by turbulent mixing after being emitted from the surface, mixing much faster than the molecules can settle.[2] Once in the stratosphere, they release atoms from the halogen group through photodissociation, which catalyze the breakdown of ozone (O3) into oxygen (O2).[3] Both types of ozone depletion were observed to increase as emissions of halocarbons increased.

Ozone depletion and the ozone hole have generated worldwide concern over increased cancer risks and other negative effects. The ozone layer prevents most harmful wavelengths of ultraviolet (UV) light from passing through the Earth's atmosphere. These wavelengths cause skin cancer, sunburn, permanent blindness, and cataracts, which were projected to increase dramatically as a result of thinning ozone, as well as harming plants and animals. These concerns led to the adoption of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which bans the production of CFCs, halons, and other ozone-depleting chemicals.

The ban came into effect in 1989. Ozone levels stabilized by the mid-1990s and began to recover in the 2000s, as the shifting of the jet stream in the southern hemisphere towards the south pole has stopped and might even be reversing.[4] Recovery is projected to continue over the next century, and the ozone hole is expected to reach pre-1980 levels by around 2075.[5] In 2019, NASA reported that the ozone hole was the smallest ever since it was first discovered in 1982.[6][7][8]

The Montreal Protocol is considered the most successful international environmental agreement to date.[9][10]​