Abstract

In 1977 California, authorities responded to an extreme drought with an unprecedented state order to drastically reduce domestic water usage and leave countless newly built swimming pools empty. These curved pools became “playgrounds” for inspired surfers to develop professional vertical skateboarding in the Los Angeles area. Industrial production of polyurethane, and the advent of digital photography, laser printing, and high gloss mass media further contributed to the explosive popularization of skateboarding, creating a global subculture and multibillion-dollar industry that still impacts music, fashion, and lifestyle worldwide. Our interdisciplinary investigation demonstrates that neither the timing nor the location of the origin of professional skateboarding was random. This modern case study highlights how environmental changes can affect human behavior, transform culture, and engender technical innovation in the Anthropocene.

Details

Title
Drought as a trigger of the rapid rise of professional skateboarding in 1970s Southern California
Author
Büntgen, Ulf 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Oppenheimer, Clive 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Li, Paco 1 ; Frachetti, Michael 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Esper, Jan 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Torbenson, Max C A 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Krusic, Paul J 1 

1  Department of Geography, University of Cambridge , Cambridge CB2 3EN , UK 
2  Department Anthropology, Washington University , St Louis, MO 63130-4899 , USA 
3  Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences , Brno 603 00 , Czech Republic 
4  Department of Geography, Johannes Gutenberg University , Mainz 55099 , Germany 
Publication year
2023
Publication date
Dec 2023
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
27526542
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad395
ProQuest document ID
3191454560
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of National Academy of Sciences. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.