The New York Times (Aug. 14, 1975) saw "many signs" that "Earth may be heading for another ice age." Science magazine (Dec. 10, 1976) warned about "extensive Northern Hemisphere glaciation." "Continued rapid cooling of the Earth" (Global Ecology, 1971) could herald "a full-blown 10,000 year ice age" (Science, March 1, 1975). The Christian Science Monitor reported (Aug. 27, 1974) that Nebraska's armadillos were retreating south from the cooling....
And you said:
It makes Crichton and Will's point very nicely.
If Will's point is that predictions of doom and disaster are commonly spread by the media, then the perception that scientists were predicting another Ice Age was spread by the media, and the media love scare stories. Was that your point?
Unfortunately, the scientists weren't really predicting another Ice Age.
Uh, yea. I could modify it a bit, but that is the general gist of it.
Unfortunately, the scientists weren't really predicting another Ice Age.
Who is "the scientists"? You are attempting to speak for an awful lot of people in an awful lot of specialties with an awful lot of differing points of view.