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7984 BCE
Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution was when there was an advance in technology that helped produce crops faster and more efficiently. All the people went from hunting and gathering to staying in one place and farming. The Agricultural Revolution allowed the population to grow at the same time. -
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was when people went from hand making products to having machine make products. They made machines like the sewing machine, the cotton gin, etc. All of those things allowed people to make goods faster and boosted the economy. -
John Muir
John muir was a naturalist who loved nature and wanted people to protect it. He created 21 million acres of forest preserves in the United States. He also organized the sierra club organization that helped pass the clean air act, the clean water act, and the endangered species act. -
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Walden is a name of a book created by Henry David Thoreau. The book is about the time that Henry spent two years in a cabin near the Walden pond. He describes his experience with nature during that time. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead act provided 160 acres of public land to farmers in the west as long as they plow and cultivate the land and use it for farming. By 1900, the Homestead act distributed 80 million acres of land. -
Yellowstone National Park founded
The Yellowstone National park was created for the enjoyment of people. After the Yellowstone National park was created it created a worldwide national park movement. It also helped preserve the forests. -
American Forestry Association founded
It was organized to promote forest conservation. It is also the oldest group to promote it. -
Yosemite plus Sequoia National Park founded
The United states protected the land for the peoples enjoyment. When the gold rush hit in California it was used for mining and now is protected. -
General Revision Act
This act gave the president authority to reserve any part of the public lands. The act was the first step to increasing public land. It also reversed earlier policies that accessible land was for the rich and companies. -
Sierra Club founded
It was a club founded by John Muir. It Helped pass the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. The Sierra Club is the nation's largest environmental organization. -
Lacey Act
The Lacey act helps keep animals and plants safe. It is the first law that was set to ban trafficking in wildlife. It helps prevent the spread of invasive species in certain places. -
Golden Age of Conservation (Theodore Roosevelt) (1901-1909)
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First national wildlife refuge established
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Gifford Pinchot
Gifford Pinchot was born in the United States as a forester. He was the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service. He was the 28th governor of Pennsylvania. -
U.S. forest Service founded
It was set to protect the national forests and grasslands in the United States. It now protects 154 national forest and 20 grasslands in 43 states and puerto rico. The service is trying to conserve the forest for future generations. -
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold wrote the book named The Sand County Almanac. His book was focused on land ethic. His thought on wildlife preservation had a big impact on the environmental movement. -
Audubon Society founded
It is an organization focused on protecting animals and their habitats. The organization is trying to encourage the U.S. government to pass laws that promote conservation. The society is named after John James Audubon who studied animals and ecosystems. -
Antiquities Act
It is an act passed by congress and signed into law by president Roosevelt. It allowed the president to build national monuments on public lands to protect nature. The act was made after there were concerns about protecting prehistoric indian artifacts. -
Congress became upset because Roosevelt was waving so much forest land so they banned further withdrawals
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U.S. National Park service founded
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Dust Bowl
The dust bowl was a time when there was severe droughts causing the land to become really dry. Farmers kept plowing and trying to make money but it was only making the soil more loose. When the wind blew it caused a lot of dust to be picked up with the wind. It caused a lot of harm to humans and reached all the way to New York. -
Civilian Conservation Corps founded
The Civilian Conservation Corps was one of the first new deal programs. It was a public project that promoted environmental conservation. It was operated under the army's control. The work focused on soil conservation and reforestation. -
Soil Conservation Service founded
It is an agency that provides technical assistance to farmers and private landowners. The agency is trying to improve, protect, and natural resources on private lands. It has made contributions to soil surveying, classification, and water quality improvement. -
Taylor Grazing Act
The Taylor Grazing Act was put into action to stop the injury to the public grazing lands. It was set to stop soil deterioration. It also was put into place to stabilize the livestock industry. After the dust bowl everyone new there was a big problem. -
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act
It is an adhesive stamp that has to be purchased to hunt geese or ducks. President Herbert Hoover signed the act to try and preserve the wetlands as the waterfowl habitat. It is also set to sonserve the wildlife like ducks. All the proceeds from the stamp goes to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. -
Fish plus Wildlife Service founded
It is an agency that is solely focused to fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is to conserve, protect, and to save wildlife and their habitats. The agency wants future generations to save wildlife for the future and don't let species get endangered. -
Fifra (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Control Act)
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Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson
The book was written to make the people realize how the environment was affected by pesticides. Carson turned her attention to conservation of the environment especially the part affected by pesticides. Rachel Carson helped ban the use of pesticides on the environment. -
Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act has protected 9.1 million acres of land. The act was set to preserve the environment in its natural condition. The Wilderness Act was trying to conserve the environment and all that live with it. -
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
The act was put into action by congress to preserve rivers with natural values. It encourages the public to help them and to participate in protecting rivers for future generations. If the rivers run out of water then there will be none for future generations and people need to use it in a sustainable way. -
Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire
It had been polluted for decades and then was caught on fire. It was not the first time the river burned and it was not really recognized by the public. Water pollution did not trouble the city's residence. The government then recognized it and gave money to clean up the river. It then saved much of the wildlife and also humans. -
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)
It is a law that promotes the enhancement of the environment. A concern grew that the environment was in danger. They formed the NEPA to protect the wildlife and its ecosystems. -
First Earth Day
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Environmental Protection Agency established
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Clear Air Act
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Endangered Species Act
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OPEC oil embargo
The embargo cause an oil crisis among the global economy. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to stop selling oil to the United States and other countries. The United States and other countries depended on the oil for their everyday needs. The United States couldn't produce enough oil for their population. -
Roland and Molina (UCI) announce that CFCs are depleting the ozone layer
Roland and Molina discovered that CFC attacks the ozone layer and does harm to it. Many scientists believed that it would lead to doomsday. This caused some disagreements and eventually led to the ban of CFC. -
RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)
There was big problems the nation faced that led to this act. The RCRA is a public law that manages hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste. It’s goals were to protect human health, protect the environment, to conserve energy, and to produce less waste in the environment. -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
The surface mining control act helps reduce the harm of coal mining on the environment on the United States. There is also an abandoned mine land fund to pay for the mining cleanup. Most of the United States coal was from surface coal mining. Coal mining released a lot of harmful chemicals in the air and also polluted the water through runoff. -
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
The surface mining control act helps reduce the harm of coal mining on the environment on the United States. There is also an abandoned mine land fund to pay for the mining cleanup. Most of the United States coal was from surface coal mining. Coal mining released a lot of harmful chemicals in the air and also polluted the water through runoff. -
Clean Water Act
I is a law set in action to reduce the amount of pollution in our waterways. The act wanted to product the amount of nonpoint and point source pollution that was interfering with the water. Their goal was to protect the environment so that it will be safe for human use and wildlife use. -
Love Canal, NY (toxic waste leaks into residential houses)
The Love Canal first grew then was bought out and was used to dump industrial waste in the canal. The Love Canal drew national attention for the public health problem. People had to be removed from their homes after it was contaminated with toxic waste. Many families had several health issues. -
3 Mile Island Nuclear accident
This was the worst accident that had ever happened to a nuclear plant. It all started when there was a large amount of nuclear reactor coolant released into the atmosphere. It was a rela nuclear meltdown. It released radioactive chemicals into the air. The total cleanup cost of the accident was one billion dollars. -
Alaskan Lands Act
The act protected national parks and other conservation lands. The act provided 43,585,000 acres of land in Alaska to be turned into national parks. The goals were to conserve the special parts in nature. -
CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act a.k.a Super-Fund
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Bhopal, Indian (chemical toxic cloud kills 2,000)
Over 500,000 people were exposed to a lot of chemicals like methyl isocyanate. Town near the industrial plant were affected by all the chemicals. The total confirmed deaths from the gases were 3,787. -
Chernobyl
There was a terrible nuclear accident. The nuclear plant had a destructive steam explosion. It released large amounts of harmful radioactive chemicals into the air. The were an estimated 31 deaths and a lot of other people were affected from the gases. -
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty used to protect the ozone layer. The treaty bans the use of of harmful chemicals that destroy the ozone layer. It is a worldwide treaty not just in certain parts of the earth. -
Exxon Valdez
It was an oil tanker that leaked hundreds of thousands gallons of crude oil in Alaska. It was one of the biggest environmental disasters. It costed 2.1 billion dollars to clean up and a lot of animals in the environment were affected by it. -
Energy Policy Act of 1992
The act was put into action to improve overall energy efficiency and increase clean energy use. It is designed to lessen the amount of imported energy, provide clean renewable energy, and to promote energy conservation in buildings. -
Desert Protection Act
The act would preserve about 1.6 million acres as national monuments. The act will preserve some of the most beautiful and fragile sites. The act will preserve rocks, indian artifacts, etc. -
Kyoto Protocol (1997-2005)
It is an international act that contribute to climate change. The Kyoto Protocol's objective is to fight global warming and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases. -
World population hits 6 billion
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BP Oil Spill
The BP Oil Spill hurt the gulf of mexico and the ecosystem. It was the biggest oil spill in American history. The oil spill explosion killed 11 people and more than 170 million gallons had spilled. Thousands of birds and animals died from the oil in the water. -
COP21
The COP21 is a global agreement on the reduction of the climate change. It is a time when all the countries meet to talk about how to reduce the global greenhouse emissions.
