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The Minamata disaster occurred in 1956 and led to the ‘Minamata Disease,’ which ended in nine hundred people dying and two million people suffering from resulting health issues. The incurable disease attacked people’s nervous systems, which resulted in blindness, seizures, and sensory disorders. A local petrochemical and plastic producer, Chisso Corporation, dumped around twenty-seven tons of mercury into the Minamata bay.
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Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring in 1962 after recognizing the environmental issues of DDT, an effective insecticide popularized after World War II. In her book, she stated facts about DDT and other chemicals used frequently in insecticides, basing it on scientific evidence. Silent Spring led to awareness of the true effects of DDT, causing new environmental ideas in the public about the connectedness of life.
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The Stockholm Conference was the first world conference on the issue of environment, which led to the Stockholm Declaration. The Stockholm Declaration focused on environment as the main international concern, beginning international thoughts on how to fix our current ecological issues. This led to more awareness from the general public and more action from governments around the world.
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The Endangered Species Act is an act to protect and conserve species from extinction because of excessive human growth and development. This act was signed into law by Richard Nixon on December 28th, 1973. It was a result of people calling for wildlife conservation throughout the 1900s as species’ numbers declined. One well-known case of near extinction is the bison, which had lost many of its millions of numbers.
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William T. Love dug a canal for his dream town, which did not end up coming to fruition. This land became the chemical dumpsites of industries for thirty years before being sold to the city for a dollar. They began to build a community on this land in the late fifties, but by the late seventies, the waste began to secrete carcinogens into homes.
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The Bhopal disaster took place in Bhopal, India when 45 tons of chemical gas leaked from an understaffed and unsafe insecticide plant owned by an American firm, Union Carbide Corporation. The gas traveled through populated areas surrounding the plant and led to nearly 20,000 people dying and 500,000 people suffering from medical issues. After the event, many people were awarded a few hundred dollars in compensation.
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The Chernobyl meltdown occurred when a flawed reactor, operated by uneducated employees, caused an explosion; this resulted in 5% of the radioactive core to be released into the environment, two initial deaths, and twenty-eight people passing in the following weeks from acute radiation syndrome. This event raised awareness on the effects of radiation and safety regulations that should be enacted on nuclear plants.
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The Montreal protocol regulated ozone-depleting substances, all of which man-made chemicals, which were destroying the ozone layer. It received universal ratification and heavily controlled and reduced production and consumption of these chemicals. This led to the current state of the ozone layer; healing and no longer being destroyed due to the reduction of chemicals. This was a big event, causing people to begin to panic, realizing the ramifications of our overconsumption of certain chemicals.
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The Kyoto protocol takes the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change and uses it; they limit industrialized areas and economies to reduce the greenhouse gases in the environment. This helped us internationally reduce greenhouse gases and lower the number of industrialized areas, letting us understand the positive effect of controlling our emissions.
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An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary about Al Gore, former vice president of the United States, and his campaign on global warming education. It details the various events during his campaign and what inspired him to speak on the topic. This caused more public awareness, particularly because it is being said by a previously high-ranking government official.
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