History of environmental movement

  • Human population 1 billion

  • Human population 2 billion

  • Love Canal

    from 1942-1953 chemical waste was dumped into the love canal causing severe health problems for the people who lived around it. It helped the superfund program to begin cleaning up toxic sites like it.
  • Minamata disaster

    : in 1956 methylmercury was dumped into the Minamata bay causing people who ate seafood from the bay to get sick and die. It was important to our understanding because it showed we shouldn’t dump unsafe things into bodies of water
  • Human population 3 billion

  • Rachel Carson's silent springs

    in 1962 a book was published showing some of the effects of using pesticides and tried to point us toward an ecological approach. It showed us what happens when we pollute and what could happen.
  • Stockholm Conference

    in 1972 the first united nations conference on the environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden. this conference put environmental issues at the top of their agenda pushing for a link between economic growth, the pollution of the air, water and well being of the people on earth
  • Endangered Species Act

    in 1973 a law was passed protecting plants and animals on the endangered species list allowing plants to start recovering and allowing animals to repopulate. It helped stop people from completely whipping out species of animals and plants.
  • Human population 4 billion

  • Montreal Protocol

    the Montreal protocol was adopted on September 16, 1987, to phase down the consumption and production of different ODS gradually over time. It helped protect the ozone layer from being destroyed and allowed it to build itself back up
  • Chernobyl meltdown

    on April 26, 1986, a nuclear reactor in Ukraine blew up causing large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere killing many and causing long term effects to thousands. It helped us identify weaknesses and improve the design deficiencies that contributed to the meltdown.
  • Bhopal disater

    in 1984 there was a chemical leak in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India leaking gas methylisocyanate killing tens of thousands and causing survivors to suffer from many side effects. Many executives from the Bhopal plant were convicted of negligence.
  • Human population 5 billion

  • Kyoto protocol

    on December 11, 1997, the Kyoto protocol was adopted to limit and reduce greenhouse gasses emissions on agreed individual targets. it helped lower the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, allowing heat to leave the atmosphere and enter space allowing the earths temperature to drop and keep a stable climate
  • Human population 6 billion

  • An Inconvenient Truth

    in 2006 a documentary was released featuring former vice president Al Gore’s presentation that created the basis for his traveling lecture tour about global warming and climate change. It helped open people who didn’t have a lot of knowledge in the climate change field see what is really happening in the world.
  • Human population 7 billion

  • Human population 8 billion