History of the Environmental Movement

  • Population: 1 billion

  • Population: 2 billion

  • Founding of IUCN

    Global authority on the measures needed to safeguard the natural world. Brought together governments and civil society organizations with a shared goal to protect nature.
  • Minamata

    Introduced problems in the local community and caused social/political issues. One of the most significant negative impacts on environmental pollution.
  • Population: 3 billion

  • Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Published

    Started a movement concerning the effects of chemical agriculture on the environment and the health of humans.
  • Clean Air Act

    An act aimed towards protecting citizens and the environment from pollution related problems by regulating negative air emissions nationwide.
  • Gaia Hypothesis

    Proposed that living organisms interact with their inorganic environment to form a system that makes life on Earth possible.
  • The Club of Rome’s “Limit to Growth”

    Theorized that the limit to growth on Earth will be reached sooner than later if trends such as pollution and resource depletion continue.
  • Stockholm Conference

    An international conference aimed towards protecting the environment from organic pollutants and ensuring human health.
  • Clean Water Act

    An act aimed towards the regulation of pollutant discharges into the bodies of water surrounding the United States to keep surface water at maximum quality.
  • Endangered Species Act

    An act aimed towards protecting threatened species or habitats in the environment by prohibiting the destruction of endangered plants on Federal lands.
  • Population: 4 billion

  • Whaling

    The world’s first anti-whaling campaign that introduced an international ban on commercial whaling and began the global “Save the Whales” movement.
  • Italy’s Seveso Dioxin Cloud

    This thick cloud of dioxin quickly began killing many animals and severely affected humans, vegetation, and bioavailability.
  • Bhopal

    The impacts of this disaster were detrimental to the environment, killing thousands of livestock that were essential to humans. Toxic gas leaked into the local rivers, poisoning aquatic life and destroying any drinkable water.
  • Chernobyl

    Caused various genetic effects of radiation in plants and animals for years after the initial event, impacting both agricultural and natural ecosystems.
  • Population: 5 billion

  • Kyoto

    An international agreement that had goals of reducing CO2 emissions and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. CO2 emissions were successfully reduced by 12.5%.
  • Population: 6 billion

  • Period: to

    Niger Delta Oil Pollution

    Oil spills in the Niger Delta have caused destruction of farmlands, brought dangerous living conditions to aquatic life, and have contaminated bodies of water.
  • Documentary film An Inconvenient Truth released

    This documentary illustrates the issues with climate change and how humans play a role in the worsening effects on the world.
  • Copenhagen Climate Change Conference

    In this conference, the United Nations ended up raising climate change policy to the highest political level and created global awareness of the importance of climate change.
  • Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

    An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico caused water contamination in the gulf and affected many industries.
  • Population: 7 billion

  • Period: to

    Amazon Wildfires

    These detrimental rainforest fires killed most small trees and seedlings, causing the seeds to lose their ability to germinate. The fires also destroyed many habitats, shelters, and food sources.