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The world hit its first billion people in 1803 after the entire span of human history.
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Edwin L Drake was contracted by Seneca Oil Company to drill for oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania. This was the first time oil was specifically drilled for and paved the way for modern pollution. This invention led to the destruction of many ecosystems worldwide
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It took 123 years to reach 2 billion people, as the Industrial revolution raised the standard of living and life expectancy of people.
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The knowledge and the tools IUCN provides are critical for ensuring that human progress, economic development and nature conservation take place together. It tries to make sure that human development does not come at such a big cost to the environment
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An illness sprouting from methylmercury poisoning from contaminated fish and shellfish in Japanese waterways. The fish were contaminated by pollution from a chemical plant.
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After the industrial revolution, the population was growing at an exponential rate, as it had only taken 33 years for the next billion people.
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Rachel Carson was an environmental activist who released a book criticizing big companies for destroying nature and the environment around it. It questioned what the government was allowing to be put into the environment, and changed the way that many people viewed the government to this day.
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The National Emissions Standards Act was put into place to limit the emissions of cars in the United States. This was the first limit on car emissions and made cars much more environmentally friendly and efficient.
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The Gaia Hypothesis claims that the earth and its ecosystems act as one single entity. The planet is self-regulatory for conditions suitable for life.
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Gary Anderson invented the common logo and phrase, "Reduce Reuse Recycle" in 1970. This led to widespread awareness of how to recycle and how to protect the environment. It is still well known to this day.
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Very successful demonstration for the preservation of the Earth. This was so successful, it led to the creation of the EPA in the government. This has happened every year since then.
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The first declaration of the international protection of the environment was made in the Stockholm Conference. Also, this conference paved the way for further understanding of global warming and acts as a foundation for modern environmentalism.
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Now it only took 14 years to reach the next billion people, continuing the exponential trend.
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Greenpeace launched the first anti-whaling campaign, which helped spark a global "Save the Whales" movement, which resulted in the international ban on whaling.
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In 1980, Woodbury, New Jersey began to offer curbside recycling pickup to all of its residents. This led to other cities picking up the same idea, and recycling becoming more prevalent in America.
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A massive gas release in Bhopal, India from a pesticide plant. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas.
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In 1985, Joe Farman discovered a significant drop in the thickness of the Antarctic ozone layers as a result of Chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs). This discovery led to revolutionary changes in greenhouse gas emissions stemming from CFCs.
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In Eastern Europe in 1986, a nuclear power plant exploded, leading to large levels of radiation getting leaked into the surrounding areas. 350,000 people were evacuated and 54 died. This led to many discoveries about the effects radiation has on the human body and many safety protocols around radioactive materials.
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The growth of the human population was now steady, as it took 13 years for the next billion.
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Charles Moore discovered the Great Pacific Garbage patch in 1997. This discovery spread awareness for the ecosystems in the Pacific and greatly changed the way that many people viewed the Earth
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Worked to limit the release of the 6 main greenhouse gases. Each country has an emissions target that it must stay below in order to comply with the protocol. Resulted in lower greenhouse gas emissions in many countries.
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Population still growing at a very fast rate when compared to human history.
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Popular documentary featuring Al Gore speaking on the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and the science behind global warming. Also talks about the arctic and changes taking place on the poles.
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The bald eagle was once a bird that went nearly extinct, with only 400 breeding pairs left. Through the use of environmental protocols and bans on hunting, the bald eagle was able to get off of the endangered species list. This paved the way for more animal conservation efforts and spread awareness for the conservation of animals.
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On April 20, 2010, an oil rig owned by BP sank and exploded, killing 11 workers. Over the course of 87 days, 4 million barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico- killing everything in its path. Today, there are much more strict oil drilling protocols in place to prevent this from happening.
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The world hit 7 billion people in 2011, marking the milestone the human race is at right now.