How Historical Influences Have Shaped the Development of the Modern Environmental Movement

  • 1 Billion

    When the
    Earth's population reached 1 billion people.
  • Migratory Bird Treaty Act

    -Act makes it illegal to hunt and kill migratory birds without special authorization.
    -This act provides Federal Funding to help motivate others to protect migratory birds and their habitats.
    -This act was put in place to help protect birds that were threatened due to the commercial bird and feather trade.
    - 1,100 species of migratory birds are now protected.
  • 2 Billion

    When the Earth's population hit 2 billion people.
  • The Dust Bowl

    -Due to high winds, drought, and dust, crops were not able to grow and people were not able to sell them for profit, resulting in poverty.
    -Midwestern and Southern U.S. plains.
    -Economic decline
  • Founding of IUCN

    • The International Union for Conservation of Nature -Educates different kinds of organizations on how to continue to economically develop while conserving nature.
  • Minamata

    -In Japan, mercury-containing chemical waste was dumped into the Minamata Bay causing the fish to have high levels of mercury.
    -In a country that heavily relies on fish as one of their main sources of food; many people got methylmercury poisoning and were affected by severe medical issues.
    -Overall, Minamata resulted in health problems in many people, pollution, economic decay.
  • 3 Billion

    When the Earth's population hit 3 billion.
  • Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Published

    -The book shows how synthetic pesticides like DDT can harm people and the environment ad a whole.
    -The book goes into detail about how pesticides not only kill bugs, fish, and bird species but eventually also make children ill.
    -By drawing attention to these pesticides Rachel Carson was able to produce fear in people which caused them to ban DDT and more.
  • Wilderness Act

    -signed by President Lyndon Johnson
    -preserves 9 million acres of U.S. land
    -More than 750 wilderness areas were made around the U.S. as a sanctuary for endangered species and wildlife.
  • Clean Air Act

    -First "version"
    -Changes were later made to improve the Clean Air Act.
    -Federal law to control all types of air emissions.
  • Santa Barbara Oil Spill

    -One of the top three biggest oil spills
    -Was the result of a company's negligence to follow safety precautions.
    -Spilt around 3-million gallons of oil and killed thousands of animals
    -Acts and laws passed after this incident were lead out as a structure for environmental safety guidelines.
  • Cuyahoga River Catches Fire

    -When a passing train caused a spark, the spark started a fire on the Cuyahoga River
    -Flames the size of three stories grew
    -There had previously been many fires, but during the time of this fire people's interests in environmental change grew
  • The Lorax

    -The book and film "The Lorax" focuses on deforestation and the effects it has on animals and the environment.
    -In "The Lorax" the Once-ler discovers the special trees and uses them for production, but his greed urges him to use ALL of the trees for his own gain. As a result of this, the life living in the trees is forced to leave their homes.
  • Gaia Hypothesis

    -organisms and their environments coevolve
    -Basically states that earth is a single ecosystem that uses abiotic and biotic factors to regulate and run itself like a system.
  • 4 Billion

    When the Earth's population hit 4 billion.
  • Whaling (save the whale)

    -This campaign educates people especially children on the aquatic environment and its animals.
    -the overkill of whales almost caused many of their species to go extinct.
    -When a certain animal is favored for hunting, it can bring inequalities to the ecosystem.
    -Restoring the whale population would get rid of excess carbon from the ocean surface.
  • Bhopal

    -A gas leak caused 40 tons of methyl isocyanate to be released into India
    - At least 3,800 people died and tons of animals (many of which people relied on for food) died
    -The toxic gas also entered streams and killed many fish and contaminated the drinking water
  • Antarctic Ozone Hole Discovered

    -gradual thinning of the earth's atmosphere
    -Hole caused by the release of chemical compounds containing chlorine and bromine into the atmosphere
    -Causes the amount of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the earth to increase causing skin damage, immune damage, and more
  • Chernobyl

    -A nuclear power plant explosion caused radioactive materials to be deposited in large amounts of areas around the plant
    -Most people were evacuated but many who were still forced to live there were impacted negatively by the toxic chemicals.
    -People developed cancers and other dangerous illnesses
    -The agricultural part of the economy was also impacted negatively
  • 5 Billion

    When the Earth's population hit 3 billion.
  • Exxon Valdez

    -One of the biggest oil spills in history
    -off the Alaskan coast
    -took 3 years to clean up and wildlife still hasn't recovered
    -Animal life suffered enormously with thousands of deaths.
  • Kyoto

    -first agreement between countries to try and limit greenhouse gas emissions
    -Some countries were able to cut their greenhouse gas use but some bigger countries were not able to
    -Gas emissions ended up rising 40%
  • 6 Billion

    When the Earth's population hit 3 billion.
  • Documentary film An Inconvenient Truth released.

    -Made by Al Gore
    -He talks about the ways humans have messed up the world and the living creatures in it
    -He explains global warming and the causes
    -He also urges people to start trying to come up with ideas to fix global warming and other environmental factors
    -Towards the end, he lists ways people can help slow global warming
  • 7 Billion

    When the Earth's population hit 3 billion.
  • Flint Water Crisis

    -Michigan switched its source of water in an attempt to save money
    -Without adequate testing, it was unknown that the water had high amounts of lead
    -People started complaining about bad-smelling water, rashes, and other problems regarding the water
    -The government ignored the complaints and the health of the people suffered

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