-
Minamata disaster
The Minamata Disease was discovered in 1956 (near Minamata Bay) in the Kumamoto Prefecture. It was discovered again in 1965 in the Agano River basin in Niigata Prefecture. From the start of the disease they had been making a concerted effort to find the cause. In 1968 they had discovered it was caused by methylmercury contamination in the shellfish and fish people were consuming. The methylmercury had been coming from a chemical plant. The effects of the disease are detrimental. -
Silent Spring
Silent Spring was published in 1962. Silent Spring outlined how DDT was affecting the environment and though at first it seemed good it had a horrible impact. The pesticide was invented in 1939 (it first started to show itself during WWII which started in 1939) the pesticide killed malaria-causing insects for US troops while being used as a delousing powder in Europe (Delousing powder kills lice and nits). In 1945 it was available for civilian use. In 1958 Carson started her book. -
Stockholm Conference
The UN conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden from the 5th to the 16th of June in 1972. It was attended by 113 "Member States" of the UN as well as other members of the UN. There were many governmental papers received including 86 national reports on the environmental issues.