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Population reaches one billion
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Population reaches two billion
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Period: to
Minamata disaster
A harmful disaster that was caused by mercury poisoning around the island of Kyusha, leading to an uncurable but temporary fix by halting certain processes using mercury -
Period: to
Love Canal
The Hooker Electrochemical Company used the abandoned town of Love Canal to dispose of over 21,000 tons of hazardous materials, destroying the environment around it. -
Population reaches three billion
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Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is published
A book created to make people aware of things going on around them. It let people have the info they needed to thrive regarding enviromentalism because in this period of time literature was the fastest way to spread word. -
Stockholm Conference
The Stockholm Conference was a global meeting in which a treaty was signed with the goal of protecting human health and the environment from hazards such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). -
Endangered Species Act
A legal act stated to protect endangered and threatened species of animals -
Population reaches four billion
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Bhopal disaster
More than 40 tons of toxic chemicals leaked over a town killing between an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 over the span of two days. -
Chernobyl
A mistake at the nuclear power facility of Chernobyl led to a meltdown and the ensuing chaos and governmental attempt to cover it up led to hundreds of miles of land lost to radiation and thirty to sixty deaths. Often hailed as the worst nuclear incident in all of human history. -
Population reaches five billion
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Population reaches six billion
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Documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth" is released
A environmentalist film stating the dangers of climate change and acting as a call to action for people to make the necessary changes to save the planet. -
Population reaches seven billion
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Population reaches eight billion