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Three Basic Principles
The environmental movement was founded on three basic principles. They are:
- Natural Resources are not infinite. We'll run out of them if we don't use them wisely and converse them
- Our natural environment and the life within it must be preserved for future generations
- Our activities endanger life on Earth because of the pollution we generate -
Preservation vs. Conservation
- Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir (founder of the Sierra Club) fought to preserve Yosemite National Park as place not disturbed by humans taking resources
- Gifford Pinchot (director of U.S. Forest Service) believed that forests should be used and renewed both to maintain a flow of resources for human use and to conserve the environment
- Muir and Pinchot disagreed over the Hetch Hetchy Dam Project which was to flood a valley within the Yosemite National Park to provide water and electricity
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A Sand Country Almanac
"A Sand Country Almanac" was written by Aldo Leopold and it's considered the most important book on conversation ever written. It it he argues that nature is not our servant to be used and abused as we wish. -
Minamata Bay Mercury Poisoning
In 1956, a large number of people in a fishing community in Japan in an area called Minamata Bay developed a strange disease that affected their nervous systems, deformed many and killed over 900 people. After long investigations, it was found that mercury was being discharged into the bay. The chemical factory continued to discharge the poisons until 1948. The effects are still evident in the area today. -
Silent Spring
Rachel Carsons book, Silent Spring published in 1962. It catalysed the the environmental movement. She warned people of the effects of pesticides on insects, pests, birds and how it's passed along the food chain to kill. It gained attention when she said that pesticides such as DDT were finding their way into people and causing higher risks of cancer. Silent Spring had a powerful impact on the environmental movement. Through the 1960s the movement became organized as WWF (World Wildlife Fund) -
The Movement Goes Global
- Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace were both established in 1971
- Media coverage of environmental issues became much more common and public awareness grew dramatically
- In 1972, the first Earth Summit on the environment was held in Stockholm and was attended by 113 nations. -Convention on International trade in Endangered Species Idea of Stewardship: Humans are responsible for caring for the environment, not exploiting it.
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Sustainability and Disasters
1983: UN World Commission on Environment and Development: Develop land without destroying it for future generations
1984: Bhopal, India: A pesticide plant releases 40 tons of pesticide gas killing 22,000 people
1986: Chernobyl nuclear power plant explodes killing estimated 60 thousand
1987: Montreal Protocol seeks to limit CFCs which were causing a hole in the ozone layer leading to skin cancer -
Global Warming
-People made connection between carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil, and the warming climate of the planet
-Based on information from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), over 100 nations signed the Kyoto Protocol agreeing to limit CO2. U.S. refused to sign. -
Groundwater Contamination (Local)
Groundwater in Bangladesh, which is used as drinking water is contaminated with arsenic and lead. Around 49% of the water is likely to be contaminated affecting 35 to 77 million people. -
Time to Change
Five areas identified as needing global attention:
Water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture, and biodiversity.
Climate change still a huge issue -
Groundwater Salinity
In the coastal regions of Bangladesh, which make up 32% of the land in the country, there are problems of salinity due to high tides and reduced flow in rivers during the dry season.
