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Minamata disaster
A chemical plant dumbs mercury a heavy metal into the Minamata Bay. This mercury was subsequently eaten by fish and other wildlife. The first symptoms of the poisoning were found in cats as they ate fish and have a lower tolerance to poison than humans. The mercury caused people to scream and loose control of there body. -
Silent spring
Silent spring is a book written by Rachel Carson. It is credited with starting the environmental movement. Silent spring was the first peace of literature to bring the idea of pollution into the public zeitgeist. -
EPA founded
The EPA or environmental protection agency is the United States contribution to environmental conservancy. The EPA has passed and enforced legislation to protect the environment and wildlife. Some examples are helping patch the ozone layer, cracked down on lead in everyday products and paved the way for indoor smoking bans. -
Bhopal disaster
In December of 1984 the union carbide India limited chemical plant leaked and exposed over half a million people to the toxic gas methyl isocyanate. 3-8 thousand died in the immediate aftermath with tens of thousands more contractions chronic illnesses. It is considered to be one of the worst environmental disasters in history. -
Chernobyl
During a safety test of a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukrainian a reactor began to melt down. The following explosion decimated the surrounding wildlife and over a hundred thousand people were forced to evacuate. The sight of the melt down is still irradiated today. This disaster also contributes to the stigma of nuclear electricity in most of the world that still hinders the industry and contributes significantly to the fossil full industry and climate change. -
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Julia butterfly
Julia butterfly’s main contribution to the environmental movement was the 2 year period where she lived in an old growth red wood tree that was marked to be cut down by the pacific lumber company. She now travels around speaking about environmentalism and conservation. -
Deep Water Horizon
When the deep water horizon offshore oil drill in the Gulf of Mexico exploded 11 workers were killed and the rig sank into the ocean. This caused 4.9 million barrels of oil to be real eased into the ocean decimating the surrounding environment.(Encyclopedia Britanica) -
Fukushima
As a result of a devastating earthquake and tsunami half of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant melting down. These reactors then leaked radioactive material into the surrounding environment counseling widespread contamination and the evacuation of the surrounding residents. -
Paris Climate Agreement
The Paris climate agreement is a treaty of most of the major nations of the world to help curve the release of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. The treaty serves as the replacement for the earlier Kyoto agreement. The treaty is a massive step forward for the environment and for the slowing/ reversal of global warming (United Nations climate change website)(unfccc.int) -
Greta Thunberg
Greta amplified the global environmental movement in the modern era. Her biggest impact was not policy or a specific event but her numerous speeches and the fact that she is so young. Her passion for the environment has lead to a new wave of environmentalist and environmental policy.