-
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is one of the oldest environmental groups in history and still has many active members today. -
Bureau of Forestry
Theodore Roosevelt creates the Bureau of Forestry in 1905. This Bureau set aside land for cutting, and Roosevelt also set aside many acres of land for National Parks and put them under Federal Government rule, making these lands immune to industries. -
Water Quality Act
Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 passed Water Quality Act which enhanced water quality throughout cities. -
IUCN
It is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. -
Paul Ehrlich
Paul Ehrlich studied zoology as University of Pennsylvania, where he noticed the appearance of butterflies. He noticed their shrinking population which he connected to the inevitable decline of the human population in a poor environment. -
Minamata Disaster
Minamata Bay was heavily polluted in the 1950s and 1960s by wastewater, mixed with mercury dumped into Hyakken Harbour from the Chisso Corporation's factory. -
Silent Spring
A book that discussed the negative effects of pesticides for the environment, changing the perspectives people originally had for pesticides for many years. -
Santa Barbara Oil Spill
an oil spill occurs at Santa Barbara off of the coast of California. The people of the United States are outraged at how this could have happened. After this oil spill, legislation and pushes for environmental protection began to quickly be advised and passed. -
Gaia Hypothesis
Proposed that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet. -
Pollution Free Cars
Edward Cole, president of General Motors' promises "pollution free" cars by 1990 to stop deadly emissions -
The Dirty Dozen
A movement called "The Dirty Dozen" is created, consisting of 12 members of congress in attempt to remove seven of the incumbents. -
Stockholm Conference
It was the UN's first major conference on international environmental issues, and marked a turning point in the development of international environmental politics. -
Environmental Coordination Act
The Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act is signed by President Nixon in attempt to balance energy demands in households and industries. -
Save a Whale
Save the Whales was founded in 1977 when Maris Sidenstecker was 14 years old, and focuses on educating the public, especially children, about marine mammals and the fragile ocean environment. -
Bhopal Disaster
An accident at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, released at least 30 tons of a highly toxic gas called methyl isocyanate, Bhopal is considered the world's worst industrial disaster as of 2010. Toxic material still remain after almost 30 years. -
Chernobyl
This power plant had a catastrophe and steam explosion and fires released at least 5% of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere. The fire burned for 10 days and sent radiation around the world. -
World Population Reaches 5 billion
By the turn of the century world population will have reached 6 billion, half of the world's population will be urban, and most of it will live in developing countries. Not only will there be a larger population, it will also be older. The world's population growth is slowing down, but it will take about 100 years before it stops. Developing countries are expected to grow 3 times faster than their developed country counterparts. -
Agenda 21
Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development, a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world that can be executed at local, national, and global levels. -
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets. -
An Inconvenient Truth
Former presidential candidate Al Gore explains how humans have messed up the planet. In the 10 years since the movie sparked increased public discussion, climate scientists have made major advances. More observations, faster climate-simulating computers and an improved understanding of the planet’s inner workings now provide a clearer window on how Earth’s climate will change.