Environmental Science Timeline

By Jay3726
  • 10,000 BCE

    Agricultural Revolution*

    Agricultural Revolution*
    The agricultural revolution was the shift from a hunter gatherer lifestyle to a agricultural lifestyle
  • Industrial revolution*

    Industrial revolution*
    The industrial revolution was the shift from the use of hands and farming to the use of machinery in a factory
  • John Muir*

    John Muir*
    He was the main advocate for the environmental movement and advocated for the protection of wildernesses
  • Walden by Henry David Thoreau*

    Walden by Henry David Thoreau*
    This was a book written by transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau, this emphasizes finding the meaning of life
  • Homestead act*

    Homestead act*
    The homestead act was signed by Abraham Lincoln, this was to help the development of the American west
  • Yellowstone National Park founded*

    Yellowstone National Park founded*
    This is a national park on top of a volcano in Wyoming, this was also the first national park founded
  • American Forestry Association founded*

    American Forestry Association founded*
    This is a non-profit conservation organization, used to protect and restore forest ecosystems
  • Yosemite plus Sequoia National Park founded*

    Yosemite plus Sequoia National Park founded*
    This park was founded on the first of October, it was founded to protect the animals in the area from the threat of humans
  • General Revision Act*

    General Revision Act*
    This was a federal law signed by Benjamin Harrison, this was used to reverse previous policies such as the Timber Culture Act
  • Sierra Club founded*

    Sierra Club founded*
    This was an environmental organization founded by John Muir
  • Lacey Act*

    Lacey Act*
    This act was created to stop the illegal trafficking of wildlife, fish or plants
  • Golden Age of Conservation (Theodore Roosevelt)*

    Golden Age of Conservation (Theodore Roosevelt)*
    Theodore Roosevelt was dedicated to protect as nature and wildlife as much as he can, he tried to create new conservation laws
  • First national wildlife refuge established*

    First national wildlife refuge established*
    Theodore Roosevelt established the first wildlife refuge on pelican island for birds, this was the first time a national wildlife refuge was created
  • U.S. forest Service founded*

    U.S. forest Service founded*
    An agency of the department of Agriculture, it administers 154 national parks and 20 grasslands
  • Aldo Leopold*

    Aldo Leopold*
    Aldo Leopold is viewed by many as the father of wildlife ecology and the wilderness system
  • Gifford Pinchot*

    Gifford Pinchot*
    He was the fourth chief in the Division of Forestry and the first head of the United States Forest Service, he also believed in the conversation of land
  • Audubon Society founded*

    Audubon Society founded*
    A non profit environmental organization that has devoted itself to protect birds and the land they use
  • Antiquities Act*

    Antiquities Act*
    This gave protection to cultural and natural resources of historical federal lands
  • Congress became upset because Roosevelt was waving so much forest land, so they banned further withdrawals*

    Congress became upset because Roosevelt was waving so much forest land, so they banned further withdrawals*
    Roosevelt was requesting a bunch of different things to protect the lands
  • U.S. National Park service founded*

    U.S. National Park service founded*
    An agency in the US government that manages national parks, national monuments and other recreational properties
  • Dust Bowl*

    Dust Bowl*
    A period in the 1930s that was full of dust storms that damaged the American ecology and agriculture
  • Civilian Conservation Corps founded*

    Civilian Conservation Corps founded*
    With the founding of the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, the CCC allowed single men between the age of 18-25 to help improve Americas public land
  • Soil Conservation Service founded*

    Soil Conservation Service founded*
    The soil conservation service was founded to control floods, help to maintain the navigability of rivers and harbors and stop soil erosion
  • Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act*

    Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act*
    This makes people who want to hunt for birds such as ducks and geese, they must purchase an adhesive stamp
  • Taylor Grazing Act*

    Taylor Grazing Act*
    This ended open grazing on public land and helped establish the division of grazing
  • Fish plus Wildlife Service founded*

    Fish plus Wildlife Service founded*
    The Fish and wildlife services were founded in June 1940, their main purpose is to protect and conserve fish and wildlife habitats
  • FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Control Act)*

    FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Control Act)*
    This is the statue that looks over and administrates the distribution, sale and use of pesticides in the US
  • Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson*

    Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson*
    Silent springs focused on and tried to bring attention to the environmental problem of the overuse of pesticides
  • Wilderness Act*

    Wilderness Act*
    This was passed to preserve and protect land in their natural states so they would be available for now and future generations
  • Wild and Scenic Rivers Act*

    Wild and Scenic Rivers Act*
    This was passed to preserve rivers with outstanding natural and recreational values for present and future generations to observe
  • Cuyahoga River in Clevelend, Ohio, caught fire*

    Cuyahoga River in Clevelend, Ohio, caught fire*
    The fire in the Cuyahoga river was supposedly caused by a build up of oily debris under two wooden trestles
  • NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)*

    NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act)*
    NEPA is a law that promotes growth of the environment and created the president’s council on environmental quality
  • First Earth Day*

    First Earth Day*
    During this time their was no environmental agencies to help protect the environment, so Senator Gaylord Nelson created this day to help promote protecting the environment
  • Environmental Protection Agency established*

    Environmental Protection Agency established*
    This was designed to help protect human and the environmental health
  • Clear Air Act*

    Clear Air Act*
    This is the federal government’s primary air quality law, this was passed to help reduce and control air pollution
  • OPEC oil embargo*

    OPEC oil embargo*
    The 1973 oil embargo started when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, these countries declared and oil embargo
  • Endangered Species Act*

    Endangered Species Act*
    This gives the government the framework to help protect endangered species and habitats, domestically and abroad
  • Roland and Molina (UCI) announce that CFCs are depleting the ozone layer*

    Roland and Molina (UCI) announce that CFCs are depleting the ozone layer*
    Roland and Molina declared that CFC’s are depleting the earths ozone layer which block out the harmful sun UV rays
  • RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) *

    RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) *
    This gives the EPA the power to control the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste
  • Clean Water Act*

    Clean Water Act*
    The is the federal governments primary law controlling water pollution, the goal is to restore and maintain the waters integrity
  • Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act*

    Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act*
    This prohibits coal mining on the surface near any national park system
  • Love Canal, NY (toxic waste leaks into residential houses)*

    Love Canal, NY (toxic waste leaks into residential houses)*
    The area around the love canal was used as a dumping ground for 22,000 tons of chemical waste, led to multiple public health problems over the next three decades
  • 3 Mile Island Nuclear accident*

    3 Mile Island Nuclear accident*
    Their was a malfunction and operating error which led to problems with the water cooling and led to a partial meltdown
  • Alaskan Lands Act*

    Alaskan Lands Act*
    This helped with the conservation of public lands and national wildlife refuge system in Alaska
  • CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act a.k.a Super-Fund)*

    CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act a.k.a Super-Fund)*
    CERCLA provided a federal superfund help clean up spilled hazardous waste
  • Bhopal, Indian (chemical toxic cloud kills 2,000)*

    Bhopal, Indian (chemical toxic cloud kills 2,000)*
    An explosion at a Union Carbide pesticide plant led to the death of 2,000 people and injured 200,000 people as well
  • Chernobyl*

    Chernobyl*
    A nuclear accident that happened at reactor number four at Chernobyl
  • Montreal Protocol*

    Montreal Protocol*
    An international treaty designed to help regenerate the ozone layer by adjusting out production of substances that damage the ozone layer
  • Exxon Valdez*

    Exxon Valdez*
    The Exxon Valdez was a supertanker, this tanker struck a Bligh Reef, this tore open the ships hull, which spilled eleven million gallons of crude oil into the water
  • Energy Policy Act of 1992*

    Energy Policy Act of 1992*
    This encouraged the use of alternative fuels in daily activities and improve energy efficiency in the US
  • Desert Protection Act*

    Desert Protection Act*
    This emphasizes the protection of the Mojave desert in California, this also established the Mojave National Preserve
  • World population hits 6 billion*

    World population hits 6 billion*
    The population had doubled from 1950-1999
  • Kyoto Protocol*

    Kyoto Protocol*
    An international treaty that extended the United Nations framework laid down during 1992 on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to lower climate change