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Industrial revolution in Europe
Industrial revolution begins in great britain, resulting in increased urbanization, resource usage, and pollution -
Green Revolution
Intensive technological agriculture developed, fossil fuel use and pollution increased as a consequence whereas human population rose rapidly. -
Rachel Carson publishes "Silent Spring"
Controversial book describing the negative effects of DDT was published. There were general acceptance of dangers of chemical toxins affecting humans and the pesticide DDT is banned. -
Clean Air Act
The Clean Air Act was a United States federal law designed to protect human health and the environment from the effects of air pollution. It helped cut ground-level ozone by more than 25 percent since 1980, reduce mercury emissions by 45 percent since 1990,
reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide by 71 percent and 46 percent respectively since 1980, phase out the production and use of chemicals that contribute to the hole in the ozone layer. -
First Earth Summit
UN conference on the human environment held. Action plan for the human environment and environment fund was established. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) formed, Earth summits were planned at ten-year intervals. -
CITES formed by UN
The convention on international trade in endangered species established which aimed to protect endangered plants and animals from international trade. -
Chernobyl disaster
Catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred in Chernobyl. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. -
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was designed to reduce production and consumption of ozone depleting substances to reduce their abundance in atmosphere and thereby protect the earth’s ozone Layer. The original Protocol was agreed on 16 September 1987 and entered into force on 1 January 1989. The Protocol sets binding progressive phase out obligations for developed and developing countries for all major ozone depleting substances such as CFCs. -
Gothenburg Protocol
Since its signature in 1979, the LRTAP convention has been extended by 8 specific protocols, including the 1999 protocol to stop acidification and ground-level ozone. This protocol, also known as 'the Gothenburg Protocol', was approved by the Council on behalf of the EU in June 2003. It was transposed into EU law mostly through the 2001 NEC directive and the 2001 directive on emissions from large combustion plants. -
U.S.–Canada Air Quality Agreement
In 1991, the U.S. and Canada entered into an agreement to address transboundary air pollution, whereby pollutants released at one location can travel long distances, affecting air quality at their sources, as well as many miles away. The 1991 Agreement led to reductions in acid rain in the 1990s, and was expanded in 2000 to reduce transboundary smog emissions under the Ozone Annex. -
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol treaty was negotiated in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and came into force February 16th, 2005. The Protocol is a legally binding agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of GHGs by 5.2% compared to the year 1990. The goal is to lower overall emissions from six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs - calculated as an average over the five-year period of 2008-12.