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1st Billion Reached
The world population reached 1 billion for the first time -
The First Factory in Minamata Opens
Chisso Factory, the factory responsible for the Minamata Diaster, opens for the first time -
2nd Billion
The world population reached 2 billion -
Trinity Bomb Dropped
Before the bombing of Hiroshima, the military dropped a testing nuclear bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. This dropped nuclear material in the environment and it even increased infant mortality. It was later released by the US department of Energy that Trinity was the most hazardous test in the Manhattan Project. These types of projects are looked down on today because of how hazardous and dangerous they are and how much the effect the environment. -
Little Boy Dropped - Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, a nuclear bomb code named Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima. These two bombs greatly impacted the environment and completely destroyed every living thing in a 1 mile radius. Radioactive dust polluted the land, water, and animals all around these sites. -
Fat Man Dropped - Nagasaki
On August 9, 1945, a nuclear bomb code named Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki. These two bombs greatly impacted the environment and completely destroyed every living thing in a 1 mile radius. Radioactive dust polluted the land, water, and animals all around these sites. -
Whaling (save the whale)
1946: IWC was set up. It took 20 years for the country to stop killing blue whales. -
IUCN is Founded
Most of the IUCN’s work in the 1960s and 1970s was all for the protection of the species and the habitats that are necessary for their survival. -
Mercury Levels in Minamata Bay Rise
The mercury levels in the bay exceed safety standards by 400-fold -
First Human Victim of Minamata
a 6-year-old girl is hospitalized for imbalance and became the first officially recognized human victim. -
Niger Delta Oil Pollution
About 9-13 million barrels of oil are spilled in the swamps of Niger Delta since 1958. This area is considered one of the most polluted places in the world. Incidents of militants kidnapping, killing oil workers, blowing up pipelines and stealing oil are unfortunately common. -
3rd Billion
Population reaches 3 billion -
Green Revolution
Increase in production of food grains resulted in developing countries of new, high-yielding varieties. -
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Published
In Silent Spring she assembled information on chemicals used in sprays, industrial settings, and on food to find the impacts of each item in ecological terms instead of trying the effectiveness of the chemical. It grew important new ideas that the public mind could consume such that spraying chemicals to kill insects or control them is one way that can kill birds. Silent Spring was released and was met with lots and lots of public interest and criticism. -
Ecuador's Amazon Degradation
Over 400 million barrels of toxic oil waste are released into watersheds due to oil operations within the Amazon Rainforest over a 30 year time period. The indigenous community sued for damges, however the case moved to Ecuador. Chevron paid $8.6 billion in damages with an additional 9 billion with no apology. 1964-1990 -
Earth Day
1968: John V. Lindsay creates the first nation’s municipal Environmental Protection Administration in NY. 1970: Nixon Administration establishes the Environmental Protection Agency and passes the Clean Air Act. 2012: Hurricane Sandy spurred New Yorkers to talk about Climate Change. September 2014: over 300,000 people joined the Climate March in Manhattan. September 2019: Climate Strike in NYC caught international attention. April 22, 2020: 50th anniversary of Earth Day. -
Gaia Hypothesis
The Gaia Hypothesis is the idea that the Earth and its organisms are all connected in one big system and it was proposed in 1972. This means if one organism gets affected, others do too. This idea made people get into the mindset of how important our Earth is and how much we will suffer if the Earth suffers. This positively impacted the Environmental Movement and gained more supporters. -
Chipko Movement
1973: Chipko movement was started. 1987: The Chipko movement was awarded the “Right Livelihood Award.” -
4th Billion Reached
The world population reached 4 billion in 1974 -
Bhopal Diasaster
An operator notices small leak of methyl isocyanate gas and also noticed increasing pressure inside the storage tank while 1 million residents are sleeping. More than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide plant. -
Antarctic Ozone Hole Discovered
A 7.3 million square mile hole in the ozone layer was found in Antartica. Over 100 countries pledged to dissipate the use of ozone-depleting compounds known as chlorofluorocarbons, also known as CFC’s. -
Chernobyl
Chernobyl was a government disaster that occurred on April 26, 1986, that led to nuclear materials polluting and killing the water, land, animals, people, etc. This led to a major mistrust in the government and a much more cautious approach when it comes to handling nuclear power and contaminating the Earth with nuclear power plants and government projects. -
Whaling (save the whale)
1982: “Save the Whales” movement is now a thing. 1986: the ban came into force. -
5th Billion Reached
The world population reached 5 billion in 1987 -
Rio Earth Summit
Rio Earth Summit started. -
Kyoto
This was an international treaty among the United Nations to decrease greenhouse gas emissions signed on December 11, 1997. This got the countries of the UN to plant more trees, make sinks, invest in technology, and more in order to decrease their emissions -
6th Billion Reached
The world population reached 6 billion in 1998 -
Documentary film An Inconvenient Truth released.
An Inconvenient Truth is a documentary released in 2006 about how much the Earth is really suffering and what we can do as humans to help. This documentary really helped wake people up to see the reality of how terrible our home is doing. This boosted the use of solar power and electric cars. -
7 Billion Reached
The world population reached 7 billion in 2010. The increase of population decreases natural resources we want, increases the burning of fossil fuels, decreases fresh water to drink, increases ecological impacts, increases hunting and fishing, increases invasive and destructive species, and increases disease. All of these are causes of our high population and it brought attention to the environmental movement that we don’t have enough resources to support our population. -
Copenhagen Accord
2010: major companies needed cooling which has been covered by remote cooling and sea water is circulated. By 2025: Copenhagen aims to become the world’s first CO2-neutral capital. -
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened after a surge of natural gas blasted through a concrete core which was installed to seal an oil well. The natural gas traveled up a riser to the platform of the Deepwater Horizon oil, lighting on fire and killing 11 workers and injuring 17. -
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster
Koide Hiroaki was in lab when the earthquake hit causing the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster. -
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is Mapped
In August 2015, about 30 ships crossed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for one of the largest ocean research expeditions. The patch sits between California and Hawaii, and is three times the size of France. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch holds over 80 million kilograms of floating plastic debris. -
The Paris Agreement Goes Into Effect
The Paris Agreement was a landmark international accord to climate change in which many countries concluded to limit global temperatures rising as much as possible in the 21st century -
Greta Thunberg Enters a New Generation of Activism
Greta Thunberg, in 2019, was a 16-year old Swedish environmental activist who passionately advocated for climate change. Her activism brought forth a new age of awareness in terms of environmentalism. She was named Time’s 2019 “Person of the Year”