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Population Reached 1 Billion
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Population Reached 2 Billion
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Founding of IUCN
IUCN (International Union Conservation of Nature) was founded in Fontainebleau. It was the first environmental union on a global level. IUCN allowed for governments to protect and preserve nature together. -
Minamata
Minamata occurred when a chemical plant released methyl mercury into Minamata Bay. This caused large amounts of fish and shellfish deaths. People ate the contaminated fish and received a type of mercury poisoning called Minamata disease. After this event, many people started to worry about contaminated water, raising stricter pollution standards and requirements around the globe. -
Population Reached 3 Billion
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Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Published
Silent Spring was a book published by Rachel Carson bringing attention to the negative effects pesticide has on the environment. Years later, the U.S. established the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, passing several laws protecting both people and the environment. -
Population Reached 4 Billion
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Whaling (save the whale)
Greenpeace’s first whaling voyage. There were seven years of outcry before the public was heard. Whales are more easily harmed by hunting than by any other animal. -
Italy’s Seveso Dioxin Cloud
A valve broke at the ICMESA chemical plant in Meda. This caused a chemical cloud of a highly toxic dioxin TCDD. It contaminated land and vegetation. Thousands of animals died and caused 600 people to evacuate from their homes. Seveso became one of the worst industrial accidents worldwide and prompted the adoption of “EU-Seveso” to not allow this to happen again. -
France’s Amoco Cadiz Tanker Spill
A tanker carrying 223,000 tonnes of crude oil ran aground off the Brittany coast. All the oil spilled into the sea, affecting 200 miles of the Brittany Coast. The spill resulted in a heavy loss of marine life in the affected area. Following the oil spill, tighter oil tanker safety as well as the French government to create their Polmar Plan, a plan in case of accidental pollutions in the sea, reducing the damage to the environment. -
Three Mile Island
One of the Three Mile Island reactors partly melted, causing the 2 million people around the area to get way higher radiation doses than normal. After this disaster, publix fear and distrust increased, regulations became more strict, and plants were manages a lot more carefully. -
Bhopal
About 40 tons of deadly gas leaked out of a pesticide factory. Nearly half a million citizens were exposed. Thousands died and many more died from diseases caused by it later. Affected babies in the whom as well, as they have a higher chance for cancer and lower education rate. People as far as 62 miles were affected -
Chernobyl
Due to a flawed reactor design, at least 5% of the reactor’s radioactive core was released into the atmosphere. This caused people to die or suffer radiation related illnesses, and 350,000 people were relocated. After this disaster, there were big changes in safety culture within the world of industry, as well as lending a hand to the fall of the Soviet Union. -
Balloon Fest
Balloon Fest was held as a fundraiser for United Way in Cleveland, Ohio. Public square was filled with about 1.5 million balloons. The bad weather caused all the balloons to fall. The balloons caused a runway at an airport to shut down and prevented the Coast Guard from finding two missing men. It also caused many car accidents trying to avoid the balloons. It even reached all the way to the beaches in Ontario. -
Population Reached 5 Billion
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Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
The oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska spilling 11 million gallons of oil. One of the largest environmental disasters in US history. Affected more than 1,300 miles of shoreline. With huge impacts many wildlife, as well as industries and communities. -
Kyoto Protocol
This was the first treaty signed internationally as a legal document to enforce the cut of greenhouse gas emissions. This treaty was adopted in Kyoto, Japan and included 191 countries. -
Population Reached 6 Billion
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Romania’s Cyanide Spill
This disaster accrued in North Western Romania and consisted of 100,000 cubic meters of cyanide contaminated waste water being released into near by waterways. One of these waterways was the Tisza River, which is one of the biggest rivers in Hungary. Marine life was completely wiped out and poisoned the water for over 2.5 million citizens. -
Documentary film: An Inconvenient Truth
This documentary won two academy awards and starred former US president, Al Gore, which led to him winning a nobel peace prize for his environmental efforts. The impact of this documentary and its widespread nature was that there was a sharp increase in environmental awareness and empowerment towards helping the planet, through different environmental supplies bought. However, the sharp increase was short, as a year or two later people were less outgoing with their environmental activism. -
Tennessee Valley Authority Coal Ash Spill
In a dewatering area, there was a dike failure where ash was being held. Ultimately, it ended up getting into the surrounding water, causing a major source of pollution. This led to cleanup projects, regulatory checks to ensure safety in how people build future dikes to limit potential pollution. -
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
This disaster is also known as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This rig eventually sank on the 22nd of April, subsequently releasing over 60,000 barrels per day. This caused a doubling of erosions rates of the shorelines and killed thousands of marine mammals. -
Population Reached 7 Billion
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Flint Water Crisis
When the system for drinking water was switched to be sourced from the Flint River. This proved to be a problem when insufficient treatment of the water caused health problems for the residence. Consuming/having contact with this water resulted in skin rashes, hair loss, itchy skin, etc. -
California Wildfire
Being that October is usually the peak fire season in California, and the 70 mph Diablo winds in the north and 70 mph Santa Ana Winds in the south that occurs in 2017, California had multiple wildfires. With these fires, large parts of California’s air was polluted. These fires were started by electrical lines, sparking improvements in electrical infrastructure and its safety. -
Population Reached 8 Billion