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Italy’s Seveso Dioxin Cloud
A dioxin cloud from an accident at a chemical plant near Seveso, Italy, sickens at least two thousand people -
Industrial Revolution in Europe (text)
Increased urbanization, resource usage and pollution -
Once the most prolific bird, the passenger pigeon becomes extinct(text)
Conservation movement grows. Concern for tigers, rhinoceros, etc. -
Green Revolution - intensive technological agriculture (text)
Resource use (especially fossil fuel use) and pollution increased. Human population rises sharply. -
Leopold writes ‘A sand county almanac’ (text)
Concept of ‘stewardship’ is applied to nature -
Minamata bay disaster (text)
Emphasizes the ability of food chains to accumulate toxins into higher tropic levels, including into humans. -
First earth summit - UN conference on the human environment (text)
Declaration of UN conference.
Action plan for the human environment.
Environment fund established.
Formation of UN environment programme (UNEP)
Earth summits planned at ten-year intervals -
James lovelock publishes ‘publishes gala - a new look at life on earth’ and presents the ‘gala hypotheses’ (text)
Systems approach to studying the environment begins. Nature seen as self regulating. -
Green political parties form around the world
Political pressure placed on governments -
Nalrobi Earth summit
Ineffective -
Bhopal Disaster
Worlds worst industrial disaster -
India’s Bhopal Cyanide Gas Leak
The leak of methyl isocyanate gas from a chemical plant operated by U.S. company Union Carbide in Bhopal, India, kills at least four thousand people