-
1 billion population
-
2 billion population
-
Founding of IUCN
IUCN stands for International Union for Conservation of Nature founded in 1948. This organization provides non-governmental aid to encourage communities to get more involved in nature. -
Great Smug
Late in 1952, London was hit by a brutal cold snap, and many heated their homes with unusually huge amounts of coal. From December 5 to December 9, a foul-smelling fog hung over the city due to the soot that was spewing from their chimneys and combining with pollution from factories and power plants. -
London smog disaster
In 1952, industrial pollution and very dry weather created toxic smog that smothered the city of London. People became very sick with respiratory issues and more than 4,000 citizens died. -
Minamata
The Minamata disease occurred in 1956 when locals of Minamata Japan, started to consume shellfish and fish that were contaminated in methylmercury. This highly dangerous substance was released from a nearby chemical plant into the ocean infecting sea life. -
Niger Delta Oil Production
In 1958, about to nine to thirteen barrels of oil were spilled in the Niger Delta. The oil is from the partnership of Shell and Nigerian government. There were a lot of issues with oil distribution in Nigeria, as oil workers were being killed and oil was being stolen. -
3 billion population
-
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring Published
Silent Spring is a book that was published in 1962 and discussed the damage done to the environment due to the careless use of pesticides. This book is very influential to the environmental movement raising awareness on how people should protect nature. -
Handford Nuclear
One component of the Manhattan Project puzzle was the Hanford facility. In 1965, there were 177 underground waste tanks, nine weapons reactors, five reprocessing facilities, and hundreds of support and research buildings. Nearly two-thirds of the US stockpile of plutonium, or 74 tons, was ultimately generated at Hanford. -
Love Canal
The Hooker Chemical company decided to use an abandoned canal as industrial land fill in 1970. 21,000 tons of toxic chemicals were poured into the canal that later started to contaminate the surrounding area. More than 100 families had to move out of the area, because of the 421 chemicals found in their homes, water, and land it was not safe for anyone to live. -
Gaia Hypothesis
The Gaia Hypothesis was proposed by James Lovelock in 1972 and it states that all living things and their inorganic surrounds are interconnected. -
4 billion population
-
Italy's Seveso Dioxin Cloud
A chemical plant accident in Italy in 1976 resulted in about two thousand people sickened and about eight thousand animals killed (to prevent spread). The company, a part of Swiss, then became involved in a legal battle and had to pay about $13 million. -
Whaling (save the whale)
Save the Whales is an organization created in 1977 to protect whales from illegal poaching and selling of whale meat. -
Bhopal
In 1984, a United States owned company Union Carbide killed 4,000 citizens of Bhopal, India, and left half of the population with sicknesses and lifelong medical issues. The chemical plant released methyl isocyanates gas into the atmosphere, victims are still fighting for justice. -
Chernobyl
The 1986 Chernobyl disaster was brought on by a defective reactor design that was operated by unqualified staff. At least 5% of the radioactive reactor core was discharged into the environment as a result of the steam explosion and flames, which led to the deposition of radioactive elements across much of Europe. -
Sandoz chemical spill
During 1986, a fire broke out in a chemical storehouse in Basel, Switzerland polluting the air. The water used by the firefighters trying to take the fire out spread dangerous pesticides and mercury that ended up into the Rhine River. This killed sea life and made the water unsafe to drink. -
5 billion population
-
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
In 1989, The Exxon Shipping Company owned oil tanker spills 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. -
Kuwaiti Oil Fires
At the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War Iraqi troops to set fire to about 650 Kuwaiti oil wells, oily smoke plumes shot high up into the sky, darkening the sun and making breathing difficult for those who ventured outside. -
Kyoto
The Kyoto Protocol was a 1997 international agreement with the purpose of reducing carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. -
6 billion population
-
Romania's Cyanide Spill
In 2000, approximately 34 million gallons of cyanide spilled into four rivers from the Baia Mare gold mine and affected people in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Hungary. As a result, much wildlife died, which caused an issue for the fishing industry. Due to a dependence on the rivers, the people in those countries did not have access to much water for drinking. -
An Inconvenient Truth
An "Inconvenient Truth" is a 2006 film by Davis Guggenheim on Al Gore's efforts to have the problem of global warming recognized on a global scale. -
Ivory Coast Toxic Waste
In 2006, a Trafigura oil dealer transfers toxic trash made up of caustic soda and petroleum residue from Amsterdam to Abidjan and dumps it there. -
7 billion population
-
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
In the Gulf of Mexico n in 2010, an offshore drilling unit burst into flames killing almost all the workers. 134 million gallons of oil was dumped into the gulf, the oil created major health issues or death for sea life. -
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster
After a significant earthquake, a 15-meter tsunami cut off the cooling and power to three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, resulting in a nuclear catastrophe that started on March 11, 2011. -
Flint Water Crisis
In 2014 locals of Flint, Michigan water resource were changed to save more money. The water was so poorly treated that it had a pungent smell, discoloration, and an off-tasting taste. This caused health problems for the people living in Flint which caused them to have hair loss and skin rashes. -
Period: to
Amazon Wildfires
During the years 2019-2020, more than eight thousand fires occurred and over three million hectares were burned. These fires in Brazil are partly from the beef industry and the government refusing to help.