History of the Environmental Movement

By peggscharlie

  • 1 Billion World Population

  • 2 Billion World Population

  • Founding of the International Union for Cionservation of Nature

    The International Union for Conservation of Nature was founded in 1948 to establish a conservation organization to preserve the flora and fauna of the Earth as best as they could.
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    Minamata Disease

    The Minamata disease was first seen in Japan in 1956 and the cause of it was traced back to a chemical factory opened in 1908 by the Chisso corporation. In 1959 scientists discovered that this was happening because of mercury being ingested through shellfish in Minamata Bay.

  • 3 Billion World Population

  • Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring

    Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring Night brought the effects of pesticides into the public eye. It is an environmental science book that meticulously detailed how pesticides indiscriminately polluted the environment, waterways, and eventually us.

  • Earthrise photo

    This photo was taken on the moon by astronaut, William Anders on the apollo 8 mission. In this photo, Earth appears to be small and vulnerable. With having the moon in the forefront and looking much larger by perception, this also increases the appearance of vulnerability of the earth. This image was put in Time magazine and and helped show to the world that humans are all one species and that the earth must be protected from our pollution and influence.

  • First Earth Day

    The first earth day protest attracted 20 million Americans showing popular support for environmental movements among the American people. The movement lead to the establishment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as the clean air act.

  • 4 Billion World Population

  • Whaling (Save the Whale)

    Founded by Maris Seidensticker save the whale focuses on the issue of protecting whales from threats such as whaling (the hunting of whales) and environmental issues such as pollution that affect other sea life as well as whales. Save the whales raised public awareness of illegal whaling that forced governments to act against whale poachers. Today save the whale also dedicates itself to educating the public about marine life.

  • France Amoco Cadiz Tanker Spill

    The Amoco Cadiz oil spill occurred on March 16th, 1978, when the tanker ran aground on rocks and sank one mile from the coast of France. This event caused people to think more about passing laws and restrictions to protect wildlife and marine life.

  • Three Mile Island Incident

    In Pennsylvania on Three Mile Island, a cooling malfunction caused the cooling core in radiator 2 to melt. Because of this, some of the radioactive gas was released. Approximately 2 million people were exposed to radiation in the surrounding area. No one died from the accident, but a lot of people started becoming more aware and concerned about radiation and the impact on the environment and humans.

  • Church Rock Uranium Mill Spill

    The dam broke and released 1100 tons of uranium waste and 94 million gallons of radioactive water infected the Puerco River. The spill was radioactive, acidic, and contained toxic metals and sulfates. The spill contaminated the water and made Puerco unusable. The Navajo people used the water for drinking, irrigation, and livestock.

  • Andreeva Bay Nuclear Accident

    A nuclear accident in Russia occurred where radioactive water was released from a pool. Cleaning up the accident took 6 years (1983-1989). About 700000 tons of radioactive water seeped into the Barents Sea. Because of the massive spill it took so long to make Andreeva bay safe again for humans and animals to be able to go there.
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    Bhopal Pesticide Incident

    In Bhopal, India there was a pesticide plant, where these chemicals were being produced. On the night of th 2-3 of december there was a chemical accident in which toxic gasses leaked into the air. 500,000 people from the nearby towns and villages were unaware of this and continued to breath in the air, this lead to 2,259 immediate deaths. 3,789 confirmed deaths; 558,125 partial injuries; and 3,900 severe and permanently debilitating injuries

  • Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

    The rainbow warrior was a ship belonging to environmental activist group Greenpeace that was sunk by DGSE the French Foreign intelligence agency on its way to protest French nuclear testing. The incident led to the French Defense Minister Charles Hernu resigning and France paying reparations to Greenpeace. The incident lead to an increase in popularity for anti-nuclear movements.

  • Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

    World’s worst civil nuclear accident that occurred on April 26th, 1986, due to a flawed reactor design that led to a meltdown of the core and an explosion of radioactive materials that spread across Europe. This event raised people's concern about how people affect the environment and put a negative view to nuclear energy.

  • 5 Billion World Population

  • Kyoto Protocol

    Signed on December 11th, 1997, is a treaty that extended the United Nations Convention on climate change that commits countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

  • 6 Billion World Population

  • "An Inconvenient Truth" Released

    The documentary is about how humans have destroyed the environment and what must be done immediately to fix it. Raised awareness the the public about climate change. They wanted to help people get a better understanding of what they were doing to the environment and how they could change their behaviors and views on the environment.

  • Documentary film: Food inc.

    “Food, inc.” is a documentary directed by Robert Kenner that rose awareness of the health concerns of GMO food and the unethical practices of Monsota an american agricultural company. The documentary helped boost the Organic food industry as a viable alternative to GMO products.
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    Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

    Industrial disaster going on from April 20th to September 19th of 2010. It was a huge marine oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that occurred due to an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. This incident caused people living in states near the Gulf to reconsider environmental issues such as protecting wildlife and global warming.

  • 7 Billion World Population

  • Fukushima Nuclear Accident

    On March 11, 2011, there was an earthquake in the Pacific Ocean leading to a tsunami crashing into the Fukushima nuclear power plant. There was contaminated water that escaped back into the ocean along with the fact that people were removed from their homes due to the risk of radiation poisoning.

  • 8 Billion World Population