History of the Environmental Movement

  • Founding of IUCN

    The ICUN was established is the small French town of Fontainebleau. The ICUN was the first real union of environment that was respected world wide.
  • Minamata

    Minamata was a terrible disease outbreak that happened in Japan. It killed over two thousand people and crippled many more. It was one of the first times anyone had to think about contamination of the environment.
  • Gaia Hypothesis

    The Gaia hypothesis came from James Lovelock and proposed ideas that the natural world is its own "self regulating system". It brought up thoughts that the world keeps its self in check on its own.
  • Papua New Guinea’s Panguna Mine War

    This "Mine War" was a large group of open mines in the middle of New Guinea. This mining craze brought with it lots of pollution. This pollution tore apart the Coastline of Papua.
  • India’s Bhopal Cyanide Gas Leak

    This gas leak sickened a lot of people and caused many birth defects for the children of survivors. It forced people to again look at how strict our policies were.
  • Chernobyl

    In 1986 there was a nuclear explosion in Ukraine. All nuclear safety regulations were ignored and everything within a 150,000 kilometer radius was destroyed.
  • Deepwater Oil Spill

    This spill again decimated miles worth of aquatic life. It also killed 11 people in the process of clean up and revival.
  • Romania’s Cyanide Spill

    This chemical spill killed off most of the areas aquatic life. It also had a terrible affect on humans and their businesses.
  • Amazon Wild Fires

    These fires wiped out most of life in the Amazon and completely reset the forests. Ecologically this was a disaster that is still being worked on.