History of the Environmental Movement Timeline

  • Human Population Reached 1 Billion

  • Human Population Reached 2 Billion

  • Love Canal

    The Love Canal was a place that was dug up for the intention to be built but never was. This resulted in a company disposing 21,000 tons of chemicals into the canal. This caused it to eventually overflow killing 725 people.
  • Minamata Disaster

    The Minamata Disaster (also known as the Minamata Disease) was a disease caused by Mercury Poisoning. This was because a Japanese chemical company dumped Mercury into water which resulted into people losing hearing, speech, vision, and eventually go into a coma. All of this resulted in the company compensating the victims and clean up the waste that was poured into the water.
  • Human Population Reached 3 Billion

  • Rachel Carson's Silent Spring is Published

    Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring to warn people about the dangers DDT has on the earth. Her book eventually led to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in the year 1970 which led to the banning of DDT two years later in 1972
  • Stockholm Conference

    The Stockholm Conference was the first world conference to present the environment as a major issue. They adopted a series of principles to help environmental growth, air, water, and human health.
  • Endangered Species Act

    The Endangered Species Act was established to protect animals, fish, and even plants that become endangered species. Then they take care of it in hopes that they can recover and no longer be classified as endangered.
  • Human Population Reached 4 Billion

  • The Bhopal Disaster

    The Bhopal Disaster occurred on December 3rd, 1984, when a chemical leak spilled over the city of Bhopal. It resulted in around 15,000 deaths. At the time of the incident, it was labeled as the worst industrial accident in history.
  • Chernobyl Meltdown

    The Chernobyl accident occurred when a flawed reactor was operated which resulted in a steam explosion that released 5% of the radioactive reactor core into the environment. The explosion resulted in 28 deaths.
  • Montreal Protocol

    The Montreal Protocol was established to protect the stratospheric ozone layer from ozone depleting substances, some of which are found in refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers, and aerosols.
  • Human Population Reached 5 Billion

  • Kyoto Protocol

    The Kyoto Protocol is a treaty that tries to decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, it was first established in Kyoto, Japan but later made its way into force on February 16th, 2005.
  • Human Population Reached 6 Billion

  • Documentary film: An Inconvenient Truth is released

    An Inconvenient Truth was a documentary film directed by David Guggenheim. The film has been known for increasing awareness on the effects and dangers of Global Warming.
  • Human Population Reached 7 Billion

  • Human Population Reached 8 Billion