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World Population Reaches 1 Billion
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Love canal begins to be dug
William T. Love began to dig the canal to be used to create a cheap source of hydroelectric power for his envisioned city. -
World Population Reaches 2 billion
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Hooker Chemical Plant Begins Dumping Chemicals in the Abandoned Love Canal
Hooker Chemical Company dumps 21,000 pounds of chemical waste in the Love Canal site. -
Minamata Disaster
The Minamata Disaster occurred because of a large mass dumping of methylmercury into the ocean off the coast of the Shiranui Sea. 2,252 people were affected, 1,043 of which passed away. -
World Population Reaches 3 Billion
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Rachel Carson's Silent Spring Is Published
Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring described that the mass usage of the DDT pesticide had caused significant harm to wildlife and the environment. -
Stockholm Conference
The Stockholm Conference contained 26 principles that placed environmental issues at the forefront of the discussion and began pondering the links between economic growth, water pollution, air pollution, and the pollution of the oceans. -
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act provided for endangered and threatened fish, wildlife, and plants. -
World Population Reaches 4 Billion
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Love Canal Disaster
A door-to-door health survey was conducted in the neighborhood of Love Canal, and it was found that the residents had an unusual amount of illnesses and defects. It is revealed that Hooker Chemical Company covered the dumping site in clay, causing the chemicals that were dumped to seep into the ground and then be released into the basements of the nearby homes and into the playground of the nearby school. -
Bhopal Disaster
Over 40 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide Corporation pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, causing the deaths of 3,800 people. -
Chernobyl Meltdown
The Chernobyl Meltdown happened due to poor safety regulations and a number of missteps taken by the workers at the power plant. A reactor meltdown occurred in Reactor Unit 4, causing the surrounding areas of Pripyat, the city of Chernobyl, Belarus, Russia, and the Ukraine. Millions of acres of forest and farmland were contaminated by the meltdown. -
World Population Reaches 5 Billion
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The Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer in an environmental agreement that regulates the production and usage of nearly 100 man made ozone depleting substances and chemicals. -
Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997 but was fully implemented in force in 2005. It defined the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by implementing limits on and attempting the reduction of the production of greenhouse gasses. -
World Population Reaches 6 Billion
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An Inconvenient Truth Released
An Inconvenient Truth is an American documentary released in 2006 that told of the emerging threat of global warming and climate change. -
World Population Reaches 7 Billion
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World Population Reaches 8 Billion