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The Birth of Global Warming
In 1965, scientists on the US President’s Science Advisory Committee first put forward concerns about a “greenhouse effect”.
In a report called "Restoring the Quality of Our Environment", the scientists proposed that increasing temperatures in the atmosphere was caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide. But it wasn’t until 1975 that the term “global warming” was coined by geoscientist Wallace Broecker — and it took years before the issue reached mainstream understanding. -
Earth Day
The organisers wanted to raise awareness of concerns such as pollution and toxic waste and were inspired by the anti-war movement led by students at the time, according to its website. Earth Day has now become a global event ever since 1990, when 200 million people in 141 countries joined forces to bring it to the world stage. -
The IPCC
The UN launched its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The expert panel was given the job of assessing the developing science on climate change and providing up-to-date information to governments. Importantly, the IPPC's reports are used as a reference point in international climate negotiations — a key part of the process of getting countries to agree the necessary steps to tackel the issue. -
The Rio Earth Summit
The Rio Earth Summit is an international conference on sustainable development held by the UN established a set of principles for improving and protecting the environment adopted by 178 countries.
It was the first time that the issues of economy, climate, and international development were considered together, but the summit was not revisited for another 20 years — when Rio+20 was held in June 2012. -
The Kyoto Protocol
Developed nations gathered in Kyoto, Japan, to agree on a historic climate plan it was the first agreement between nations to mandate the reduction of greenhouse gases. The international treaty was called the Kyoto Protocol: a pledge for industrially-advanced countries to reduce emissions by an average of 5% by the period 2008-12, although there were wide variations on targets for individual countries. The US Senate immediately declared it would not ratify the treaty.