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ESS Environmental Movement Timeline

  • First Billion (Population)

    First Billion (Population)
  • Second Billion (Population)

    Second Billion (Population)
  • Founding of IUCN

    Founding of IUCN
    The IUCN is a group that works to solve climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. They have experts that are divided into 6 commissions: species survival, environmental law, protected areas, social and economic policy, ecosystem management, and education and communication. It has evolved into the world's largest and most diverse environmental network.
  • Anti-Nuclear Movements in America

    Anti-Nuclear Movements in America
    People all around America would protest and try to fight for an Anti-Nuclear law. While this was going on people would also fight for an antiwar law to ensure we would not have to use nuclear weapons. Even after the protests a 3-mile island exploded due to an accident caused by a nuclear weapon. After this the government gave credit to the protestors and then they shut down the “nuclear prophets argument” law.
  • Minamata Disease

    Minamata Disease
    Minamata disease is a disease where if you eat a fish or shellfish contaminated with methylmercury compound, your nervous system begins to shut down and lose its functions. Named Minamata due to the chemical spill in Minamata bay. The government then implemented measures to cure the patients and make sure a spill like this does not reoccur in the future.
  • Third Billion (Population)

    Third Billion (Population)
  • Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Published

    Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring Published
    The releasing of “Silent Hill” which was a book, started the Modern global environmental movement. This was important because it opened people's minds and made them realize that they should keep nature protected.
  • Paul R. Ehrlich’s “The Population Bomb.”

    Paul R. Ehrlich’s “The Population Bomb.”
    This book was published, and it reviewed the case for immediate population control, and it reviewed the governments responsibilities of national and individual governments. This book was important because it warned everyone about overpopulation, and it predicted the future. This caused governments to put laws on limiting the children that families csn have.
  • Danish Environmental Movement

    Danish Environmental Movement
    The environmental group referred to as NOAH was founded that day. They worked to prevent all sorts of environmental issues such as global warming and greenhouse gases.
  • Gaia Hypothesis

    Gaia Hypothesis
    Hypothesis that states that “Earth and its biological systems behave as one huge entity.” The Gaia hypothesis was a major turning point for the future because it predicted link between increased biodiversity and increasing stability of populations
  • Earth Day Inititiation

    Earth Day Inititiation
    Earth day was created in response to the new trend of environmental activism in the United States. Earth day was implemented as a day to teach younger audiences, as well as individuals in the community. This day has since served as an awareness day for our environment and keeping our societies clean.
  • Chipko Movement

    Chipko Movement
    This was a non-violent ecological movement in India; this movement was created by women in rural India after they had began trying to develop these rural parts, and they wanted to see a change in all the deforestation that they were doing. So they began this movement against cutting down trees.
  • Fourth Billion Population

    Fourth Billion Population
  • Whaling (save the whale)

    Whaling (save the whale)
    Summary description: Was a movement to save whales started when a company called Greenpeace launched the world's first “anti-whaling” campaign and this eventually led to the realization of the cruelty taking place while killing a whale. This movement was then the first movement to stop the illegal killing of whales.
  • Bhopal

    Bhopal
    40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked and immediately killed 3000+ people. This was one of the worst industrial accidents to ever happen but after this accident happened the government was industrializing at an amazingly fast pace, and they added a lot of laws, and cut down on their rapid industrialization to ensure it would not happen again.
  • Sarasota County's Road Map To Sustainability

    Sarasota County's Road Map To Sustainability
    Sarasota County made efforts to become more sustainable by reducing drinking water per capita, instituting charging stations for electric vehicles, passed green building laws, and adopted an environmental society to monitor all these areas, and continue growing and adding onto this system.
  • Chernobyl

    Chernobyl
    The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear power plant that had a reactor on it that went out of control and exploded which destroyed the nuclear plant and radiation was released. Afterwards the government got a cleanup crew and made it mandatory that all RBMK reactors were upgraded to prevent them from going out of control.
  • Fifth Billion (Population)

    Fifth Billion (Population)
  • Sixth Billion (Population)

    Sixth Billion (Population)
  • Oceana

    Oceana
    Oceana was founded with the goal of creating scientific experiments and solutions to pollution, and issues with our oceans. They are one of the world's largest advocacy groups for the oceans, and they were founded in Washington D.C.
  • Tehri Dam Conflict

    Tehri Dam Conflict
    In India government officials wanted to build a dam in the Bhagirathi River. But environmentalist created many different groups to protest this damn, due to the it being in a highly seismic zone, and it was going to be built connected to the mountains which did not have great integrity.
  • Kyoto

    Kyoto
    Summary description: The Kyoto protocol was a law that “operationalizes the UNFCCC.” This law was important because it caused people to understand what climate change was doing to earth. The law made it, so the industrialized countries had to put limits on greenhouse gases and make laws on mitigation.
  • An Inconvenient Truth released.

    An Inconvenient Truth released.
    A movie that was released about global warming is real and it is catastrophic and caused by humans. This film helped raise awareness of global warming and it caused people to do things like riding bikes instead of cars to prevent global warming from happening
  • Seventh Billion (Population)

    Seventh Billion (Population)
  • Fridays for Future

    Fridays for Future
    UNICEF partnered with Fridays for Future which involves youth climate activists and their plans and activities for raising awareness for climate change and the environment. This was implemented in response to rising global temperatures and it gives youths an opportunity to get involved in a global issue.
  • Eight Billion (Population)

    Eight Billion (Population)
  • Court Orders Shell To Cut Emissions By Nearly Half

    Court Orders Shell To Cut Emissions By Nearly Half
    After many protests in the Netherlands against emissions, the court finally ruled against Shell which is one of the largest gasoline producers in world. They stated that by 2030 they will have cut their production down by 50%. This event shows the great impact our judicial systems can have on saving the environment.