-
Started when the Kellogg brothers created a plant-based meat alternative called "Protose". Other notable plant-based inventions such as the Gardenburger and the founding of beyond meat in 2009. This has been a large push for both people to eat healthier, and to protect the environment by stopping the mass farming of livestock.
https://www.foodunfolded.com/article/the-origin-of-meat-alternatives -
Between 1932 and 1968, Chisu, a plastics-maker dumped mercury into the nearby sea in Minamata. This not only destroyed the nearby marine life, but also had an undeniable effect on human lives, with the people of Minamata suffering from mercury poisoning through swimming in the water and eating poisoned fish. This is notable because it is a particularly early and obvious example of the devastating effects the damage to ecosystems can do to humans.
-
Earth day, now a large international holiday, was started by a United States senator in 1970 to raise awareness for the environment and the protection of our planet. It was sparked by the oil spill in 1969 in California. Now, it lead to the creation of the environmental protection agency, has only been growing bigger since its creation and has created multiple further events which have been able to change legislation. https://www.earthday.org/history/
-
The Gaia Hypothesis was a theory proposed that the world's ecosystems work as one larger entity, therefore establishing that we rely on the rest of the environment to thrive. This Hypothesis helped give reasons why the environment was so important to protect, and was an earlier stepping stone into the advocation for the environment we see now.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/gaia-hypothesis -
The Gulf war oil spill economically ruined the areas effected because it lead to heavy marine life loss and destruction of beaches and coasts near the area, decreasing fishing and tourism. https://www.environmentandsociety.org/tools/keywords/gulf-war-oil-spill-man-made-disaster
-
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of the most used and obvious signs of human pollution we know. When it was first discovered by Captain Charles Moore, and has since been used to help further the knowledge of how human waste moves through the ocean and has been used to represent how bad pollution and waste disposal has gotten.
https://theoceancleanup.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch/ -
The Kyoto Protocol was a UN charter passed in 1997, going into effect on 2005. Currently, 192 parties follow the Kyoto protocol. The Kyoto protocol is meant to help countries lessen their greenhouse gas emission through monitoring and the suggestion of policies to limit corporation's greenhouse gas pollution.
https://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol -
Greta Thumberg is one of the most known youth activists supporting the fight against climate change. She has done multiple speeches to government entities.
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit