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Human population reaches 1 billion.
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Human population reaches 2 billion.
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A factory in Japan began contaminating the Minamata Bay with chemical waste of methylmercury, which biomagnified into the muscle tissue of local fish, spreading deadly disease to those who ate the fish. The disaster and disease showed to humanity that dilution of waste wasn’t the right solution, as the chemicals concentrated in the water and brought catastrophe.
[https://www.healthandenvironment.org/resources/resource-library/eh-history/mercury-the-tragedy-of-minamata-disease] -
Human population reaches 3 billion.
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Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a book combatting the use of DDT on crops and through arial dispersion, highlighting the fatal effects on various animals, as well as spreading disease to humans. The book caught heavy attention by influential figures. The information and attention gained by Silent Spring led to the banning of DDT in the U.S., as well as inspiring environmentalism and the EPA.
[https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/rachel-carson-silent-spring.html] -
The United Nations met in Stockholm to discuss environmental issues, making it the first world conference to prioritize the environmental harm as an important concern. The conference discussed and prioritizing the harm done to the environment and plans to manage it. The conference also lead to the United Nations Environment Programme, a program of the UN that brings attention to environmental issues and calls for action to fix them.
[https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/stockholm1972] -
The Endangered Species Act created protections for species, both plant and animal alike, that are listed as endangered. It ensures the safety of endangered species, implementing strategies to recover their populations and restrict possible threats. The act continues to preserve a multitude of threatened species that would otherwise go extinct without protection.
[https://www.fws.gov/law/endangered-species-act#:~:text=The%20Endangered%20Species%20Act%20establishes,Related%20Programs] -
Human population reaches 4 billion.
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The chemical contents of Love Canal leaked into the soil, basements, and sewage systems of Niagara County, New York. The chemicals caused long-term health problems in residents, and forced hundreds of families to move. The incident brought widespread awareness to the risks of waste dumps near human settlements, and resulted in numerous, strong attempts by the E.P.A. to ensure future hazardous waste is safely discarded.
[https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/aboutepa/love-canal-tragedy.html] -
In Bhopal, India, a pesticide factory accidentally emitted 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas into the city, killing roughly 38 hundred people immediately and bringing an early death for multiple thousands more. This showed that allowing countries to evolve industrially without also evolving their safety regulations would be disastrous, and brought upon multiple standards for preventatives and preparations for environmental disasters.
[https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1142333/] -
The Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine exploded with radiation, causing thousands of people, both from Chernobyl and the surrounding towns, were evacuated and relocated. While the incident inevitably brought fear and attention to the risks of nuclear energy and radiation, the site also became an ecological success, where nature and wildlife has taken back and grown over much of the site
[https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident], [] -
Human population reaches 5 billion.
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One of the few universally ratified treaties, the Montreal Protocol was created to combat the dangerous decay of the Ozone Layer. By prohibiting over 100 chemicals that were destroying the Ozone in the atmosphere, the Montreal Protocol was a complete success and has ensured the complete restoration of the Ozone by the mid 21st century, as well as combatting global warming.
[https://www.unep.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol] -
Human population reaches 6 billion.
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the Kyoto protocol focuses the United Nations’ efforts to fight climate change by creating and requesting cooperation with policies to reduce GHGs. The protocol has pressured industrialized and well-developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, measuring the reductions their policies bring and reporting them, as well as helping countries manage the negative consequences of climate change
[https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-kyoto-protocol] -
An Inconvenient Truth by Davis Guggenheim was a film documentary focused on former U.S. vice president Al Gore’s efforts to raise public awareness to global warming. The film made millions in the box office, becoming one of the highest grossing documentary films in the U.S. The film, through its success, built awareness to the issue internationally and further inspired the environmental movement.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Inconvenient_Truth] -
Human population reaches 7 billion.
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Human population reaches 8 billion.