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Alternatives to meat have always been apart of the diets of many cultures. Tofu was invented in China at around 200 BCE, and in the Middle Ages, grapes and chopped nuts were used as a substitute for minced meat during Lent. Since the 2010's, companies such as Impossible Meat and Beyond Meat have made plant-based substitutes for foods such as ground beef, hot dogs, burgers, and chicken nuggets, making the thought of being vegetarian or vegan easier for most to fathom.
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David Attenborough is a British biologist and naturalist who has inspired many with his variety of nature documentaries. He is credited for bringing everyday people closer to nature and to the understanding of nature, and his legacy lives on through award-winning programs such as Life on Earth, Blue Planet, and Planet Earth.
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During this time, scientists developed varieties of typical crops that could yield much higher quantities, such as rice and wheat, in order to increase food production and decrease food insecurity. Norman Borlaug is considered a pioneer of this revolution, earning a Nobel Peace Price in 1970.
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Toxic waste was discovered in this small neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, due to the Hooker Chemical Company dumping chemicals in the 1940's and 1950's in this neighborhood. The problems surrounding toxic waste were first noticed by the neighborhood's new residents through streams of black liquid and unusual smells around the neighborhood's parks and playgrounds. Hundreds of people died and suffered from health problems, and the area remains a Superfund site protected by the government.
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The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987 and ratified in 1989, being nearly ratified by every possible party, and helping to protect the Earth's ozone layer and to decrease the usage of ODS (ozone-depleting substances.) It has significantly improved the way we consume certain types of resources, and it is estimated that by the middle of this century, ozone levels will return to pre-industrial levels.
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The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill occurred in 1989 in the Prince William Sound in Alaska, polluting 1,300 miles of shoreline. The spill exterminated wildlife including killer whales, otters, bald eagles, salmon, herring, and sea otters. Thousands of workers helped to clean up the spill and over $2.1 billion was provided by Exxon for its cleaning, and it remains the second largest oil spill in U.S. History.
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The Kyoto Protocol is crucial in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce our carbon footprint. When enforced in 2005, it set targets for signatory countries to reduce
their emissions, and in general it increased awareness of human impacts on the environment as well as helped the effort to make a positive impact. Although helpful to an extent, it became less relevant as time went on and was mostly replaced by the Paris Agreement of 2015. -
The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill occurred when the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank due to a blowout in the Macondo Well.
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The Tohuku earthquake and subsequent tsunami disabled the cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and damaged nearly all of the plant's backup power sources, triggering several explosions throughout the plant. These explosions caused 164,000 residents of the surrounding areas to be evacuated, including the entire town of Futaba, which was only recently resettled in limited areas. This disaster is considered a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.