Post on 12-Nov-2014
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Welcome to the Timeline of Environmental History. The concept came to me in a dream in 1999 and became a class project in webpage design. The history of humans and their relationship with nature goes back to the dawn of civilization. I chose 1830 as the beginning of this timeline because it shows how long it took us to reach the first billion people on earth. The span between each successive billion gets shorter and shorter each time. Follow the links on the right for more info on each subject. Any comments can be emailed to me at sher<at>kipukagraphics.com if you change the <at> symbol to the correct character. You can also visit my website at www.kipukagraphics.com.
1830
World Population reaches 1 Billion
It took us millions of years to get here.
World Population Clock
1869
The term "ecology" is
coined by German zoologist Haeckel
Ernst Heinrich Haeckel
1872
Yellowstone, the First National Park Created
In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant
signed a law declaring that
Yellowstone would forever be
"dedicated and set apart as a public
park or pleasuring ground for the
benefit and enjoyment of the
people."
Yellowstone history page
1892
Sierra Club Founded
Sierra Club founded on May 28 with 182 charter members. John Muir elected
first President. In its first conservation campaign, Club leads effort to
defeat a proposed reduction in the boundaries of
Yosemite National Park.
www.sierraclub.org
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1905
National Audubon Society Founded
Audubon's mission is to conserve and
restore natural ecosystems,
focusing on birds, other wildlife, and
their habitats for the benefit of humanity
and the earth's biological diversity.
www.audubon.org
1916
National Park Service Founded
"There is created in the Department of the Interior a service to be called the National Park Service, which shall be under the charge of a director....The service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations.
www.nps.gov
1914
Passenger Pigeon Becomes Extinct
Martha, the last living specimen,
died in the Cincinnati
Zoological Garden, September 1, 1914.
information on passesnger
pigeons
1930
World Population Reaches 2 Billion
100 years since 1 Billion reached
World Population Program
1935
The Wilderness Society Founded
Spirited people protecting America's
Wilderness since 1935 through the
potent combination of science,
advocacy and education.
www.wilderness.org
National Wildlife
The mission of the National Wildlife
Federation (NWF) is to educate, inspire,
and assist individuals and
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1936
Federation Founded
organizations of diverse cultures in conserving wildlife and other natural resources and to protect Earth’s environment in
order to achieve a peaceful, equitable
and sustainable future.
www.nwf.org
1947
Defenders of Wildlife Founded
Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of
all native wild animals and plants
in their natural communities.
www.defenders.org
1951
The Nature Conservancy Founded
The mission of The Nature
Conservancy is to preserve the plants, animals and natural
communities that represent the
diversity of life on Earth by protecting
the lands and waters they need to
survive.
www.nature.org
1960
World Population Reaches 3 Billion
Only 30 years since 2 Billion reached
Population by Country
1961
World Wildlife Fund Founded
WWF's mission is the conservation of nature. Using the
best available scientific knowledge and advancing that knowledge where
we can, we work to preserve the diversity and
abundance of life on Earth and the health
of ecological systems.
www.wwf.org
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson is Published
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which in 1962 exposed the
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1962
hazards of the pesticide DDT,
eloquently questioned
humanity's faith in technological progress and
helped set the stage for the
environmental movement.
information about Rachel Carson
1963
Limited Test Ban Treaty Signed by US, USSR and UK
info on Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
1964
Wilderness Act Public Law 88-577
September 3, 1964
To establish a National Wilderness
Preservation System for the
permanent good of the whole people,
and for other purposes.
Wilderness Act
1965
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Established
The Smithsonian Environmental
Research Center (SERC) leads the Nation in research on linkages of land
and water ecosystems in the coastal zone, and provides society
with knowledge to meet critical
environmental challenges in the
21st century.
SERC website
1965
Environmental Groups Gain Legal Ground in Court
For the first time, a conservation group had been permitted to sue to protect the
public interest.
It began with the announcement in
1963 by New York's utility company, Consolidated
Edison, of plans to build a power plant
on Storm King Mountain near the
Hudson River...
Storm King Mountain Case
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1966
Endagered Species Act
Inspired by the plight of the whooping crane, Congress passes the
Endangered Species Preservation Act.
The law authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make a list of endangered domestic fish and wildlife and allows the Fish & Wildlife
Service to spend up to $15 million per
year to buy habitat for listed species.
Endangered Species Act
1967
Evironmental Defense Fund Founded
Environmental Defense is a leading national nonprofit organization
representing more than 400,000 members.
Since 1967, we have linked science,
economics and law to create innovative, equitable and cost-
effective solutions to society's most
urgent environmental
problems.
Evironmental Defense Fund
1968
The Population Bomb by
Paul R. Ehrlich is Published
The Population Bomb sold many copies and raised
the general awareness of
population and environmental
issues.
Information About The Population
Bomb
1968
Population Connection
Founded as ZPG
Population Connection Link
On the afternoon of January 29, 1969, an environmental nightmare began in Santa Barbara, California.
Santa Barbara Oil Spill
1969
Friends of the Earth Founded
Friends of the Earth defends the
environment and champions a
healthy and just
Friends of the Earth
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world.
1969
Cuyahoga River Fire
On June 23, 1969, Cleveland's oily, contaminated Cuyahoga River caught
fire. Flames climbed as high as five stories until fireboats brought it under
control.
The fire was attributed to wastes
dumped into the river by the waterfront
industries. The publicity
embarrassed local government mightily; the
increasingly mocked Cuyahoga river,
under the "burn on" spotlight, was
poster-child for federal clean water
legislation which followed.
Cuyahoga River Fire
1970
First Earth Day Celebrated on April 22, 1970
Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin was disturbed that
an issue as important as our environment was not addressed in politics or by the
media, so he created the first Earth Day. An
estimated 20 million people nationwide attended festivities
that day.
The History of Earth Day
1970
Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA Created by
President Richard Nixon
July 9, 1970 Special Message from the President to the Congress
About Reorganization
Plans to Establish the Environmental Protection Agency and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
EPA History
NOAA
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1970
Clean Air Act
Establishing National Ambient
Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS). The law requires that EPA
identify and set standards for
pollutants identified as harmful to
human health and the environment.
Clean Air Act
1971
Greenpeace Founded
Greenpeace is a non-profit organisation, with a presence in 40 countries across
Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
As a global organisation, Greenpeace
focuses on the most crucial worldwide
threats to our planet's biodiversity and environment.
Greenpeace.org
1972
Clean Water Act
established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into
the waters of the United States.
It gave EPA the authority to
implement pollution control programs such as setting
wastewater standards for
industry.
Clean Water
1972
Negative Population Group Founded
NPG is a national membership organization
founded in 1972 to educate the
American public and political leaders
about the detrimental effects
of overpopulation on our environment,
resources and quality of life.
www.npg.org
1973
Green Party Founded in the U.S.
A U.S. group has existed since 1973; the Green party of the United States
was officially formed
www.greenparty.org
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in 2001 from the Association of State
Green Parties.
1973
Cousteau Society is Founded
Educating people to understand, to love and to protect the water systems of the planet, marine
and fresh water, for the well-being of
future generations.
www.cousteau.org
1973- 1974
Oil Embargo in the U.S.
President Nixon, as part of his ill-fated price control program, had slapped
controls on oil in March 1973. The U.S., which had been self-sufficient in energy as recently as 1950, was now importing
some 35% of its energy needs.
U.S. petroleum reserves were nearly gone.
Governments, corporations and individuals were
entirely unprepared for what would happen next.
Oil Crisis 1973
1974
World Population Reaches 4 Billion
Only 14 years since 3 Billion reached
Population Counter
1976
Earthtrust Founded
Earthtrust is a conservation-
advocacy group, dedicated to
protecting wild species.
www.earthtrust.org
1978
Residents Evacuated from their homes at Love Canal, NY
On August 7, 1978, United States
President Jimmy Carter declared a
federal emergency at the Love Canal a
former chemical landfill which
became a 15-acre neighborhood of the
City of Niagara Falls, New York.
Info on Love Canal
Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Accident
On March 28, 1979 Reactor 2 at the
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1979
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant
suffered a partial meltdown.
Info on Three Mile Island
1982
International Whaling Commission Moratorium on Commercial Whaling
In 1982, the International
Whaling Commission (IWC) passed a worldwide
moratorium on commercial whaling
in response to declining whale
populations. The moratorium took effect in 1985/86.
www.iwc.org
1984
Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal, India Leaks Toxic Fumes
On the night of Dec. 2nd and 3rd, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India,
began leaking 27 tons of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate.
Half a million people were exposed to the
gas and 20,000 have died to date as
a result of their exposure.
Info on Bhopal Accident
1985
Hole in Ozone Layer Discovered over Antarctica
In 1985, Joseph Farman, Brian Gardiner, and Jonathan Shanklin discovered in the ozone hole over
Antarctica.
In the following two years, scientists confirmed that
human-produced chemicals,
chlorofluorocarbons, used in refrigeration
and propellant devices, were
causing the hole.
Info on Ozone Hole
1986
Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Meltdown, Ukraine
On April 25th -26th, 1986 the World's
worst nuclear power accident occurred at
Chernobyl in the former USSR (now
Ukraine).
Info on Chernobyl
Rails to Trails Founded
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1986
Creating a nationwide network of trails from former
rail lines and connecting corridors
to build healthier places for healthier
people.
www.railtrails.org
1987
World Population Reaches 5 Billion
Only 13 years since 4 Billion reached
US Census Link
1989
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska, March 24, 1989
The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the most devastating environmental disaster to
occur at sea in U.S. history.
Its remote location (accessible only by helicopter and boat) made government
and industry response efforts
difficult, and severely taxed
existing plans for response. The
region is a habitat for salmon, sea
otters, seals, and sea birds.
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
1991
Captain Planet Foundation Created
The mission of the Captain Planet Foundation is to fund and support
hands-on environmental
projects for children and youths.
Captain Planet Foundation
1991
The National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence Created
The National Defense Center for
Environmental Excellence
(NDCEE) was established in 1991, with the directive to serve as a national
leadership organization to
address high priority environmental
problems for the Department of
Link to NDCCEE
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Defense (DOD), other government organizations, and
the industrial community.
1991
Kuwait Oil Fires
Persian Gulf Disaster
In the waning days of the Persian Gulf War, as Iraqi forces
retreated to Baghdad, Saddam
Hussein sent a team of engineers into the Kuwaiti oil fields and blew up hundreds of wells.
Unignited oil from the wells formed
about 300 oil lakes that contaminated around 40 million tons of sand and
earth.
Oil Fires of Kuwait
1992
First Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro June 3-14, 1992
The two-week Earth Summit was the
climax of a process, begun in December 1989, of planning,
education and negotiations among all Member States
of the United Nations, leading to
the adoption of Agenda 21, a wide-ranging blueprint for
action to achieve sustainable
development worldwide.
Earth Summit
1997
American Kenaf Society Formed
Conservative estimates indicate that at least one out of every three trees harvested today ends up as pulp. Ancient forests are often the victims.
The American Kenaf Society (AKS) was founded in 1997 as a non-profit organization and is international in scope. Members include individuals and organizations working directly or indirectly with kenaf and kenaf-based products, plus those with environmental concerns.
Tree-Free Paper
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Presented to you by Kipuka Graphics
1999
World Population Reaches 6 Billion
Only 12 years since 5 Billion reached
World Census Link
2002
Earth Summit Johannesburg
Link to Earth Summit
2010
Projected World Population Will Reach 7 Billion
World Population Clock
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