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1962 Silent Spring
Birth of modern environmental movement.
1970s Ecuador Oil Spill
For 30 years Texaco/Chevron repeatedly dumped oil formation water into waterways throughout the Ecuadorian Amazon.
1972 DDT Banned
Studies proved that pesticide residue was responsible in dramatic decline of multiple species of birds including Eagles, Condors, Osprey, Pelicans.
1972 Clean Water Act
Established a national commitment to restore and protect the nation's waters, stopping billions of pounds of pollution from fouling the water, and dramatically increasing the number of waterways that are safe from swimming and fishing.
1972 Endangered Species Act Passed
First Dam halted to save the small, unphotogenic Snail Darter.
1976 Love Canal
Became the subject of international attention after it was discovered that the site of a housing development near Niagara Falls, NY, had been used to bury 21,000 tons of toxic waste by Hooker Chemical in the 40s & 50s.
1979 NYC Garbage Strike
Regime of mayor Ed Koch ignored the AIDS crisis and let NYC abandon thousands of low income apartments to condemnation for the profit of developers.
1979 Nicaraguan Revolution
Implementation low intensity confict using Contra Mercenaries, ushering in endless US Wars of aggression.
1980 Cold War
Ronald Reagan elected, breeding a climate of fear and Permanent War Economy.
1981 Genetically Engineered Life Patented at Yale
in which life forms are established as property.
1984 Bhopal Spill
Union Carbide leak in India kills untold thousands when Methyl Isocyante gas escapes, company denies responsibility in lengthy legal battle.
1985 Westway Defeated
Proposal for intrusive ecologically devastating superhighway defeated, NYC breathes.
1986 Sandoz Chemical Spill in Switzerland
Chemical companies dump simultaneously to avoid detection in distracted months after Chernobyl, turning Rhine River red.
1989 Exxon Valdez Spill
Alaska site of worst oil tanker leak to date, damaging fragile ecology of arctic shore region.
1993 NAFTA
Bad trade policy initiates race to find most exploited workers in the hemisphere, assaulting the cultures of indigenous peoples throughout Mexico and Latin America.
1995 Death of Ken Sarowiwa, environmental activist
Hanged by Nigerian government at the request of Shell Oil, for the crime of speaking out about oil pollution in the Niger Delta.
2003-5 Avian Flu
Fear of bird flu precipitates mass killings of Asian poultry in PR search for a clean brand.
2005 Katrina
City of New Orleans becomes poster child for Environmental Racism & Global Warming.
2010 BP Spill
Gushing for 87 days, the largest marine oil spill in history with Corexit chemicals added to further contaminate and complicate response.
2010 Temporary Moratorium on Fracking in NYS
Horizontal Hydro Fracking held at bay by groundswell of protest.
2011 Escalating Elephant slaughter
Poaching epidemic of African elephants by unprecedented use of assault weapons and poisoning, 22,000 killed in one year alone as numbers climb every year.
2011 Fukushima Daiichi
Three nuclear reactors melt down, after earthquake, ending the 60 year myth that nuclear power could create safe, cheap power.
2011 Occupy Wall Street
Surge in awareness of global inequality and how these issues transcend borders—for me it resonated as a green consciousness movement, finally connecting the environment with the forces of global capital.
2012 Hurricane Sandy Hits Home
Category 3 “Super Storm” devastates Mid Atlantic region, exceeding predicted 500 yr storm flooding.
2012 Massive Migration Crisis
Massive migration crisis due to drought and war by climate refugees increases in visibility worldwide escalating for years, becomes more visible. Primarily form sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America hundreds of millions of people on the move seeking food and shelter. Many are internally displaced, they are less visible internationally.
2013 Belo Monte Dam
Construction started 2013. Struggle ongoing and escalating, becomes increasingly visible globally. Enormous network of dams which will flood vast acres of rainforest—pushing indigenous people off their land and creating magnitude of methane gas as the forest is flooded.
2013 Runaway Oil Train
Lac-Megantic Quebec train with no humans aboard incinerates a small town in rural Quebec killing at least 47 people in their sleep.
2014 Flint Michigan Water Crisis
Ongoing struggle to achieve safe drinking water for people who have been caught in the web of politics and globalization.
2016 Bee Colony Collapse
Bee Colony Collapse first identified in 2006 becomes news in 2016. Significant because it threatens the food security of every nation.
2016 Standing Rock
Dakota Access pipeline action, grassroots movement comes to national attention to stop the pipelines which are necessary to bring out tar sands oil from Canada, crossing beneath Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, on indigenous sacred grounds that are owned by Sioux Tribe. Laws regarding peaceful protest are rewritten to prosecute anyone in the way as a threat to the nation's interest.
2017 Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria incapacitates Puerto Rico.
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2018 Toxic Tide in Florida
Unprecedented toxic algae kills vast numbers of coastal species including the big charismatic mammals which are already in decline.
2018 Last White Rhino Dies
Loss of the last Northern White Rhino (named Sudan) in Kenya. Going forward captive breeding and genetic engineering become the accepted way we think about wildlife.
2018 Drowning Nations
Visibility of drowning nations and connection to fossil fuels—Maldives, Marshall Islands and others. International awareness starts 2010, UN Commission 2018. Besides specific nations, cultures and islands, rising sea levels become visible in Southeast Asia nations of Bali, Indonesia, India, China and others.
2018 Plastics Pollution
Ongoing since 1960. Choking oceans and rivers with single use plastic products.
2018 Monsanto Verdict
A jury for the Superior Court of California ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million to school district groundskeeper, because of Roundup’s likely role in contributing to his cancer. As a result, the number of glyphosate lawsuits against Monsanto has ballooned to more than 8,700 cases.
2019– Burning Amazon Rainforest
More than 80,000 fires in the Amazon in 2019, up 75% over the previous year. Brazilian far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, pledges to open the Amazon up to business, to make it easier for soy, cattle, timber, and mining companies to raze swaths of forest. Expected to increase in 2020.
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2019–2020 Australian Wildfires
Australian wildfires destroy millions of acres of land and over one billion animals, threatening extinction for countless species due to loss of habitat and genetic diversity.
2019 Green New Deal
Congressional resolution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst consequences of climate change while also trying to fix societal problems like economic inequality and racial injustice. It also aims to create new good paying jobs in clean energy industries.
2020– Covid-19 Pandemic
Pandemic shifts global attention away from pressing issues of climate change as governments play catch up to the fast moving virus. But action on climate change cannot wait.
2020 Pipeline Shutdown
Federal judge orders Dakota Access pipeline to be shut down in a stunning defeat for the oil industry and momentous win for American Indian tribes and opponents of fossil fuel expansion in the US.
2023 Hawaii Wildfire
Hawaiian Wildfire in Lahaina, Maui. Long before the town of Lahaina was engulfed by Maui's devastating wildfires on August 8, the area was full of small coastal wetlands, but in the years following colonization, agriculture and development has diverted and drained water from the land surrounding the historic town, leaving patches of invasive plants and dried grasses. The deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in over a century, winds from Hurricane Dora exacerbated the firestorm as it rapidly spread, destroying thousands of homes, claiming 102 lives and leaving upwards of 5,000 people homeless.
2024 Microplastics
A team of European researchers discovered microplastic particles in sediments dating back as early at 1733 demonstrating microplastics' ability to infiltrate even environments untouched by modern humans. They made this alarming discovery after studying the sediment layers at three lakes in Latvia, as detailed in a study published in the journal Science Advances. The Anthropocene era had previously been defined as starting in 1950 as the time after which humans started having a large impact on our environment. Other than the study concluding that microplastics are a poor marker of geological age, it also shows microplastics' remarkable ability to get absolutely everywhere.
2024 Arctic Circle Hotter than Florida
On Wednesday 7th August the Arctic Circle was hotter than parts of Florida, with temperatures in Fort Mcpherson in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories in Canada reaching 95° while in Miami it was 91.5°. Although this occurrance is due to a weather phenomenon known as the Chinook Wind, its cause and magnification reflect an Artic which is rapidly warming.