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EARTH DAY TIMELINE

Introduction

Learn about major environmental events over the past 50 years

How to use this timeline:

Assign educational activities such as debates, creative writing tasks, art projects, or science experiments

Take action for Earth Day 2020!

1970

1970

1970-1974

1970

1972

1974

The conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden, in early June — is the first of a series of the world environmental conferences.

Millions gather across the United States for the first Earth Day, organized by Gaylord Nelson, former senator of Wisconsin, and Denis Hayes, a Harvard graduate student.

The environmental group Environmental Action distributes a poster of the “Dirty Dozen” which depicts 12 members of the US Congress who supported corporate interests over environmental and human health. This tactic has been imitated many times over to encourage voters to oust politicians who do not protect the environment.

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_earthday_1.html

http://www.environmentandsociety.org/tools/keywords/stockholm-declaration-1972-broadly-recognizes-global-environmental-issues

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_526704

1971

1973

World Conservation Union (IUCN) meeting drafts the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES).

The convention on Wetlands is signed in Ramsar, Iran. The international agreement to protect wetlands has 160 member-nations today and helps to protect nearly 2,000 wetland areas worldwide.

https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/text.php

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15398&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

1975-1979

1979

1977

1975

US scientist Wallace Broecker puts the term "global warming" into the public domain in the title of a scientific paper.

Three Mile Island accident, the most significant U.S. commercial nuclear disaster to date, occurs near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Through the Tbilisi Declaration, the world’s first intergovernmental conference on environmental education was organized by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in cooperation with the U.N. Environment Programme in Tbilisi, Georgia.

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/189/4201/460

https://www.gdrc.org/uem/ee/tbilisi.html

1976

1978

Brominated flame retardants replace PCBs as the major chemical flame retardant. Swedish scientists will notice these substances accumulating in human breast milk in 1998, with the first ban on use in the European Union in 2004.

A conservation ecology program in the western United States managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is established. The program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which established the first conservation ecology mandate for the BLM.

https://www.blm.gov/or/regulations/files/FLPMA.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115205/

1980

1980

1980-1984

1984

1982

US President Ronald Reagan says in his State of the Union Address, “Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it’s common sense.”

Environmental Justice activists protest polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) landfill in North Carolina, US. Here, Dr. Benjamin Chavis coins the term “environmental racism.”

https://www.epa.gov/history/quotations-about-environment

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/11/us/carolinians-angry-over-pcb-landfill.html

1983

Union Carbicide Co. fertilizer plant in India leaks methyl ico-cyanide, resulting in more than 19,000 deaths. This is known as the Bhopal disaster.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1142333/

Australia is hit by extreme weather phenomena and devastation, including one of the deadliest bushfires to date.

https://www.ffm.vic.gov.au/history-and-incidents/ash-wednesday-1983

1985-1989

1989

1985

1987

Antarctic ozone hole is discovered.

World population reaches 5 billion.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer enters into force on January 1, 1989. The international treaty phased out the many substances responsible for ozone depletion. Since 1987, the protocol has undergone five revisions in 1990 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen), 1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999 (Beijing).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1631071318301196

https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/population/index.html

https://www.state.gov/key-topics-office-of-environmental-quality-and-transboundary-issues/the-montreal-protocol-on-substances-that-deplete-the-ozone-layer/

1988

1986

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is established by two U.N. organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme to assess the “risk of human-induced climate change.

The Chernobyl disaster, the world’s worst nuclear power accident, occurs at a plant in the Ukraine.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/03/the-chernobyl-disaster-25-years-ago/100033/

https://www.ipcc.ch/about/

1990

1990

1990-1994

1994

1992

1990

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) enters into force.

Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage.

The Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, results in the adoption of The United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change,

the U.N. Convention on Biological

Diversity, and the U.N. Convention

to Combat Desertification.

https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-convention/what-is-the-united-nations-framework-convention-on-climate-change

https://www.earthday.org/history/

https://www.un.org/esa/earthsummit/

1991

1993

The Air Quality Agreement, an environmental treaty between Canada and the United States, was signed by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and American President George H. W. Bush.

Ice cores from Greenland show that past climate changes have occurred in as little as 10 years. The finding debunked previous hypotheses that climate changes only happened on very slow, long time frames.

https://www.nature.com/articles/364218a0

https://www.ijc.org/en/mission/air-quality-agreement

1995-1999

1999

1997

1995

The GEO-2000 is published.

It is part of the Global Environment Outlook project.

IPCC Second Assessment Report concludes that the balance of evidence suggests "a discernible human influence" on the Earth's climate.

Kyoto Protocol is adopted. Developed nations pledge to reduce emissions by an average of 5% by the period 2008-12, with wide variations on targets for individual countries. US Senate immediately declares it will not ratify the treaty.

https://www.nsf.gov/geo/adgeo/geo2000/geo_2000_full_report.jsp

https://archive.ipcc.ch/pdf/climate-changes-1995/ipcc-2nd-assessment/2nd-assessment-en.pdf

https://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol

1998

1996

Strong El Nino conditions combine with global warming to produce the warmest year on record.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification entered into force.

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/eln/rcnt.rxml

https://www.unccd.int/convention/about-convention/status-ratification

2000

2000

2000-2004

2004

2003

2000

The Plant Protection Act is introduced in the United States.

The 2004 Indian Ocean

earthquake and tsunami kills

nearly a quarter of a million

people.

Air and water pollution are still serious problems in many countries. This year’s Earth Day message is “Water for Life.”

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/PPAText.pdf

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/a-23-a-2003-04-17-1-1-83117072/121678.html

https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Ocean-tsunami-of-2004

2004

2001

DDT (dicholorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is banned as a pesticide worldwide under the Stockholm Convention.

Wangari Maathai wins Nobel Peace Prize for her work planting trees around Kenya,

the first African woman to receive this distinction.

https://www.panna.org/resources/ddt-story

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/facts/

2005-2009

2007

2005

Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and

Wilma cause widespread

destruction and environmental

harm to coastal communities in

the U.S. Gulf Coast region.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded jointly to the IPCC and U.S. Vice President Al Gore "for their efforts to build up and disseminate

greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such

change."

https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/history/

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/summary/

2007

2005

The European Union Emissions

Trading System is launched to

reduce greenhouse gas

emissions through a “cap and

trade” program.

The UNFCCC develops

an initiative called

REDD+ which focuses

on mitigation solutions

for reducing carbon

emissions for countries

experiencing rapid

deforestation.

https://climatepolicyinfohub.eu/eu-emissions-trading-system-introduction

https://redd.unfccc.int/

2010

2010

2010-2014

2014

2012

2010

IPCC releases its Fifth Assessment Report on the state of the climate, its impacts and the global solutions for climate mitigation and adaptation.

Arctic sea ice reaches a minimum extent of 3.41 million sq km (1.32 million sq mi), a record for the lowest summer cover since satellite measurements began in 1979.

Earth Day 2010 came at a time of great challenge for the environmental community to combat the cynicism of climate change deniers.

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2012/

https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar5/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/7618283/Earth-Day-2010-a-history-of-four-decades-of-environmental-campaigning.html

2013

2011

Sea winds bring massive air pollution from mainland China to Japan demonstrating that major national polluters are not the only ones who incur the damaging impacts.

Western black rhino goes extinct

due to poaching.

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/82535/smog-shrouds-eastern-china

https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/rhinoceros/african_rhinos/black_rhinoceros/

2015-2019

2018

2017

2015

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intent to withdraw the United States — the world’s second-largest emitter — from the Paris Agreement.

At COP 21 on December 12,2015 195 countries adopt the Paris Agreement, the world’s first international agreement to keep total anthropogenic global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius.

16-year-old Greta Thunberg

strikes outside of Swedish

Parliament to protest political

inaction on climate change.

Thunberg’s strikes further the

growing youth climate

movement through the Fridays

for Future youth strikes

worldwide.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-paris-climate-accord/

http://www.cop21paris.org/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greta-thunberg-photo-viral-again_n_5d85f07ae4b070d468cd3bb7

2018

2016

The IPCC releases its Special Report on 1.5 Degrees of Global Warming, which warns that the world has just twelve years to halve its emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The Paris Agreement is signed by 174 countries and the European Union in a ceremony at United Nations headquarters on Earth Day.

https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/

2020

What are we going to do in 2020?

At the end of 2020, nations will be expected to increase their national commitments to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The time is now to take action to tackle our climate crisis!

The enormous challenges – but also the vast opportunities – of acting on climate change have distinguished this issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary year.

https://www.earthday.org/take-action-now/

Designed by Next Interactive Presentations:

www.nextinterativa.com/

i

Photo Credits

2003: http://www.cagreens.org/alameda/city/gallery/earthday/0403earthday.html

2004: https://www.flickr.com/photos/isaacmao/765073/in/photolist-4VqV

2007: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/gore/facts/ and https://www.gaf.de/content/gaf-present-23rd-conference-parties-cop23

2010: http://archive.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/earth_day_2010.html

2011: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfra07/4641824922

2012: https://robertscribbler.com/2012/10/03/2012s-realization-of-the-end-of-arctic-sea-ice-the-tale-of-our-northern-cryospheres-last-days-in-words-images-and-numbers/

2013: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/82535/smog-shrouds-eastern-china

2014: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/

2015: https://corporateeurope.org/en/environment/2015/11/lobby-planet-paris-guide-corporate-cop21

2016: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/04/parisagreementsingatures/

2017: https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/World-reacts-to-Trumps-decision-to-withdraw-US-from-climate-agreement-425851773.html

2018: https://www.unpri.org/news-and-press/the-ipcc-special-report-on-15c-key-takeaways-for-pri-signatories-/3818.article and https://www.eurotopics.net/en/211145/greta-thunberg-s-controversial-protest

1986: https://www.flickr.com/photos/iaea_imagebank/5613115146

1987: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fircaulibrary%2Fearth-day-resources%2F&psig=AOvVaw1cDe8u1GjR9bBC15V9XJZB&ust=1585680976940000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCKCPuo3wwugCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

1988: https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/state-of-climate-2018-shows-accelerating-climate-change-impacts

1989: https://www.unenvironment.org/ozonaction/who-we-are/about-montreal-protocol

1991: https://ijc.org/en/who/role

1992: http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/2014/04/achievements-of-earth-summit.html

1993: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/climate-skeptic2.htm

1994: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unfccc/9917212873

1995: https://data.globalchange.gov/report/ipcc-sar-wg1

1996: https://www.environmental-expert.com/companies/united-nations-convention-to-combat-desertification-unccd-30034

1997: https://www.wired.com/2009/12/1211kyoto-climate-accord/

1998: https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/the-el-nino-of-19971998.html

1999: http://yabaha.net/dahl/earthw/geo2000.htm

2000: https://group17plantsandpeople.wordpress.com/2015/03/20/plant-protection-act-of-2000/

1970: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2020-2-march-april/editor/how-earth-day-launched-my-environmentalist-career

1971: https://tourduvalat.org/en/fondation-tour-du-valat/history-and-values/

1972: https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/dunche/dunche.html

1973: https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/text.php#

1974: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_526704

1975: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/grandfather-climate-science-leaves-final-warning-earth-n978426

1976: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_of_Critical_Environmental_Concern

1977: https://www.iucn.org/content/tbilisi35-celebrates-environmental-education-milestone

1978: https://www.slideshare.net/agkline/flame-retardants-4-2414

1979: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nuclear-accident-at-three-mile-island

1982: https://timeline.com/warren-county-dumping-race-4d8fe8de06cb

1983: https://www.flickr.com/photos/57768042@N00/4400643804

1984: https://www.epa.gov/history/quotations-about-environment and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1142333/

1985: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/Ozone

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