The Environmental Era: 1980sLanny Cardero Jasmine Perez

1980•Residents in a small town in New York were relocated after being exposed to toxic waste not properly disposed of.• It was reported by the National Academy of Sciences that lead gasoline was the biggest source of lead pollution•Gasohol Competition Act of 1980allowed for Gasohol producers to have a better chance of competing against oil companies•Alaskan National Interest Lands Conservation Act was passed, allowing for creation or expansion of over 15 national parks in Alaska•Texaco drills into a mine under Lake Peigneur in Louisiana causing major damage.•PETA was founded

1981

•Current president George Bush decides to ignore evidence of potential health risk, and continue using leaded gasoline.•Costal Barrier Resources Act•Nuclear Waste Policy Act•Ocean Arks International founded by John Todd•A year after being created, PETA becomes the leading animal rights group in the United States

1982

•United Nations passed World Charter for Nature• States that “Nature shall be respected…” and people

must be aware of the cycles of the Earth for them not to be disturbed

•World Resources Institute founded, with the intention of protecting Earth and improving the lives of people•Earths Island Institute founded by David Brower. Spreads ideas of activism towards issues in the environment. Was able to make tuna 100% dolphin safe•Earth and Animal societies made in Korea and India, allowing for more areas of the world to research on pollution and the environment to help stop the problem.

1983

•United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)• Gave regulations for over 117 countries that signed on

their use of the ocean for things like business, to help the environment and marine life.

•Nation Academy of Science give false results on the depletion of the ozone layer, while the British Antarctica Survey station report increase of holes in the ozone.•Politicians in President Reagans cabinet had to resign because of the public displeasure of how anti-environment they were.

1984

•World Watch Institute published their first issue of “State Of The World”• Focused on the worlds most significant environmental

issues. •1984 marked the start of a decade suspension from Canadian offshore seal hunting and slaughtering in the Atlantic•Fertilizer that was improperly disposed of leaked into a town in India. Over 10,000 dead and another 10,000 injured. Also, food was contaminated, causing a shortage.•Maneka Ghandi started a animal rights group in almost every large city in India.

1985

•Large hole in the ozone was found lying right over Antarctica•Pesticide was leaked into watermelons, causing over 700 deaths, and over 10 still births.•Harmful substances leaked from a power plant leave over 100 hospitalized near West Virginia•Volcano eruption in Columbia cause mud flows which kill over 21,000 people•International River Networks was created to help stop the constructions of dams in the world.

1986

•A large cloud of carbon dioxide gas covers a town in Africa, killing 1,700 people, as well as destroying crops and trees in the area.•Safe Drinking Water Act• Banned use of lead components in waster systems

•International Whaling Commission• Banned capture of baleen and sperm whales

•A power plant in the Ukraine explodes, causing the over 2 thousand miles of land to be contamination, and radiation to be released into the world.

1987

•Montreal Protocol signed by 24 countries.• Agreement between countries, including major countries

such as US and Japan, to reduce usage of harmful chemicals that may harm the ozone

•Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act• Research on companies that were dumping plastic

materials into the ocean, and forbidding the action.•A study shows that in communities of a minority race is where a majority of toxic waste is being improperly disposed of.

1988

•Over 100 countries sign the Basel Convention• Made to reduce how much hazardous material is

moved between nation, especially through the ocean•NASA reports that the ozone layer was depleting faster than predicted years back.•Largest CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) producer (DuPont) pledges to stop using CFCs and to start using safer chemicals for their products•Many beaches on the east coast has to close because of improper disposal of medical waste.

1989

•US Department of Energy calculated that it could cost up to 92 billion dollars to clean up all the pollution made by producers of nuclear bombs.•Exxon Valdez oil explosion, leaking over 11 million galloons of oil into the shores of Alaska•Oil Spill by Khargo 5 near the Canary Islands•Europe agrees to stop the use of chemicals that harm the ozone and the environment.

Sources•http://radford.edu/~wkovarik/envhist/10eighties.html

•http://www.kyrene.org/schools/brisas/sunda.decade/1980.htm

•http://www.em.doe.gov/publications/timeline_the80s.aspx