AP Environmental ScienceTimeline

August 2013

What are some ecological lessons we can learn from past events?

What events strike a chord with you? Why?

In the past, individuals could often affect huge change. Do you think individuals can have the same impact in today’s world? Why?

Why do we study the environment?

History and Purpose

Environmental issues have always been a part of human

historyThere is a lack of historical perspective about environmental history

As a result, we see modern environmental issues in the media without context

In the absence of history, myths emerge such as:

•Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” started the environmentalism movement•Environmentalism is just an hysterical over-reaction to science and technology (or “progress”)•Environmentalism is a passing fad with no serious ideas to offer•Environmentalism is a substitute for religion•Environmentalism is anti-business or economic growth

What are some ecological lessons we can learn from past events?

What events strike a chord with you? Why?

In the past, individuals could often affect huge change. Do you think individuals can have the same impact in today’s world? Why?

Three “revolutions” are significant in the development of environmental

science1. Agricultural Revolution

2. Industrial-Medical Revolution3.Information-Globalization Revolution

Agricultural RevolutionGradual move from nomadic lifestyle of hunter-gatherers to the farming of domesticated animals and plants

Started about 10,000 years ago

Led to human population growth

Can you explain why???

Ancient Times Air pollution from wood burning, dust, tanneries, sewage

Water pollution from dumping sewage and garbage

Deforestation with the rise of Greek and Italian civilizationstart to rely on passive solar heating more

Soil conservation practiced in China, India, and Peruerosion a problem in hilly regions

Sewer system in Babylonia, c. 2,000 BCE

Mummy with particulate pollution preserved in lungs

1300s - The Middle AgesPlaque devastates Europe in 1300s development of a public health system

Parliament passes an act forbidding the throwing of filth and garbage into ditches, rivers and waters in the 1300sfirst urban sanitary laws in EnglandEngraving showing dumping (and

“dumping” into waterways in 1300s England

Quick Think

What type of pollution was recognized early on as

being a threat to human health?

Is this type of pollution still a problem?

1600s - RenaissanceDeforestation for building and fuel in England, France, Germany in 1600s leave large areas bareSwitch to the use of coal for fuel

1598 - Discovery of the dodo on the island of Mauritius. It was extinct by 1700.

1666 - Japan’s shogun warns of erosion and floodingorders people to plant trees

1690 - William Penn requires settlers in Pennsylvania to preserve 1 acre of trees for every 5 acres they clear

1700s – Enlightenmentbeginning of the industrial-medical

revolution

1760s - Benjamin Franklin and others attempt to regulate waste disposal and water pollution in Philadelphia

1780 - Jeremy Bentham “The question is not, Can they reason? Nor Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?” advocates for animal welfare

Thomas Malthus (1798)Predicted that exponential population growth would

outpace linear food production, which leads to starvation

Quick Think

Industry and medicine are considered good things by

most people (and they are!).

Why might these two things contribute to environmental

problems?

1800s – Industrial AgeFirst Health Inspectors

1804 - John Pintard, first Health Inspector in U.S. appointed in New York in response to epidemics of yellow fever. From 1810 - 1838,

health inspectors are a branch of the police department with duties including environmental sanitation, vital statistics and law

enforcement.

1827 - James Audubon1827 - John James Audubon begins work on his illustrated book,

Birds of America. His work arouses interest in wildlife conservation

1845 - Irish Potato Famine1845 - Irish Potato famine begins. Over 1.5 million people die of

starvation and associated disease by 1849 and another million people emigrate from Ireland, mostly for America.

1845- Henry David ThoreauBelieved in being simple and self sufficient.

Author of Walden or, Life in the Woods

1852 - Mother of the

ForestA giant sequoia tree 300

feet high, 92 feet in circumference and about 2,500 years old - is cut

down for display in carnival sideshows. The

tree was in what will become Yosemite

National Park. Public opinion is aroused by the

act.

1858 - Central Park

designed byFrederick Law Olmstead for the enjoyment of nature by

city dwellers

1863 First Explanation of the Greenhouse effect - John Tyndall explains in a lecture to the British Royal Society entitled On Radiation Through the

Earth’s Atmosphere.

1872 - Yellowstone National Park

First National Park, created by Ulysses S. Grant

Quick Think

How are individuals shaping the way people think about and respond

to the environment during the 1800s?

1880 - London fogCoal Burning brought a toxic fog that came over London with

high levels of sulfur dioxide, killing thousands of people

1881 - Acid Rain- Norway tracks first signs of acid rain on its

western coast (Mongillo, 2001)

1890 - Yosemite National Park

and General Grant national parks are authorized by Congress. Sequoia National Park also established Sept. 25

1891 - Forest Reserve Act

passes Congress. Over 17.5 million acres set aside by 1893.

1892 - Sierra ClubJohn Muir founded the Sierra Club. He founded the club in order for

us to explore and enjoy nature, but at the same time, protect it

1894 First Predictions of Global Warming due to

CO2

- Svante August Arrhenius - The Nobel-prize winning chemist was the first to predict global warming from fossil fuel induced CO2 buildup.

1900 - Wild buffalo population

drops to fewer than 40 animals from an estimated 30 million a century beforehand. Most are killed in the years just after the Civil War, when the US

Army hopes to remove the buffalo in order to move Indians onto reservations.

Quick ThinkOn the one hand, we have air pollution,

the destruction of entire species, and acid rain.

On the other hand, we have the creation of national parks, forest reserves, and clubs dedicated to preserving nature.

Why do you think we can be so split in how we manage the environment?

Do you think people are still this way?

1900 Lacey actThe Lacy Act passed to prevent people from killing

game birds in one state and selling in another

1901-1909 - Theodore Roosevelt

A conservationist who was the 1st Environmental President. He started the Golden Age of Conservation.

1903 Pelican islandPresident Theodore Roosevelt creates first National Bird Preserve, (the beginning of the Wildlife Refuge system), on Pelican Island, Florida.

1905 forest service est. Grifford Pinchot believed in using the forests, but also protecting them for future generations, utilizing the resources wisely. The

Forest Service is used to administer the national forests.

1906 - Antiquities Act

- Devil’s Tower National Monument, Wyoming, becomes the first National Monument followed by Petrified Forest National Monument,

Arizona, the next year

1914 - Passenger Pigeons extinct

- Sept. 1 “ Martha,” the last captive passenger pigeon, dies in the Cincinnati zoo. 

1934-1940 Dust bowlA drought combined with poor farming techniques

led to the soil depleting and starvation.

1937 Gas leak kills school children

Leaking natural gas from nearby oilfields devastates a school in New London, Texas, killing at least 295 students and teachers.

1939 St. Louis SmogSmog is so thick that lanterns are needed during

daylight for a week.

1940 - Bambi1940 - Walt Disney produces the classic anti-hunting film Bambi1941- Dumbo the first influential screen expose of circus elephant training1955 - Lady & The Tramp offers a starkly desolate depiction of dogs on death row at the pound1959 - 101 Dalmatians, blamed by furriers for flattening fur sales1964 - Mary Poppins includes the earliest film depiction of fox hunt sabotage 1960s - 3 pro-coyote documentaries and cartoon features released when official U.S. government policy was to try to eradicate the species. 1981 The Fox & The Hound - anti-hunting 1993 - Beauty And The Beast - anti-hunting 1990 - The Rescuers Down Under 1999 - Bear-baiting is vividly depicted in Pocahontas II.

1948 Donora, Pennsylvania Smog

The first major air quality disaster. The weather trapped toxic fumes and it moved into the city, killing 20 people and making 7,000 ill

1949 Sand County Almanac

The author, Aldo Leopold wrote about living on the land, he told us that we should treat the land ethically.

1950 Poza Rica Smogkiller smog incident leaves 22 dead, hundreds hospitalized in Mexico.

The killer smog was caused by gas fumes from an oil refinery.

1952 London smogCoal burning was producing smoke, and unusual weather patterns

trapped the toxic smoke and brought it into the city killing thousands

1953 Minamata, JapanA chemical factory was dumping mercury into a nearby bay, which led

into the sea and contaminated the fish with mercury. Many people died because of the poisoning. Birth defects were common.

1962 Silent SpringRachel Carson cautioned about pesticides, and DDT. She is

the mother of the Environmental Science movement.

1965-1969 Pollution of Lake EerieThe lake was polluted badly due to runoff and dumping

"We have met the enemy and he is us"

1968 The Population Bomb

Paul Ehrlich - A book that explained the phenomenon of too many people with not enough resources to provide for them, which will

eventually lead to famine

1968 Tragedy of the commons

Influential essay about shared resources that are common and not managed equitably

1969 Ohio Cuyahoga river fire

The river was so badly polluted it caught on fire

1969 National Environmental Policy Act

1st comprehensive Environmental Law. No construction if it negatively affects the environment.

1970 Clean Air ActSets limits for air pollutants

1970 EPA establishedNixon established the EPA

1970 first earth dayApril 22nd

1971 - US whaling endsafter US Secretary of Interior Walter Hickel put

whales on the endangered species list.

1972 Clean water actRegulated pollution in water, it sets maximum

limits in drinkable water.

Quick ThinkAfter many environmental tragedies that harmed

thousands of people, laws were created to help protect people and ensure they had access to safe

water and clean air. Laws were also created to preserve and protect wildlife.

Do you think it was necessary to pass laws (that come with penalties) in order to get people and companies

to “do the right thing”?

1973 OPEC oil embargoThey stopped shipping the US oil, diminishes the US oil

Alaskan oil pipeline approved later that year

1975 - Banqiao Dam in China collapses

after extremely heavy rains from Typhoon Nina. The official death toll (released in 2005) was 26,000 people - the largest loss of life from a dam failure in history.(Some unofficial estimates place it as high as 230,000.) An additional 145,000 people died in subsequent

epidemics and famine.

1978 Love CanalHousing development built on a toxic waste landfill for the Hooker Chemical Company. Many people were sick or killed

1979 Three Mile IslandLocated in Pennsylvania, partial nuclear meltdown

1984 Bhopal, IndiaWorld’s worst industrial disaster - gases leaked out of factory and

killed thousands of people. The Union Carbide Pesticide Plant.

1985 - Pesticide PoisoningA total of 1,350 cases of poisoning from aldicarb pesticide seeping into watermelons

reported in California, in addition to another 692 cases in eight other states and Canada. Seventeen are hospitalized, and six deaths and two stillbirths are reported.

1986 ChernobylAt Chernobyl, reactor 4 exploded, and a plume of toxic gases

spurred and became the world’s worst nuclear explosion.

1987 Montreal ProtocolTreaty designed to protect the ozone layer. Single most successful international agreement. Banned the use of CFCs among others.

1989 Exxon ValdezOne of the worst disasters that occurred at sea. An oil tanker

struck a reef in Alaska spilling millions of gallons into the ocean.

1991 First Carbon Tax

Sweden is first nation to enact a carbon tax.

1997 Kyoto ProtocolTreaty to stabilize the greenhouse gases, contributing to an effort

to stop global warming. The United States has not signed on

2000 - Inez, Kentucky Slurry Dam Collapse

Massey Energy Co. The spill destroyed 100 miles of streams and killed millions of fish

2010 Deep Water HorizonThe BP oil spill, the biggest accidental spill in

history

2011 Fukushima, JapanHuge radiation triggered after a nuclear reactor exploded

due to an earthquake that triggered a tsunami.

What are some ecological lessons we can learn from past events?

What events strike a chord with you? Why?

In the past, individuals could often affect huge change. Do you think individuals can have the same impact in today’s world? Why?