ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY TIMELINE

http://www.runet.edu/~wkovarik/envhist/#

Based on this web site create a chart that identify main environmental problems during each time period.

Evolution of Environmental Problems

• 1st generation: point source air/water–Relatively easy to treat with

technology/investment • 2nd generation: non-point source, acid rain –Difficult to fix locally, regional cooperation

necessary• 3rd generation: global climate change, biodiversity

loss– Impossible to fix nationally, need global

government assistance

Environmental Movement in the USA

• The Conservation Movement

•Modern Environmental Movement

•Global Environmentalism

The Conservation Movement

• 1864 publication of Man and Nature by George Perkins Marsh (Concerns about the destruction and wasting of natural resources in the American West)

• Considered a founder of environmental science • Credited for beginning Conservation Movement • Largely because of the book, national forest

reserves were established To protect timber supplies & endangered watersheds

The Conservation Movement

• Two schools of thought• Utilitarian conservation: President Teddy Roosevelt

& Gifford Pinchot {forest should be saved to provide homes & jobs for people , resources should be used for the greatest good}

• Biocentric preservation: Emerson & john Muir {nature deserves to exist for its own sake}

• President Teddy Roosevelt established the framework of the national forest, park and wildlife refuge system

TRIVIA

When was the first national forest reserve established in the USA? What is the name?

March 1, 1872YELLOWSTONE

Modern Environmental Movement• 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring• Described how DDT entered the food chain and

accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals, including human beings, and caused cancer and genetic damage.

• Created new public awareness that nature was vulnerable to human intervention

• Considered by many to be the founder of the modern environmental movement

Modern Environmental Movement

Hallmarked by new techniques ACTION (Activism) & SOLUTION (Research) • (Activism) in the form of litigation,

intervention, publishing and use of media • (Research) establishing links between

science, technology and society • Formation of env groups , passage of new laws and

creation of governmental agencies

Global Environmentalism

• Wave of ecological concern combining environmental protection with social justice • Global village concept• One planet one home • Working together to achieve sustainable

development

In Class Activity Use any source to

• Define social justice • Define sustainable developmentAnswer these questions• What is a fair share of resources? • How do human rights relate to the

environment? • Why is sustainability the goal of

environmental science?

ANY QUESTIONS?