1959: Endangered Planet

Overview

Rising consumption patterns extract a huge toll on nature. Toxic contamination in Minamata and Love Canal and the Torrey Canyon and Amoco Cadiz oil slicks prompt public awareness about the planet's vulnerabilities, influenced by scientists including Rachel Carson and Paul Ehrlich. Following Earth Day in 1970 governments take resolute measures to mitigate pollution, such as through the Stockholm Conference as well as domestic measures like the Clean Air Act in the United States. Environmentalism emerges as a political force, championed by Greenpeace, Chipko and other organisations. In the 1980s new challenges emerge including global warming and acid rain, and the increasing size of industrial facilities make disasters like Bhopal and Chernobyl more deadly. Pressure was also being applied from newly developing countries. Interviewees include Lois Gibbs and Robert Hunter.