This timeline will show a brief history of how the climate started to become negatively affected, how we as a society have attempted to change that, and recent developments that are vital to the environment's future.
1760 was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution which caused an increase in population and living standards. This led to more fumes and chemicals entering the atmosphere, and thus starting the deterioration of our environment.
Coal and other fossil fuels start to be burned in order to generate electricity, releasing carbon dioxide into the air. This is what started the "greenhouse effect".
Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish Nobel Price winner, was the first to predict the environment's rapid changes, specifically the extreme heating and cooling of the earth's future temperatures. Not surprisingly, the Swedish chemist said the reason for the changing temperatures was due to the rise in carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.
During this time period, America went through its own industrial revolution, bringing fertilizers and even more chemicals into the environment. What followed was two world wars where countries all over the globe were learning more about technology and harming the environment immensely in the process.
Recognition of the changing climate by the masses started in the 1960s. People started to see the changing temperatures and the affects of their everyday activities taking a toll on the environment. A big factor in the realization was Rachel Carson's New York Times bestselling book - Silent Spring - bringing the changing climate into the limelight. Gaylord Nelson, Senator of Wisconsin at the time and a part of the Democratic Party, came up with Earth Day in order to spread awareness about the importance of our environment. April 22, 1970 was the inaugural Earth Day.
When Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in 1981, environmentalists everywhere were most likely worried. As a conservative, Reagan cut the EPA's budget and appointed Ann Gorsuch as the new agency's administrator. She delayed the agency's progress and eventually resigned just two years into the job. William Ruckelshaus, the first ever EPA administrator, was appointed back to the position by Reagan. Ruckelshaus gave the agency relevancy once again but received mixed reviews throughout his second stint both from the left and right.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The IPCC receives a report from each country displaying their most recent scientific research regarding the environment. The IPCC's job is to be a reliable source to environmentalists, scientists, and anyone who wants to see the most recent developments regarding climate change.
At the time of the disaster, Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest and costliest hurricane on record. Hurricane Harvey, which occurred in the summer of 2017, is now tied with Katrina for that title. With the death toll nearing 2,000, the public was now talking about global warming and climate change more than ever. The main reason for the severity of the hurricane was because of the rising sea level, due to rising temperatures around the world.
Future president Donald Trump, known for his blatant honesty, tweeted about his opinion of climate change in late 2012. This has followed him throughout his presidential race and his presidency thus far.
In an effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions and keeping global temperatures from rising, every country in the world signed the Paris Agreement (Paris Climate Accord, Paris Climate Agreement). By signing the agreement, every country is obligated to finance and conduct certain efforts in order to slow down the rapidly changing climate.
President Trump, in the summer of 2017, stated that he was going to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. His reasoning was based on his belief that if the U.S. did stay in the agreement, we would be paying a ton of money and would be losing countless jobs. However, the Paris Agreement has a clause stating that if a country signed into the agreement (which the U.S. did), they would not be able to leave until 2020. With this being said, Trump states in an interview last month that he was open to keeping the U.S. in the agreement "under the right circumstances".
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