IB ESS Revision

1 Historical overview of the modern environment movement

  1. Modern environment movement started in the 1960s, but human impacts on their environment were still occurring b4 that time

    • Ex: Air & water pollution (Rome 14th C-16thC), waste management (Europe), soil conservation (China, India, and Peru 2000YO)

  2. Public activism wasn’t widespread b/c of those issues mentioned

Environmental managers

  • Own def: Ppl who protect nature so that they can allocate resources to humanity in a sustainable way

  • Txt book: Ppl who conserve nature to supply goods & services to humankind in a sustainable way

Deep & self-reliance ecologists

  • Own def: Ppl who conserve nature no matter what just for the spiritual value

  • Txt book: Ppl who believe in conserving nature unconditionally for its spiritual value

Who was involved?

Influential influencers:

  • Advocated through media to spark debates

    • Rachel Carson (Silent Spring)

Independent pressure groups:

  • Advocated through awareness campaigns often to get the attention of businesses organizations and government

  • AKA NGOs (non-governmental organizations)

Corporate businesses:

  • AKA MNCs (multinational corporations) & TNCs (transnational corporations)

  • Supplying consumer demand by using resources and creating environmental impact (eg. mining 4 minerals, or burning fossil fuels)

Governments:

  • Make policy decisions (ie. permission 4 land use), and apply legislation (laws) to manage the country (eg emission controls of factories). They also meet w/ other governments to talk about international agreements (UNEP, United Nations Environment Programme).

  • Different countries are at different lvls of environmental awareness, but all countries collectively agree the issues that Earth is facing

  • United Nations (an intergovernmental body) have been gaining more influence over these yrs since they hold Earth Summits to bring NGOs & corporations to discuss global environmental & world development issues

The growth of the modern environmental movement outline

  • Neolithic Agricultural Revolution

    • Happened 10,000YO

    • Humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farmers

    • From that transition, they had to learn how to sustainably manage local resources (food, water, fuel) around the settlement

  • Industrial Revolution (1800s)

    • Happened 200YO

    • Started in Europe

    • A surge in the production of goods & services, but at the demand of burning large quantities of fuel (wood/coal), and mining of minerals (metals = machines, limestone = cement)

      • Land was cleared, waterways were polluted, cities became crowded & smoky, and consumerist society increased

    • Conservationists spoke out abt the loss of “wilderness” but the general idea of that time was that there were infinite resources available b/c the preconceived notion due to exploitation from the West onto areas like Asia, North America, and Australasia created the idea that there was an abundance of resources

      • Sustainability wasn’t a popular concept and economics was more important

  • Green Revolution

    • 1940s→1960s

    • Technology was applied to agriculture, and in return created a boost in food production which then increased the population by 3bil

    • New crop varieties created, fertilizer and pesticide use increased

    • Consequences of this agricultural technology were an increase in burning amounts of fossil fuel such as oil, resource use, and waste production

    • Following impacts of this Revolution onwards:

      • Collapsing fish stocks

      • Pesticide poisoning

      • Increase of endangered species

      • Ozone layer depletion

      • Global warming

      • Acid precipitation (acid rain)

      • Deforestation

      • Nuclear waste

    • Actions to remedy these issues:

      • Environmentalists lead the environmental movement

      • Influencers wrote books

      • NGOs campaigned

      • Governments formed nature reserves and focused on environmental issues

      • Some businesses marked themselves as environmentally friendly

      • UNEP organized Earth Summits

Landmarks in the growth of the modern environmental movement

  • 1800 - 1900

    • 3 basic principles of modern environmental movement (modern style)

      • 1. Natural resources are finite

      • 2. Natural environment and life in it should be preserved for future generations to enjoy & use

      • 3. The pollution that humans create and our activities endanger life on Earth

    • James Fenimore Cooper wrote abt the 3 principles in his novel, “The Pioneers and The Praire” (1820)

    • Ralph Waldo & Henry David Thoreau wrote about the mystical experience when surrounded by nature that can’t be rationally explained—aka Transcendentalism

    • George Perkins Marsh was the 1st person to formalize the effects humans were having on the environment in his work “Man and Nature” (1864)

      • He was also the 1st to write abt how deforestation could cause desertification, loss of species, and degradation of the ecosystem

    • Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) was the 1st president to act on environmental concerns by establishing national parks, arguing that the health of land = health of nation, and that resources cant grow infinitely

      • Worked w/ John Muir (1st preservationist, founded Sierra Club in 1892, and fought to preserve Yosemite National Park for its own sake and not for it as a resource that humans could use)

    • Gifford Pinchot (1st director of US Forest Serivce, a conservationist, argued that forests should be for humans to use and renewed to conserve the environment)

    • Muir & Pinchot fought over the Hetch Hetchy Dam project: a contentious issue where Muir advocated for the preservation of the valley's natural beauty, while Pinchot supported its development for water supply, showcasing the tension between conservation and resource utilization.

      • Dam was approved in 1913 even though the Sierra club had fought for this 4 ten yrs

    • Increase in urbanization = impact of humans on environment becomes more apparent

      • Fuel supply problems

      • Waste disposal

      • Clear drinking water

      • Air pollution & smogs

    • Thoreau wrote “Walden” (1848) which inspired ppl to appreciate the harmony of living w/ nature & this book was defended by Muir

    • Reserves formed in countries such as USA, Canada, & Austrialia were originally created as a future resource of timber, oil, coal, and water but as the the idea of natural conservation increased, NGOs formed

      • Ex NGOs: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, RSPB (1893) & National Trust (1894)

  • 1900 - 1960