Environmental Movement Essay Example

Environmental Movement Essay Example Environmental Movement Paper Environmental Movement Paper Due to its large membership, varying and strong beliefs, and occasionally speculative nature, the environmental movement is not always united in its goals. At its broadest, the movement includes private citizens, professionals, religious devotees, politicians, and extremists. History of the movement The roots of the modern environmental movement can be traced to attempts in 1 9th-century Europe and North America to expose the costs of environmental negligence, notably disease, as well as widespread air and water pollution, but only after the Second World War did a wider awareness gin to emerge. The US environmental movement emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, with two key strands: preservationist such as John Mir wanted land and nature set aside for its own sake, while conservationists such as Gifford Ponchos wanted to manage natural resources for human use. Among the early protectionists that stood out as leaders in the movement were Henry David Thoreau, John Mir and George Perkins Marsh. Thoreau was concerned about the wildlife in Massachusetts; he wrote Walden; or, Life in the Woods as he studied the wildlife from a cabin. John Mir founded the Sierra Club, one of the largest conservation organizations in the United States. Marsh was influential with regards to the need for resource conservation. Mir was instrumental in the creation of Yosemite national park in 1890. Mir was also personally involved in the creation of Sequoia , Mount Rainier , Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon national parks. Mir deservedly is often called the Father of Our National park System. During the sass, sass, and sass, several events illustrated the magnitude of environmental damage caused by humans. In 1954, the 23 man crew of the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon 5 was exposed to radioactive fallout from a hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll. The publication of the book Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson drew attention to the impact of chemicals on the natural environment. In 1967, the oil tanker Torero Canyon went aground off the southwest coast of England, and in 1969 oil spilled from an offshore well in Californians Santa Barbara Channel. In 1971 , the conclusion of a law suit in Japan drew international attention to the effects Of decades Of mercury poisoning on the people of Inanimate. At the same time, emerging scientific research drew new attention to existing and hypothetical threats to the environment and humanity. Among them were Paul R. Earlier, whose book The Population Bomb (1968) revived concerns about the impact of exponential population growth. Biologist Barry Commoner generated a debate about growth, affluence and flawed technology. Additionally, an association of scientists and political leaders known as the Club of Rome published their report The Limits to Growth in 1972, and drew attention to the growing pressure on natural resources from human activities. Meanwhile, technological accomplishments such as nuclear proliferation and photos of the Earth from outer space provided both new insights and new reasons for concern over Earths seemingly small and unique place in the universe. In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, and for the first time united the representatives of multiple governments in discussion relating to the state of the global environment. This conference led directly to the creation of government environmental agencies and the UN Environment Program. The United States also passed ewe legislation such as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental policy Act- the foundations for current environmental standards. By the mid-sass anti-nuclear activism had moved beyond local protests and politics to gain a wider appeal and influence. Although it lacked a single co-ordination organization the anti- nuclear movements efforts gained a great deal of attention. In the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, many mass demonstrations took place. The largest one was held in New York City in September 1979 and involved 200,000 people; speeches were given by Jane Found and Ralph Ender. Since the sass, public awareness, environmental sciences, ecology, and technology have advanced to include modern focus points like ozone depletion, global climate change, acid rain, and the potentially harmful genetically modified organisms . Scope of the movement Before flue-gas desertification was installed, the air-polluting emissions from this power plant in New Mexico contained excessive amounts of sulfur dioxide. Environmental science is the study of the interactions among the hysterical, chemical and biological components of the environment. Ecology, or ecological science, is the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how these properties are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. Modern environmentalism Today, the sciences of ecology and environmental science, rather than any aesthetic goals, provide the basis Of unity to most serious environmentalists. As more information is gathered in scientific fields, more scientific issues like biodiversity, as opposed to mere aesthetics, are a concern. Conservation biology is a rapidly developing field. Environmentalism now has proponents in business: new ventures such as those to reuse and recycle consumer electronics and other technical equipment are gaining popularity. Computer liquidators are just one example. In recent years, the environmental movement has increasingly focused on global warming as a top issue. As concerns about climate change moved more into the mainstream, from the connections drawn between global warming and Hurricane Strain to AY Gores film An Inconvenient Truth, many environmental groups refocused their efforts. In the United States, 2007 witnessed the largest grassroots environmental demonstration in years, Step It up 2007, with rallies in over 1 ,400 communities and all 50 states for real global warming solutions. Many religious organizations and individual churches now have programs and activities dedicated to environmental issues. The religious movement is often supported by interpretation of scriptures. Most major religious groups are represented including Jewish, Islamic, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, Christian and Catholic. Radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism emerged out of an egocentrics-based frustration tit the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. The radical environmental movement aspires to what scholar Christopher Manes calls a new kind of environmental activism: iconoclastic, uncompromising, discontented with traditional conservation policy, at time illegal Radical environmentalism presupposes a need to reconsider Western ideas of religion and philosophy (including capitalism, patriarchy[l O] and globalization)[1 1] sometimes through rescanning and reconnecting with nature. 10] Greenback represents an organization with a radical approach, UT has contributed in serious ways towards understanding Of critical issues, and has a science-oriented core with radicalism as a means to underexposure. Groups like Earth First! Take a much more radical posture.