A Chronology of Environmental Milestones

Environmental & Science Education
STEM
Sustainability
Edward Hessler

Earth Day has been celebrated for 48 years.

What are some of the significant environmental events during this period?

Over at National Geographic, Brian Clark Howard made a list of 48 environmental achievements, not one for each year so some years, especially early on have multiple entries. There are five entered for 1972.

The pace of change, impacts and scale differ, e.g., the entry for 2007 is "The Rise of Walking," while the entry, the first one on Howard's list, for 1970, is "Environmental Magna Carta" (the year the Environmental Policy Act of 1969 went into effect). The last entry, #48 for 2018 is "Species Show Recovery." In April, "the lesser long nosed bat became the first bat to be taken off the Endangered Species List."

There has been some progress.