A Barbary lion is shot and killed in the Atlas Mountains of Northwest Africa. This would be the last confirmed sighting of the sub-species, which was larger and had darker manes than the African lion.
The International Whaling Commission is formed, with the aim of more sustainably regulating the hunting of whales worldwide. In 1982, the IWC would later announce a commercial ban on all whaling activity, in response to the rapidly dwindling whale population worldwide.
The International Union for Conservation on Nature (IUCN) - otherwise known as the World Conservation Union - is established in Fontainebleau, France, becoming the first global environmental union, encouraging international and scientific cooperation to achieve the shared goal of the protection of nature.
The Nature Conservancy is founded. Originally a non-profit based out of Washington, D.C. , the Nature Conservancy now works in 79 countries and territories worldwide, with the primary aim of protecting all natural habitats on land and water. ( Logo attribution: Bmdigital / CC BY-SA under Creative Commons licence)
American scientist Charles David Keeling begins measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere, from Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. Keeling discovered that CO2 levels were rising every year, corresponding with the increased use of fossil fuels. His findings would later become a cornerstone of modern day climate research, and data gathering on the Keeling Curve - a historical record of atmospheric CO2 levels since 1958 - continues to this day.
WWF is established as a result of the the Morges Manifesto. The Manifesto, signed on April 29 by 16 of the world's leading conservationists - including IUCN Vice President and ornithologist Sir Peter Scott, and Director General of the British Nature Conservancy, Max Nicholson - recognized that while the expertise to protect the environment existed, there was an urgent need for an international organization to raise the funds needed for conservation work. WWF later changed its name to "World Wide Fund for Nature" in 1986, while retaining the WWF initials. Today, WWF is active in over 100 countries worldwide, working with individuals, communities, businesses and governments to ensure a future in which both people and nature thrive.
The Red List of Threatened Species is established by the IUCN, becoming the world's most extensive data source for species' population status, as well as a crucial indicator for the overall health of our planet's ecosystems and biodiversity. Today, 1 in every 4 of the 120,000 plant and animal species assessed on the IUCN Red List is threatened with extinction. (Photo Credit: © naturepl.com / Mark Carwardine / WWF)
UNESCO hosts an intergovernmental conference in Paris to discuss biosphere conservation. The conference marks the birth of international-level environmental politics, and results in the launch of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.
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Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders captures a photograph of the Earth, taken from the moon. The photo, later known as the "Earthrise", is considered by many as one of the most influential photographs ever taken, sparking a new awareness of humanity's place on the planet - our one shared home.
The first Earth Day takes place on April 22, in an effort to raise public awareness about the state of our planet and the effect of our actions. Many consider this first Earth day as the beginning of the modern environmental movement. (Image: Keynote speaker US Senator Edmund Muskie addressing crowds in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia on April 22, 1970. ) (Attribution: Peter54321 / CC BY-SA under Creative Commons License)
The Caspian tiger goes extinct - marking the 2nd tiger sub-species to go extinct. (Image Credit © WWF / Helmut Diller)
Aboard a fishing boat named "The Greenpeace," a team of environmental activists travel to Amchitka Island in Alaska in an effort to stop a US nuclear weapons test. Though the team was unsuccessful, they later went on to form Greenpeace - an organization now present in over 40 countries worldwide. (Logo attribution: Greenpeace / CC BY-SA under Creative Commons License)
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is established during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockhom, Sweden. The formation of UNEP was a landmark step in recognizing the need for more sustainable consumption of natural resources. (Photo by Mat Reding / Unsplash)
Mario Molina and Sherwood Roland - two chemists at the University of California, Irvine - discover that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - commonly found in aerosol spray cans and refrigerator coolants - have a damaging effect on the ozone layer. Molina and Roland would later receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their findings. (Image attribution: PiccoloNamek / CC BY-SA under Creative Commons Liscence)
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is put into action. This international agreement between governments aims to sustainably regulate the international trade of plant and animal species, many of which were increasingly over-exploited and illegally traded. (Photo credit: © WWF-UK / James Morgan)
US President Jimmy Carter commissions a report warning what would happen if changes were not made in environmental policies globally. Known as the Global 2000: Report to the President, the report predicted that serious environmental destruction would occur by the year 2000 unless urgent global cooperation took place to solve these issues. (Photo credit: Unsplash / Karl Schumacher / US Library of Congress)
The World Conservation Strategy is launched in Belgium with support from governments, experts, and organizations including the UN Environment Programme, WWF, UNESCO, IUCN, and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Strategy became one of the first documents to outline the concept of "sustainable development" and explained the positive relationship that must exist between the conservation of nature and the development of resources for human needs. (Photo © WWF Intl. / WWF)
The United Nations establishes the World Charter for Nature - a code of conduct with five "principles of conservation" to guide and judge efforts made to protect and preserve natural habitats across the globe. The Charter also explained that the destruction of natural habitats would have negative economic, social, and political consequences. (Photo: © naturepl.com / Tim Laman / WWF)
Three scientists in Antarctica discover the "Ozone hole," marking one of the first tangible signs of human damage to our atmosphere and sparking what many consider is the most successfully adopted environmental agreement to date - the Montreal Protocol.
A nuclear reactor explodes in Chernobyl, becoming the worst nuclear disaster in history. The nuclear radiation caused by the Chernobyl Disaster made the area surrounding the nuclear plant uninhabitable for decades, although wildlife has recently made a comeback.
Two years after the Ozone hole was discovered, the Montreal Protocol is developed - a global agreement to reduce the use of ozone-depleting substances (ODS). Initially signed by 46 countries, the Protocol has now been signed by all 197 United Nations member states - becoming the first UN treaty to achieve universal agreement.
The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the international trade of ivory. Despite the international trade ban, the poaching of elephants and black market trade of their tusks - both internationally and domestically - continues to this day. (Photo credit: © WWF-US / Jeff Muller)
The United Nations General Assembly announces a ban on drift-net fishing in international waters, a damaging fishing technique that results in the accidental catch of many other marine species not intended to be caught (Photo credit: © naturepl.com / Jordi Chias / WWF)
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - also known as the "Earth Summit" - takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the Summit, two important conventions were opened for signatures - the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). (Photo credit: © Juan Pratginestos / WWF)
The first genetically modified food - a tomato, called the FLAVR SAVR - is approved for sale by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Genetically modified foods will prove to cause heated debate and controversy in the decades to come.
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is put into place, marking the first international climate change agreement, with more than 150 participating countries aiming to control and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Bangladesh becomes the first country in the world to ban the use of thin, lightweight plastic bags - those commonly seen in groceries and supermarkets.
Tesla Motors is founded by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Tesla will later become a household name, led by SpaceX founder and one of Tesla's original co-founders, Elon Musk (pictured). (Image attribution: Steve Jurvetson / CC BY under Creative Commons License)
The SARS epidemic (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) affects an estimated 8000 individuals in 26 countries. As a zoonotic disease, SARS is believed to have been first spread to civet cats and later made the jump to humans through wild meat wet markets. Increasing pressures on nature from wildlife exploitation and habitat destruction in the coming years would only increase the opportunities for viruses to jump from animals to people, as we would later see with H1N1, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19.
Former US Vice President Al Gore stars in "An Inconvenient Truth" - a documentary on global warming. Al Gore would later be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his environmental efforts. (Image attribution: JD Lasica / Creative Commons License)
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports with 90% certainty that damaging human activities - such as the burning of fossil fuels - are driving climate change.
The first Earth Hour event is held in Sydney, Australia, inspiring more than 2.2 million individuals and 2,000 businesses to turn their lights out for one hour to raise awareness around climate change. Held every year on the last Saturday of March, Earth Hour has become one of the world's largest grassroots movements for nature and the environment, now engaging millions of people in more than 180 countries and territories.
Polar bears become a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This move was significant, as it directly acknowledged the damaging effect of climate change and the melting of sea ice on species. (Photo credit: © Richard Barrett / WWF-UK)
The "Group of Eight," otherwise known as the G8 - United States, Russia, Japan, Italy, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France - commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent in an effort to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. (Image attribution: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service / CC BY-SA under Creative Commons License)
Deepwater Horizon - an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico - explodes, killing 10 crew members and releasing 4 million barrels of oil - more than 200 million gallons - into the ocean over the course of the next 87 days.
The United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - establishes a carbon tax. CO2 emissions have fallen significantly since its implementation.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) updates its previous 2007 report, now stating with 95% confidence (from the previous 90%) that human actions are driving climate change
The first-ever United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is held in Nairobi, Kenya, becoming the highest-level UN body ever convened on the environment. (Photo attribution: UNEP, under Creative Commons License)
Chile becomes the first country in South America to impose a carbon tax scheme, although the tax would only come into effect in 2018.
The Paris Climate Agreement is put into place, with 197 countries committing to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. (Photo attribution: UNclimatechange from Bonn, Germany / under Creative Commons License)
One of the worst seasonal hazes - caused by the burning of forests to clear land for plantations - hits Southeast Asia (Photo: © Tantyo Bangun / WWF)
The Bramble Cay melomys - a small type of rodent native to a single island in Australia - becomes the first mammal to go extinct due to climate change (Photo attribution: State of Queensland / CC BY 3.0 AU under Creative Commons License)
Close to 200 nations gather in Kigali, Rwanda, agreeing to reduce the use of HFC gases in air conditioning units and refrigerators - greenhouse gases that contribute to the climate crisis and that can be 10,000 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.
The Trump Administration announces plans to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement of 2015. (Photo: Tim Mossholder / Unsplash)
15-year-old student Greta Thunberg skips school to protest outside the Swedish parliament, calling for more action against climate change. A few weeks later, the Fridays for Future movement would be born.
(Photo attribution : Anders Hellberg / CC BY-SA under Creative Commons License
The last male northern white rhino dies in Kenya. Only two, female, northern white rhinos remain. (Photo © Christiaan van der Hoeven / WWF-Netherlands)
The European Union (EU) bans the use of pesticides that harm bees and other pollinators - a crucial milestone to protect our ecosystems and our food security, as 70 of the top 100 food crops worldwide rely on pollinators. (Photo © Global Warming Images / WWF)
Fiji unveils its long-term strategy to reach net-zero carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy by 2050.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) releases a landmark report, stating that 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, with 75% of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment now significantly altered by human actions. (Photo: © Luis Barreto / WWF-UK)
The Amazon Rainforest suffers the worst fires in close to a decade, devastating the ecosystems, species, and local communities that it sustains. (Photo: © Michael Dantas / WWF-Brazil)
Millions take to the streets in a globally-coordinated climate protest - one of the largest in history - prior to the 2019 UN Climate Summit (Photo © WWF-US / Keith Arnold)
