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Environmental Movements and Key Events
6.1 Landmark Environmental Events
| Year | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Rachel Carson — Silent Spring | Documented DDT's harm to birds; launched modern environmental movement |
| 1972 | Stockholm Conference on Human Environment | First UN global environment conference; created UNEP |
| 1984 | Bhopal Gas Tragedy (India) | MIC gas leak from Union Carbide plant; ~15,000–22,000 deaths; worst industrial disaster |
| 1986 | Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster (USSR) | Explosion of reactor; radioactive fallout over Europe; 30 km exclusion zone still active |
| 1987 | Montreal Protocol | Phase-out of ODS; most successful env agreement |
| 1987 | Brundtland Report | Defined "Sustainable Development": "meets needs of present without compromising future generations" |
| 1992 | Rio Earth Summit (UNCED) | UNFCCC, CBD, and Agenda 21 adopted; 178 governments |
| 1997 | Kyoto Protocol | First binding climate targets for developed countries |
| 2006 | Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth | Raised global public awareness of climate change |
| 2011 | Fukushima Nuclear Disaster (Japan) | Mw 9.0 earthquake + tsunami; 3 reactor meltdowns; led Germany to phase out nuclear |
| 2015 | Paris Agreement (COP21) | 195+ countries; NDCs; 1.5/2°C target |
| 2019 | Amazon fires / Australian megafires | Climate-linked; global alarm |
| 2022 | Kunming-Montreal GBF | 30×30 biodiversity target |
| 2024 | 4th Global Mass Coral Bleaching | Most severe on record; climate emergency signal |
6.2 India-Specific Environmental Issues
Himalayan Glacial Retreat:
- Gangotri Glacier (source of Ganga): Retreating ~22 m/year — accelerating
- Siachen Glacier (world's highest battlefield): Military activity adds pollution stress
- Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs): Formation of unstable glacial lakes → sudden catastrophic floods. 2021 Chamoli disaster (Uttarakhand) — GLOF killed 200+ people, destroyed Rishiganga and Tapovan hydropower projects
Air Pollution:
- India has 21 of world's 30 most polluted cities (IQAir World Air Quality Report 2023) — mostly in the Indo-Gangetic Plain
- Delhi: PM2.5 averages 89.1 µg/m³ (WHO guideline: 5 µg/m³)
- Causes in North India: Vehicle emissions, industrial pollution, crop stubble burning (Punjab, Haryana post-harvest Oct-Nov), brick kilns, construction dust, Diwali firecrackers
- Crop stubble burning: ~35 million tonnes of crop residue burned annually in Punjab alone → major PM source
Water Pollution:
- Ganga: Despite Namami Gange Mission (~₹20,000 crore), faecal coliform levels remain extremely high (most temples exceed safe limits)
- Groundwater depletion: India extracts ~250 km³/year — 25% of world's groundwater extraction; GRACE satellite data shows North India losing groundwater at alarming rates
- Arsenic contamination: West Bengal, Jharkhand — natural geological arsenic exceeds WHO limit (10 µg/L) in many wells