History of environmental pollution

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"Dirty Father Thames", a satirical depiction of the "Great Stink", an 1858 pollution event in the River Thames.
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The history of environmental pollution traces human-dominated

agrarian communities emerged which depended largely on their environment and the creation of a "structure of permanence."[5]

The Western

fossil fuels. Coal was used to power ever more efficient engines and later to generate electricity. Modern sanitation systems and advances in medicine protected large populations from disease.[6] In the mid-20th century, a gathering environmental movement pointed out that there were environmental costs associated with the many material benefits that were now being enjoyed. In the late 20th century, environmental problems became global in scale.[7][8][9][10] The 1973 and 1979 energy crises demonstrated the extent to which the global community had become dependent on non-renewable energy resources. By the 1970s, the ecological footprint of humanity exceeded the carrying capacity of earth, therefore the mode of life of humanity became unsustainable.[11] In the 21st century, there is increasing global awareness of the threat posed by global climate change, produced largely by the burning of fossil fuels.[12][13] Another major threat is biodiversity loss, caused primarily by land use
change.

Early civilizations

Further information: Neolithic Revolution

In early human history, although the

Agrarian communities depended largely on their environment and the creation of a "structure of permanence".[5] Societies outgrowing their local food supply or depleting critical resources either moved on or faced collapse.[15]

A Sumerian harvester's sickle, 3000 BC, made from baked clay
Sumerian harvester's sickle, 3000 BC, made from baked clay

Archeological evidence suggests that the first civilizations arose in

Devanampiyatissa and dating back to 307 BC were devoted to sustainability and harmonious living with nature.[24]

Emergence of industrial societies

Further information: Fossil fuel
A museum display of Watt's steam engine
A Watt steam engine, the steam engine fuelled primarily by coal that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world

Technological advances over several millennia gave humans increasing control over the environment. But it was the Western

fossil fuels. Coal was used to power ever more efficient engines and later to generate electricity. Modern sanitation systems and advances in medicine protected large populations from disease.[25] Such conditions led to a human population explosion and unprecedented industrial, technological and scientific growth that has continued to this day, marking the commencement of a period of global human influence known as the Anthropocene. From 1650 to 1850, the global population doubled from around 500 million to 1 billion people.[26]

Concerns about the environmental and social impacts of industry were expressed by some

much-criticised theories of "overpopulation", while John Stuart Mill foresaw the desirability of a "stationary state" economy, thus anticipating concerns of the modern discipline of ecological economics.[27][28][29] In the late 19th century Eugenius Warming was the first botanist to study physiological relations between plants and their environment, heralding the scientific discipline of ecology.[30]

Further information: Hans Carl von Carlowitz

Early 20th century

See also: Environmental movement

By the 20th century, the industrial revolution had led to an exponential increase in the human consumption of resources. The increase in health, wealth and population was perceived as a simple path of progress.[31] However, in the 1930s economists began developing models of non-renewable resource management (see Hotelling's rule)[32] and the sustainability of welfare in an economy that uses non-renewable resources (Hartwick's rule).[33]

natural cycles (of water, nutrients and other chemicals, materials, waste); and the passage of energy through trophic levels of living systems.[34]

Mid 20th century: environmentalism

See also: Environmentalism and Environmental science

Following the deprivations of the great depression and World War II the developed world entered a new period of escalating growth, a post-1950s "great acceleration ... a surge in the human enterprise that has emphatically stamped humanity as a global geophysical force."[35] A gathering environmental movement pointed out that there were environmental costs associated with the many material benefits that were now being enjoyed. Innovations in technology (including plastics, synthetic chemicals, nuclear energy) and the increasing use of fossil fuels, were transforming society. Modern industrial agriculture—the "Green Revolution"—was based on the development of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides which had devastating consequences for rural wildlife, as documented by American marine biologist, naturalist and environmentalist Rachel Carson in Silent Spring (1962).

In 1956, American geoscientist M. King Hubbert's peak oil theory predicted an inevitable peak of oil production, first in the United States (between 1965 and 1970), then in successive regions of the world—with a global peak expected thereafter.[36] In the 1970s environmentalism's concern with pollution, the population explosion, consumerism and the depletion of finite resources found expression in Small Is Beautiful, by British economist E. F. Schumacher in 1973, and The Limits to Growth published by the global think tank, the Club of Rome, in 1975.

Late 20th century

Further information: Sustainability and Sustainable development

Environmental problems were now becoming global in scale.

ecosystems
.

In 1987 the

wind turbines and photovoltaics and increased use of hydroelectricity, presented some of the first sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel and nuclear energy generation, the first large-scale solar and wind power plants appearing during the 1980s and '90s.[42][43] Also at this time many local and state governments in developed countries began to implement small-scale sustainability policies.[44]

21st century: global awareness

Through the work of climate scientists in the

Copenhagen Climate Council
, an international team of leading climate scientists, issued a strongly worded statement: "The climate system is already moving beyond the patterns of natural variability within which our society and economy have developed and thrived. These parameters include global mean surface temperature, sea-level rise, ocean and
ice sheet dynamics, ocean acidification, and extreme climatic events. There is a significant risk that many of the trends will accelerate, leading to an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climatic shifts."[45]

decarbonisation (removing dependence on fossil fuels) and much more.[48]

The work of

particulate matter, which aids in quantifying ambient air quality.[51] Rapidly advancing technologies now provide the means to achieve a transition of economies, energy generation, water and waste management, and food production towards sustainable practices using methods of systems ecology and industrial ecology.[52][53]

See also

References

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External links

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