Can anyone think of some historic (or even modern) environment or climate change debates?

1 Answer
May 16, 2016

There have been quite a few over time including acid rain, hole in the ozone layer, lead in gasoline, global warming,

Explanation:

Environmental debates have been going on for about the last 50-60 years. Prior to this time, there was very little in the way of environmental consciousness and people basically dumped pollution into the water, land and air.

One of the first debates was over setting aside land for national parks (early 1900s) - the conservation movement.

In the 1970's acid rain was a big issue and related uncontrolled release of pollutants from various industrial sources.

The mid-1980s saw the global issue of the hole in the ozone layer caused by refrigerant gases. The phasing out of lead in gasoline was also an issue about this time.

Since about the 1990s, global climate change has been an issue.

Some current issues emerging include: fracking causing earthquakes and potential to pollute groundwaters, micro plastic beads being dumped into waterways, prescription drugs being dumped in rivers, the great plastic garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean, and phasing out coal-fired powerplants.