Environmentalism Introductory Post

1. Environmentalism is defined as, "a concern for the preservation, restoration, or improvement ofthe natural environment, such as the conservation of natural resources, prevention of pollution, and certain land use actions." Although its origins date back to 1200 B.C.E., when soil conservation became popular in the East and clean water systems became widely-used in the Mid-East, environmentalism has become much more prevalent in today's society, with a variety of different organizations and laws made throughout the years to promote its importance. Some of the major issues that it addresses include: global warming, the effects of different power sources (nuclear energy, for example), deforestation, the use of harmful pesticides, pollution, and many other important things. It has inspired people around the world to unite under the common goal of protecting the world in which they live, and, therefore, it has become a hot topic in the global community.
2. In the early 1900's, environmentalism had been in existence, in one way or another, for over three thousand years. However, the movement really started to grow in terms of popularity and acceptance in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with the Enlightenment and the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. Therefore, by the first half of the 20th century, it was a well-founded movement with many supporters, and thus made much progress in affecting change. In 1916, for example, the National Park Service was founded, followed 19 years later by The Wilderness Society. In addition, there was a variety of demonstrations and rallies against different projects that threatened the environment, including one in 1955 that lead the government to abandon its plans to build a dam in Dinosaur National Monument.
3. Today, environmentalism continues to grow in popularity, especially with the increasing concerns about global warming and air and water pollution. In 2005, the Kyoto Protocol was created, and all countries that signed it have pledged to reduce emission of gases that cause global warming. However, interestingly enough, the United States failed to sign this amendment to the U.N. Convention on Climate Change. In fact, the United States has the largest greenhouse gas emission of any country that failed to ratify the Protocol.
4. A few things that have been isolated for further research are global warming and its effects, the history (and future) of environmentalism, the effects of different energy sources on the environment & how environmentalism in affecting the use of new energies, the Audobon and Wilderness Societies, nuclear disasters and pollution, and famous enviromentalists (like Julia Butterfly Hill).
5. Although there are numerous intriguing and interesting aspects of environmentalism, a few notable ones stand out. For example, it seems very odd that the U.S. chose not to raitfy the Kyoto Protocol, and that while this country does so much to help other organizations, it does not do enough to help the world in which all of its citizens live. Also, it is quite interesting that, while taking care of the environment should be of the utmost concern, as without a healthy world, the human race has no future, many people disregard environmentalism, and continue to litter and drive SUVs. In addition, the possible effects that global warming could have in the future are very compelling. Lastly, it would be intriguing to see how environmentalism has changed the world since it first gained popularity in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.