History of The Environmental Movement Quiz

Answer: Svante Arrhenius

Although French physicist Joseph Fourier was the first to investigate the idea that gases in the atmosphere could trap heat during the 1820s, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius in an 1896 article published in the "Philosophical Magazine" first proposed that CO2 from burning fossil fuels might eventually lead to global warming (although he did not express concern over it).

Answer: Joe Farman

Joe Farman was a British scientist working in Antarctica in 1982 when he discovered the measurement of ozone had decreased by one-half in the atmosphere above his research station. The results repeated the following year, and he published his result in "Nature" along with Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin in 1985. American scientist Frank Rowland along with fellow American Mario Molina first postulated that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) might deplete ozone. James Lovelock is a British scientist best known for formulating the Gaia hypothesis. Irving Stowe was an American activist who helped found Greenpeace.

Answer: a Western view toward nature rooted in the book of Genesis, which suggests man should have dominion over the animals and subdue the earth

American historian Lynn White's article "The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis" was published in "Science" magazine and created a lot of debate among Christians who argued that Genesis could be interpreted as urging Adam and Eve to care for their surroundings.

Answer: The China Syndrome

"The China Syndrome", starring Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon, was released on March 16, 1979; the Three Mile Island incident occurred March 28, 1979.

Answer: Secretary of Energy Don Hodel

Both James Watt and Anne Gorsuch were famously anti-environmentalist; both resigned their positions due to scandal. Ruckelshaus was the first director of the EPA whom Reagan brought back after the Gorsuch debacle. But it was Hodel, as Secretary of Energy, who made the above comment.

Answer: Bhopal

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy occurred in 1984. Historians call this the worst industrial disaster in world history. 2,000 people died, and an estimated 300,000 were injured out of a city numbering 800,000.

Answer: five female factory workers who sued U.S. Radium Corporation in 1927 for hazardous workplace conditions. The girls worked there painting watch dials with radium so they would glow in the dark.

The other answers were completely fabricated. Between 1917 and 1926, women worked at a U.S. Radium Corporation factory painting watch dials with radium because of its luminescent quality; not knowing of the dangers, the women would lick the paint brushes to stiffen the tips. The five women who brought the suit all died of cancer.

Answer: Times Beach, Missouri

Times Beach, a town south of St. Louis, had dirt roads and hired a company to spray its dirt roads with oil to cut down on dust. The oil came from a factory that had manufactured Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and was contaminated by dioxin. A whistle blower from the company selling the waste oil led the EPA to Times Beach.

The town was entirely evacuated, and a state park marks the site today. The other three towns listed also had incidents during the 1980s involving chemical poisoning. Love Canal was built on top of a toxic waste dump; residents of Triana, AL were exposed to DDT by water dumping practices at Redstone Arsenal, and Afton is located in Warren County, N.C. where there was an attempt to build a PCB landfill.

Answer: deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Chico Mendes was a labor leader who argued for the sustainable use of Brazil's rain forests, concerned about the large scale clearing of rain forests. He was assassinated in 1988 by ranchers who wanted the land cleared to raise more cattle.

Answer: Earth First!

Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang" was published in 1975, and Earth First! was founded in 1979. The organization drew on the idea of direct action to combat the destruction of the environment contained in the novel; Abbey also spoke at some of their early meetings.