Air Pollution Timeline

Nafla A. Nabhan

13th Century ; 18th& 19th Century 1930 ; 1940; 1950; 1960; 1970;

1980;

1990;

2002;

2003;

2005

Late 13th century: King Edward I of England bans the burning of sea-coal in London
because it causes air pollution; the ban is unsuccessful.
Late 18th century & early 19th century: The Industrial Revolution brings about large-scale
use of coal and intensified air and water pollution.
1936: Milwaukee becomes the first American city to ban smoking on all public
transportation.
1948: In Donora, Pennsylvania, 7,000 people become ill and 20 die after severe air pollution
from local manufacturing plants produces a deadly smog.
1948: The U.S. Congress passes the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the first major
legislation to focus on water pollution.
1952: In London, at least 4,000 people die over the course of several days after pollutants
from factories and fireplaces mix with air condensation.
1955: Congress passes the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955, the first federal legislation
dealing with air pollution. The act creates funding for air-pollution research.
1962: Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring, a book that highlights the dangers of
insecticides and other chemicals and helps influence the burgeoning environmental movement in
the U.S.
1963: Congress passes the Clean Air Act of 1963, the first federal legislation to focus on airpollution control.
1969: Chemical waste released into Ohio's Cuyahoga River causes it to burst into flames. The
Cuyahoga becomes a symbol of how industrial pollution is destroying America's natural
resources.

 1970: The first Earth Day is celebrated across the U.S. in an effort to raise awareness of the
need to protect the nation's natural resources.
1970: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is established by President Richard
Nixon to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment: air, water, and land.
Today, the EPA has approximately 18,000 employees.
1970: The Clean Air Act is revised to include stricter standards for air quality and auto
emissions.
1972: The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments, later known as the Clean Water
Act after it was amended in 1977, is enacted. The legislation regulates pollutant discharges into
U.S. waterways and funds construction of sewage treatment facilities, among other activities.
1975: The catalytic converter, a device used to significantly cut auto emissions and reduce air
pollution, is invented.
1984: In Bhopal, India, 20,000 people die and 120,000 more are injured following a deadly
methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant.
1987: The Indoor Air Quality Act, which focuses on indoor air pollution, is introduced to
Congress.
1988: Syringes and other medical waste washes up onto beaches in New Jersey. Later that
year, Congress passes the Ocean Dumping Ban Act, which outlaws dumping of municipal
sewage sludge and industrial and medical waste into ocean waters.
1989: In one of the world's largest environmental disasters, oil tanker Exxon Valdez spills
approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sea off Alaska's Prince William Sound.
The event, which caused a 3,000-square-mile oil slick, killed hundreds of thousands of birds, fish
and other wildlife and has had a negative long-term environmental impact on the area.
1990: In an effort to protect people from secondhand cigarette smoke, a ban against smoking
aboard flights in the U.S. of six hours or less, is enacted. In 2000, federal regulation requires that
all flights to and from the U.S. are smoke-free.
1990: San Luis Obispo, California, becomes the world's first city to prohibit smoking in
public buildings, including bars and restaurants.
2002: California passes a landmark law requiring automakers to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions from motor vehicles by 30 percent by 2016.
2003: Following the lead of other U.S. towns and cities, New York City bans smoking in all
workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

 2005: The Kyoto Protocol, which calls for participating nations to reduce greenhouse gases
that contribute to climate change, comes into effect. To date, President George Bush has rejected
Kyoto, stating that it would hurt the U.S. economy because the protocol exempts China.