List of years in the environment

This is a list of years in the environment. The subjects relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.


 * Some of the more notable events are listed here with a full list on the respective pages.

1920s

 * 1927

1940s

 * 1948

1950s

 * 1954

1960s

 * 1962 - Silent Spring, the widely acclaimed book by Rachel Carson which documented the effects of indiscriminate use of pesticides, is published.
 * 1963
 * 1964
 * 1965
 * 1968
 * 1969

1970s

 * 1970
 * 1971
 * 1972 - The Limits to Growth was published. The book is about the computer modelling of unchecked economic and population growth with finite resource supplies, and became both controversial and influential.
 * 1973
 * 1974
 * 1975
 * 1976 - Ongoing oil spills began in Nigeria leading to various environmental issues in the Niger Delta.
 * 1977
 * 1978 - The Amoco Cadiz oil spill occurred on the coast of Brittany resulting in the largest oil spill of its kind in history to that date.
 * 1979 - The Three Mile Island accident, a partial nuclear meltdown that released radioactive material, occurred in the United States.

1980s

 * 1980
 * 1981
 * 1982
 * 1983
 * 1984
 * 1985 - the International Tropical Timber Agreement enters into force.
 * 1986 - the Chernobyl disaster, a catastrophic nuclear accident, occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine
 * 1987
 * 1988 - the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer enters into force.
 * 1989 - the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

1990s

 * 1990
 * 1991
 * 1992
 * 1993 - the Convention on Biological Diversity, known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, enters into force. It is an international legally binding treaty.
 * 1994 - the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) enters into force.
 * 1995
 * 1996
 * 1997
 * 1998
 * 1999

2000s

 * 2000
 * 2001
 * 2002 - the World Summit on Sustainable Development, WSSD or Earth Summit 2002 took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 26 August to 4 September 2002. It was convened to discuss sustainable development by the United Nations.
 * 2003
 * 2004
 * 2005
 * 2006
 * 2007
 * 2008
 * 2009

2010s

 * 2010
 * - 2010 is declared to be the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations General Assembly.
 * - The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico flows unabated for three months.


 * 2011 - 2011 was declared the International Year of Forests by the United Nations
 * 2012
 * 2013
 * 2014
 * 2015
 * 2016
 * 2019

2020s

 * 2020 – starting with 2020 these articles also include significant events in environmental sciences
 * 2021
 * 2022
 * 2023