10 moments that shaped environmental activism

On July 10, 1985, the French secret service used underwater mines to sink the "Rainbow Warrior," killing Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira. The ship was supposed to put out from New Zealand to protest nuclear testing at Mururoa atoll. The event spurred on anti-nuclear activism. Today, the wreck rests in the Matauri bay and is a popular diving destination.

The book "Silent Spring," written by biologist Rachel Carson, was published in 1962. She described the effects of pesticides on plants, animals and humans - with success: The bestseller ultimately led to banning of the insecticide DDT, which had worked its way up the food chain to harm the ecosystem. The book is often considered to have inspired the global environmental movement.

A United Nations Conference 1972 in Stockholm was the first international summit ever on the environment, and is considered the starting point for international environmental policy. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was signed at the 3rd UN Conference on Climate Change. It was the first binding climate agreement by industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

In elections on March 6, 1983, the Green Party (today: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) in Germany successfully entered in the German Parliament. Then ridiculed, now it has become a standard element of politics in many countries across Europe. The Green Party has been behind several environmental pushes: on June 30, 2011, Germany set a major milestone by deciding to phase out nuclear power.

In 1984, a cloud of gas escaped from a chemical plant in Bhopal, India. The chemicals killed from 3,800 to 25,000, and injured as many as half a million people. The disaster is a terrible case study for the burgeoning environmental justice movement, where marginalized communities are standing up against dangerous pollution.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former Soviet Union was site of one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. On April 26, 1986, it came to the worst-case scenario: a core meltdown. Massive amounts of radiation were released into the environment. This led to a reactivation of the global anti-nuclear movement.

In 1989, the "Exxon Valdez" oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska. More than 252,000 barrels of oil flowed out, dirtying the coast and killing innumerable marine animals. Aside from raising environmental awareness, it's served as a warning lesson on the dangers of drilling in the Arctic.

Edward Abbey inspired so-called direct action for environmental causes with his 1975 book "The Monkey Wrench Gang." In it, activists employ sabotage to hinder environmental destruction. By 1980, the real-life movement Earth First! was formed, which focuses on nonviolent direct action. The movement continues, with active groups around the world today.

In 1998, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) carried out an arson attack on a ski resort in Vail, Colorado, in direct action against destruction of endangered lynx habitat. This heralded the arrival of "eco-terrorism" in the United States - a term some describe as loaded. The FBI has classified the ELF as "domestic terror threat number one."

In 2007, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to former US Vice President Al Gore and the IPCC. They were honored for their efforts to increase and spread knowledge about the manmade climate change. "They placed the basis for global climate action," the Nobel Prize Committee said. Countries the world over are aiming for a new climate treaty at a conference in Paris this December.