Short answers, pulled from the story.
Environmentalism advocates the preservation, restoration and improvement of the natural environment and critical earth system elements or processes such as the climate. It may be referred to as a movement to control pollution or protect plant and animal diversity.
The earliest ideas of environmental protection can be found in Jainism, which was revived by Mahavira in the 6th century BC. In West Asia, Caliph Abu Bakr commanded his army to bring no harm to trees in the 630s AD, and King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal in 1272.
Rachel Carson published her book Silent Spring in 1962 to highlight declining bird populations due to DDT and question the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment. The resulting public concern led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 which subsequently banned the agricultural use of DDT in the US in 1972.
The first Earth Day was celebrated on the 22nd of April 1970 to give awareness to environmental issues. It was created by former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson after seeing the oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969.
Brazil, Colombia, Philippines, and Mexico were identified as the deadliest countries where more than 1,700 land and environmental defenders were killed between 2012 and 2022. In 2014 alone, 116 environmental activists were assassinated and 185 were assassinated in 2015.