1980 in the environment
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 1980. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues.
Events
The Global 2000 Report to the President is commissioned by US President Jimmy Carter.- William R. Catton Jr. publishes Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change.
- President Carter signs the Low Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act of 1980
- A decade of "chronic sand mining" at Vigie Beach, Saint Lucia worsened the effects of hurricanes and made "coastal resources management development" more difficult; the Beach was so badly "effect by human interference" that "the bay was dredged in 1980 to rebuild the beach."
January
- Joy Adamson, a conservationist best known for her work with Elsa the lioness, was murdered in Africa. She wrote the book Born Free which was made into a film of the same name.
May
- On May 18, Mount St. Helens erupted violently. It takes decades for the area to undergo succession.
December
- The National Parks Act 1980 is passed in New Zealand.
- On December 2, 1980, US President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which provided varying degrees of special protection to over 157,000,000 acres of land in Alaska.
- US President Jimmy Carter signed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as the "Superfund" law, for the investigation and cleaning up of sites contaminated with hazardous substances.
Undated
- The Praslin Power Station is commissioned and installed in Seychelles.