MNN - Mother Nature Network

Dec. 30, 1974: An animal not found in the U.S. is given protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act: Three species of Australian kangaroos — the red, the Eastern gray, and the Western gray — are listed as endangered to prevent import of their products into the U.S. The kangaroos bounce back and are de-listed in 1995.

 

Dec. 30, 1986: In what is almost certainly the largest canary layoff in history, the last 200 canaries on duty in British and Welsh coal mines are replaced by electronic gas monitors.

 

Dec. 30, 1990: The Washington Post reports that J.R. Spradley, a U.S. delegate at an international climate change conference, tells the Bangladeshi delegation that their nation getting swamped by sea level rise won’t be such a bad thing: "The situation is not a disaster; it is merely a change. The area won't have disappeared; it will just be underwater. Where you now have cows, you will have fish."