Love Canal was originally meant to be a trench between the upper and lower Niagara Rivers that would supply energy to the inhabitants of a small Niagara Falls community. The leaked oil spread across 470 miles of water, killing countless wildlife. On April 25th, 1986, an explosion at Reactor #4 caused a fire that burned for 10 days. Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone's Most Recent … Chernobyl. var _Hasync= _Hasync|| []; Newly created Zipingpu Reservoir contained 320 million tons of water that and all that weight pushed on the crust fracture. Our planet and humankind have seen many environmental disasters in the recent past, but a few stand out as especially costly in terms of money, environmental damage and human health impacts. The invasion will start from the southwestern province of Balochistan, passing through the cropping area of... Indigenous communities in the Amazon region of Ecuador have been suffering from a lack of clean water after a massive oil spill-- the biggest in the area since 2004-- polluted their local rivers. Twenty-eight workers died in the next four months, as did many emergency responders. The lighter oil can also mix with the water and get absorbed in the marine mammals’ systems, which might lead to problems inbreeding, or even death. Earthquakes: One of the recent examples is the earthquake in China in 2008. The Chernobyl disaster is infamous as the most devastating event involving a nuclear power plant in the planet’s history. The disaster also killed many animals and plants in the area and contaminated the groundwater. The human race makes me sick, all we are is just a virus. Ranchers, farmers and loggers are responsible for the majority of rainforest destruction, mowing down over 10,000 acres of forest each year. Here is the sad list of the top ten environmental disasters caused by humans: 20,000 people have died to date as a result of the chemical gas spill in Bhopal, India. This differentiates it from a natural disaster, which occurs due to natural processes. To this day, it remains one of the largest air pollution events in history. In 1984 catastrophe struck after a cloud of methyl isocyante gas erupted from a Union Carbide (a recent subsidiary of Dow) pesticide factory. Environmental disasters Mysterious pollution causing mass deaths of marine animals in Russia's Kamchatka Mysterious toxic pollution along a 40 km (25 miles) stretch of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula has killed 95 percent of seabed creatures in the area and caused health issues among surfers since September 2020. Smog is a common occurrence in cities around the world, but in 1952 in London, it reached unheard-of levels of severity. Safety systems were not functioning properly, so 27 tons of the gas spread throughout the city. On June 9, millions of dead bees were seen blanketing the ground in an area between Podturn and Gardinovac,... Marine ecosystems along a wide stretch of coastline in Sydney, Australia, have been devastated in recent months by a combination of bushfire debris, drought, and severe storms. Want more Rolling Stone? Industry makes our modern life possible, but also comes with environmental risks. The destructive hailstorm that hit Calgary on June 13, 2020, has officially been declared the fourth costliest natural disaster in the history of Canada, with insured damages hitting almost 1.2 billion dollars. The Russian population is in a state of panic as oil spills can cause massive damage to the environment if not contained properly. >:(, Your email address will not be published. Oil spills, poisonous-gas leaks, and out-of-control wildfires have caused devastating damage to the environment and those who live in it. Although many environmental disasters can controversially be blamed on human beings, there are a few catastrophes that without a doubt remain the fault of our species. Remember, it's free and you can unsubscribe at any time! If this fire was a volcano, it would already be among the largest eruptions of 2016. _Hasync.push(['Histats.track_hits', '']); The most serious nuclear emergency in U.S. history occurred near Middletown, Pennsylvania on March 29th, 1979. Humans have had a huge impact on our environment. var hs = document.createElement('script'); hs.type = 'text/javascript'; hs.async = true; Mysterious toxic pollution along a 40 km (25 miles) stretch of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula has killed 95 percent of seabed creatures in the area and caused health issues among surfers since September 2020. The BP oil spill was a tragedy that should never have happened, particularly not twenty years after the lesson of the Exxon-Valdez spill. For five days, a heavy fog merged with sulfurous fumes from coal fires, power plants and vehicle exhaust. Humans have changed the environment drastically, especially in the last century. })(); Disasters 2018 The Wildfires Hurricanes Heat And Drought Explained Vox, 10 Of The Deadliest Natural Disasters In 2018 Wtop, Hurricane Fire Covid 19 Disasters Expose The Hard Reality Of Climate Change New York Times, Disasters 2017 The Devastating Hurricanes Fires Floods And Heat Explained Vox, Environmental Disasters Across World In July 2020, The Natural Disasters Of 2018 In Figures Munich Re, 2018 S Billion Dollar Disasters In Context Noaa Climate Gov, Climate Change Southern California S Worst Case Wildfire Scenario Vox, Here S How Wildfires Get Started And To Stop Them, California S Fires Are Not Natural Humans Made Them Worse Vox, The Cause Of California S Wildfires Is Human Atlantic, California Methane Leak One Of The Worst Environmental Disasters In Us, Environment News Climate Change Energy Conservation Nbc, California Endures Fires Blackouts A Heat Wave And Pandemic The New York Times, Mitigating Natural Disasters The Role Of Eco Ethics, California S Worst Disaster How Coronavirus Pares To Other, Nurdles Are The Biggest Pollution Disaster You Ve Never Heard Of Quartz, What Can Humans Do To Prevent Natural Disasters, National Disaster Management Plan Of India. contaminated the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginians, standardized oversight, tracking mechanisms or meaningful punishment for oil spills and leaks. If this is not handled properly by the authorities, the oil on the surface of the river can block the respiration for marine life. According to several media reports, huge forest covers have been lost in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand due to the forest fires. All you pay for is for their t-shirts and magezines and a fake document saying that you saved a life on telivision. The failure of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant is an admonition to those who believe that our continued reliance on fossil fuels has no consequences. The ash contained arsenic, lead and selenium which poisoned the air and water. In April, 2010, a blowout on the Deep Horizon rig killed 11 men and caused an oil leak that spread towards Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida coastlines. The result was a horrendous flood of one billion gallons of coal slurry that covered 3,000 acres of Tennessee countryside. It was one of the most destructive human-caused environmental disasters with both long-term and short-term effects. With the lack of humidity in the air and existing weather conditions, it became very difficult for the authorities to control the fires. Chernobyl was considered the world's worst nuclear power accident. Overfishing has had many detrimental effects on the environment, from changing the ecosystem to polluting the waters that so many creatures depend on for life. It is located between San Francisco and Hawaii, at the cross-center of the North Pacific Gyre, which is a set of revolving currents. On March 24th, 1989, the Exxon-Valdez oil tanker struck a reef off the coast of Alaska, causing a total of 11,000,000 gallons of crude oil to leak into the Prince William Sound. The oil... A fire at a sulfur mine and processing facility near Mosul, Iraq is emitting tremendous quantities of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere for the sixth day in a row. Climate change is potentially the worst environmental disaster of all time and its progress can only be slowed down if the general negligence in the world can be overcome. Because of climate change and human interruptions in the natural environment of several species, the number of environmental disasters has been on the rise. In December of 2008, the dike surrounding an 80-acre mound of fly ash, the remnants of coal production, collapsed. From destruction caused by oil spills to bushfires and floods, mentioned below are some of the worst environmental disasters of 2020 from across the world.