List of environmental disasters
Encyclopedia
This page is a list of environmental disasters. In this context it is an annotated list of specific events caused by human activity that results in a negative effect on the environment
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Environment (biophysical)
The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...
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Agricultural
- Salinity in AustraliaSalinity in AustraliaSoil salinity and dryland salinity are two problems degrading the environment of Australia. Salinity is a concern in most states, but especially in the south-west of Western Australia....
- Salinization of the Fertile CrescentFertile CrescentThe Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
- The Dust BowlDust BowlThe Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
in Canada and the United States (1934–1939) - The Great sparrow campaignGreat sparrow campaignthumb|right|250px|At the direction of [[Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao]], sparrows were killed by the peasants, causing a major [[ecological]] imbalance in the environment...
; sparrows were eliminated from Chinese farms, which caused locusts to swarm the farms and contributed to a famine which killed 38 million people. - Africanized beeAfricanized beeAfricanized honey bees, known colloquially as "killer bees", are a hybrid variety of the European honeybee , generated by a man-made breeding of the African honey bee, A. m. scutellata, with various European honey bees such as the Italian bee A. m. ligustica and A. m. iberiensis. These bees are far...
s, known colloquially as "killer bees" - Mismanagement of the Aral SeaAral SeaThe Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...
- "Dirty dairyingDirty dairyingFish and Game started a high profile "dirty dairying" campaign to highlight the problems caused by intensification of dairy farming on the ecological health of New Zealand's freshwater environment...
" in New Zealand
Biodiversity
- Chestnut blightChestnut blightThe pathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica is a member of the ascomycota category, and is the main cause of chestnut blight, a devastating disease of the American chestnut tree that caused a mass extinction in the early 1900s of this once plentiful tree from its historic range in the eastern...
- Extinction of American megafauna
- Extinction of Australian megafaunaAustralian megafaunaAustralian megafauna are a number of large animal species in Australia, often defined as species with body mass estimates of greater than 30 kilograms, or equal to or greater than 30% greater body mass than their closest living relatives...
- Deforestation of Easter Island
- Destruction of the old growth forestOld growth forestAn old-growth forest is a forest that has attained great age , and thereby exhibits unique ecological features. An old growth forest has also usually reached a climax community...
s - Rabbits in AustraliaRabbits in AustraliaIn Australia, rabbits are a serious mammalian pest and are an invasive species. Annually, European rabbits cause millions of dollars of damage to crops.-Effects on Australia's ecology:...
- Red imported fire antRed imported fire antSee main article Fire ant.The red imported fire ant , or simply RIFA, is one of over 280 species in the widespread genus Solenopsis...
s - Dutch Elm DiseaseDutch elm diseaseDutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...
- Reduction in the number of the American BisonAmerican BisonThe American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
- Introduction of the Nile perchNile perchThe Nile perch is a species of freshwaterfish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is widespread throughout muchof the Afrotropic ecozone, being native to the Congo, Nile, Senegal, Niger, and Lake Chad, Volta, Lake Turkana and other river basins. It also occurs in the brackish waters of...
into Lake VictoriaLake VictoriaLake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
in Africa, decimating indigenous fish species - The Saemangeum SeawallSaemangeum SeawallThe Saemangeum Seawall, located on the southwest coast of the Korean peninsula, is the world's longest man-made dyke, measuring 33 kilometres. It runs between two headlands, and separates the Yellow Sea and the former Saemangeum estuary....
- Emerald Ash BorerEmerald ash borerThe emerald ash borer is a green beetle native to Asia.In North America the borer is an invasive species, highly destructive to ash trees in its introduced range. The potential damage of this insect rivals that of Chestnut blight and Dutch Elm Disease...
- Environmental threats to the Great Barrier ReefEnvironmental threats to the Great Barrier ReefThe Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands that stretch for 2,600 kilometres and cover an area of approximately 344,400 km². The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast...
- 2006 Zakouma elephant slaughter2006 Zakouma elephant slaughterThe 2006 Zakouma elephant slaughter refers to a series of poaching massacres of African elephants in the vicinity of Zakouma National Park in southeastern Chad. These killings were documented in aerial surveys conducted from May through August 2006 and total at least 100 animals...
- Invasive species in New ZealandInvasive species in New ZealandA number of introduced species, some of which have become invasive species, have been added to New Zealand's native flora and fauna.Both deliberate and accidental introductions have been made from the time of the first human settlement with several waves of Polynesian people at some time before the...
- The loss of Biodiversity of New ZealandBiodiversity of New ZealandThe biodiversity of New Zealand, a large Pacific archipelago, is one of the most unusual on Earth, due to its long isolation from other continental landmasses. Its affinities are derived from Gondwana, from which it separated 82 million years ago, New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island, both of which...
- Ghost netGhost netGhost nets are fishing nets that have been left or lost in the ocean by fishermen. These nets, often nearly invisible in the dim light, can be left tangled on a rocky reef or drifting in the open sea. They can entangle fish, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs, and...
s - Grounding of SS MakamboSS MakamboThe SS Makambo was a steamship first owned by Burns Philp & Co. Ltd. She was built in Port Glasgow and named after an island in the Solomon Islands. She carried both passengers and cargo and was principally used on routes between eastern Australia and islands in Melanesia and the Tasman Sea...
on Lord Howe IslandLord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of... - Shark finningShark finningShark finning refers to the removal and retention of shark fins and the discarding of the rest of the fish. Shark finning takes place at sea so the fishers only have to transport the fins.Shark finning is widespread, and largely unmanaged and unmonitored...
- Decline of vultures in IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
due to Diclofenac leading to increased incidence of rabiesRabiesRabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
Coal
- Martin County sludge spillMartin County sludge spillThe Martin County Sludge Spill was an accident that occurred after midnight on October 11, 2000 when the bottom of a coal sludge impoundment owned by Massey Energy in Martin County, Kentucky, USA, broke into an abandoned underground mine below. The slurry came out of the mine openings, sending an...
- Tennessee coal sludge spill
- Mountaintop Removal Mining
Human health
- Introduction of the Bubonic Plague (the Plague of Justinian) in Europe from Africa in the 7th century resulting in the death of up to 60% (100 million) of the population.
- Introduction of the Bubonic Plague (the Black DeathBlack DeathThe Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
) in Europe from Central Asia in the 14th century resulting in the death of up to 60% (200 million) of the population and recurring until the 18th century. - Introduction of infectious diseases by Europeans causing the death of indigenous people during European colonization of the AmericasEuropean colonization of the AmericasThe start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
- Health effects arising from the September 11 attacks
- Goiânia accidentGoiânia accidentThe Goiânia accident was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on September 13, 1987, at Goiânia, in the Brazilian State of Goiás after an old radiotherapy source was taken from an abandoned hospital site in the city...
, human deaths resulting from dismantling a scrapped medical machine containing a source of radioactivity
Industrial
Coordinates of the Industrial Environmental Disasters found on this page, shown in Google. Complete with the Wikipedia descriptions listed below built into each location.- Minamata diseaseMinamata disease', sometimes referred to as , is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death...
- mercury poisoning in Japan (1950s & 1960s) - Ontario Minamata diseaseOntario Minamata diseaseOntario Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. It occurred in the Canadian province of Ontario in 1970 and severely affected two First Nation communities located in Northwestern Ontario following consumption of local fish that were contaminated with mercury...
in Canada - Itai-itai diseaseItai-itai disease, was the documented case of mass cadmium poisoning in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, starting around 1912. The cadmium poisoning caused softening of the bones and kidney failure. The disease is named for the severe pains caused in the joints and spine. The term itai-itai disease was coined by locals...
, due to cadmium poisoning in Japan - Love CanalLove CanalLove Canal was a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, located in the white collar LaSalle section of the city. It officially covers 36 square blocks in the far southeastern corner of the city, along 99th Street and Read Avenue...
toxic waste site - Seveso disasterSeveso disasterThe Seveso disaster was an industrial accident that occurred around 12:37 pm July 10, 1976, in a small chemical manufacturing plant approximately north of Milan in the Lombardy region in Italy...
(1976), chemical plant explosion, caused highest known exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in residential populations - Bhopal disasterBhopal disasterThe Bhopal disaster also known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India...
(December 3, 1984, India), The leak of methyl isocyanate that took place in 1984 resulted in more than 22,000 deaths (and counting) and the various genetic diseases that will continue to be seen for generations to come among the newly born, caused by the negligence and corruption, ignoring safety standards in India by Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide, a US company now a subsidiary of Dow Chemicals. - Sandoz chemical spillSandoz chemical spillThe Sandoz chemical spill was a major environmental disaster caused by a fire and its subsequent extinguishing at Sandoz agrochemical storehouse in Schweizerhalle, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, on November 1, 1986, which released toxic agrochemicals into the air and resulted in tons of pollutants...
into the Rhine river (1986) - United States Environmental Protection Agency SuperfundSuperfundSuperfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
sites in the United States - AZFAZFAZF was the name of a chemical factory near Toulouse, France, which exploded on 21 September 2001...
Explosion at a Toulouse chemical factory (2001) - 2005 Jilin chemical plant explosions2005 Jilin chemical plant explosionsThe Jilin chemical plant explosions were a series of explosions which occurred on November 13, 2005, in the No.101 Petrochemical Plant in Jilin City, Jilin Province, China, over the period of an hour...
- The Sydney Tar PondsSydney Tar PondsThe Sydney Tar Ponds are a hazardous waste site on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.Located on the eastern shore of Sydney Harbour in the former city of Sydney , the Tar Ponds form a tidal estuary at the mouth of Muggah Creek, a freshwater stream that empties into the harbour...
and Coke Ovens sites in the city of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, known as the largest toxic waste site in North America. - Release of lead dust into EsperanceEsperanceEsperance may refer to:* Esperance , New York* Esperance , New York* Esperance, Washington* Esperance, Western Australia* Exuperantia , French saint* HMS Esperance, two ships of the Royal Navy* The battle cry of Henry Percy...
Harbour. - Release of cyanideCyanideA cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
, heavy metalsHeavy metalsA heavy metal is a member of a loosely-defined subset of elements that exhibit metallic properties. It mainly includes the transition metals, some metalloids, lanthanides, and actinides. Many different definitions have been proposed—some based on density, some on atomic number or atomic weight,...
and acidAcidAn acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
into the Alamosa RiverAlamosa RiverThe Alamosa River is a river in the southern part of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is about long, flowing roughly east through the San Luis Valley. Its watershed comprises about .The river's name means "shaded with cottonwoods" in Spanish....
, Colorado from the Summitville mineSummitville mineThe Summitville mine was a gold mining site in Rio Grande County, Colorado south of Del Norte. It is remembered for the environmental damage caused in the 1980s by the accidental leakage of mining by-products into local waterways and then the Alamosa River....
, causing the death of all marine life within a 17 mile radius. - Release of 20,000 gallons of lethal chemicals (metam sodium, tradename Vapam) into the Upper Sacramento RiverSacramento RiverThe Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
near DunsmuirDunsmuir, CaliforniaDunsmuir is a city in Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2010 census, down from 1,923 at the 2000 census. It is currently a hub of tourism in Northern California as visitors enjoy fishing, skiing, climbing, or sight-seeing...
, causing the death of all marine life within a 38 mile radius. - Release of CFC's resulting in ozone depletionOzone depletionOzone depletion describes two distinct but related phenomena observed since the late 1970s: a steady decline of about 4% per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth's stratosphere , and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon...
- Release of sulfur dioxide after a fire at the Al-MishraqAl-MishraqAl-Mishraq is a state run sulfur plant near Mosul, Iraq. In June 2003, it was the site of the largest man-made release of sulfur dioxide ever recorded when a fire gained control and burned for almost a month. At its height, the fire was putting 21,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide a day into the...
plant in Iraq - The Phillips DisasterPhillips DisasterThe Phillips Disaster refers to a devastating series of explosions and fire on October 23, 1989 near the Houston Ship Channel in Pasadena, Texas, USA. The initial blast registered 3.5 on the Richter Scale, and the conflagration took 10 hours to bring under control...
s - Vila Parisi (Brazil)
- Health issues on the Aamjiwnaang First NationAamjiwnaang First NationThe Aamjiwnaang First Nation is a First Nations community of about 850 Chippewa Aboriginal peoples. They live on the Sarnia 45 Indian Reserve, located on the shores of the St...
due to chemical factories - Environmental issues with the Three Gorges DamEnvironmental issues with the Three Gorges DamThe environmental impact of the Three Gorges Dam is diverse. Effects of the dam include degraded water quality, detriments to wildlife, and potential riverbank collapses....
- Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spillKingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spillThe TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill occurred just before 1 a.m. on Monday December 22, 2008, when an ash dike ruptured at an solid waste containment area at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee, USA. of coal fly ash slurry was...
- The Great Smog in London in 1952
Mining
- Phosphate mining in NauruPhosphate mining in NauruThe economy of Nauru has been almost wholly dependent on phosphate, which has led to environmental catastrophe on the island, with 80% of the nation’s surface having been strip-mined...
- Phosphate mining in St. Pierre IslandSt. Pierre IslandSt Pierre Island is a raised reef island west of Providence Atoll and part of Farquhar Group, which belongs to the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. The island is located 35 km west of Cerf Island of Providence Atoll, 704 km from Mahé and 500 km ENE of Aldabra...
Oil industry
- Environmental issues in the Niger Delta relating to the oil industry
- Lago Agrio oil fieldLago Agrio oil fieldThe Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area in the Ecuadorian province of Sucumbíos, discovered in the 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and...
issues - Exxon Valdez oil spillExxon Valdez oil spillThe Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused...
- Arctic Refuge drilling controversyArctic Refuge drilling controversyThe question of whether to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve has been an ongoing political controversy in the United States since 1997...
- Deepwater Horizon oil spillDeepwater Horizon oil spillThe Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
- Sidoarjo mud flowSidoarjo mud flowThe Sidoarjo mud flow or Lapindo mud, also informally abbreviated as Lusi, a contraction of Lumpur Sidoarjo , is a mud volcano in the subdistrict of Porong, Sidoarjo in East Java, Indonesia that has been in eruption since May 2006...
triggered by Lapindo Brantas gas exploration in 2006; East Java, Indonesia
Nuclear
- Chernobyl disasterChernobyl disasterThe Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
in 1986 in Chernobyl, Ukraine, "killed at least 4056 people and damaged almost $7 billion of property". Radioactive fallout from the accident concentrated near Belarus, Ukraine and Russia and at least 350,000 people were forcibly resettled away from these areas. After the accident, "traces of radioactive deposits unique to Chernobyl were found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere". - Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disasterFukushima Daiichi nuclear disasterThe is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The plant comprises six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric ,...
: Following an earthquake, tsunami, and failure of cooling systems at Fukushima I Nuclear Power PlantFukushima I Nuclear Power PlantThe , also known as Fukushima Dai-ichi , is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Okuma and Futaba in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. First commissioned in 1971, the plant consists of six boiling water reactors...
and issues concerning other nuclear facilities in Japan on March 11, 2011, a nuclear emergency was declared. This was the first time a nuclear emergency had been declared in Japan, and 140,000 residents within 20 km of the plant were evacuated. Explosions and a fire have resulted in dangerous levels of radiationRadiationIn physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
, sparking a stock market collapse and panic-buying in supermarkets. - Mayak nuclear wasteKyshtym disasterThe Kyshtym disaster was a radiation contamination incident that occurred on 29 September 1957 at Mayak, a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Russia...
storage tank explosion, (ChelyabinskChelyabinskChelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
, Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, 29 September 1957), 200+ people died and 270,000 people were exposed to dangerous radiationRadioactive decayRadioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles . The emission is spontaneous, in that the atom decays without any physical interaction with another particle from outside the atom...
levels. Over thirty small communities had been removed from Soviet maps between 1958 and 1991. - Windscale fireWindscale fireThe Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 was the worst nuclear accident in Great Britain's history, ranked in severity at level 5 on the 7-point International Nuclear Event Scale. The two piles had been hurriedly built as part of the British atomic bomb project. Windscale Pile No. 1 was operational in...
, United Kingdom, October 8, 1957. Fire ignites plutonium piles and contaminates surrounding dairy farms. - Soviet submarine K-431Soviet submarine K-431The Soviet submarine K-431 was a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine that had a reactor accident on August 10, 1985. An explosion occurred during refueling of the submarine at Chazhma Bay, Vladivostok...
accident, August 10, 1985 (10 people died and 49 suffered radiation injuries). - Soviet submarine K-19Soviet submarine K-19K-19, KS-19, BS_19 was one of the first two Soviet submarines of the 658, 658м, 658с class , the first generation nuclear submarine equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles, specifically the R-13 . Its keel was laid down on 17 October 1958, christened on 8 April 1959 and launched on 11 October 1959...
accident, July 4, 1961. (8 deaths and more than 30 people were over-exposed to radiation). - Nuclear testing at MoruroaMoruroaMoruroa , also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean...
and FangataufaFangataufaFangataufa is a small, low, narrow, coral atoll in the eastern side of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Along with its neighboring atoll, Moruroa, it has been the site of approximately 200 nuclear bomb tests....
in the Pacific Ocean - Fallout from the Castle BravoCastle BravoCastle Bravo was the code name given to the first U.S. test of a dry fuel thermonuclear hydrogen bomb device, detonated on March 1, 1954 at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as the first test of Operation Castle. Castle Bravo was the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the United States ,...
nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands - The health of DownwindersDownwindersDownwinders refers to individuals and communities who are exposed to radioactive contamination or nuclear fallout from atmospheric or underground nuclear weapons testing, and nuclear accidents...
- Three Mile IslandThree Mile Island accidentThe Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
in Pennsylvania in 1979
Air
- The Donora Smog of 1948Donora Smog of 1948The 1948 Donora smog was a historic air inversion resulting in a wall of smog that killed 20 people and sickened 7,000 more in Donora, Pennsylvania, a mill town on the Monongahela River, southeast of Pittsburgh.-The incident:...
in Donora, Pennsylvania in the United States - The Great Smog of 1952Great Smog of 1952The Great Smog of '52 or Big Smoke was a severe air pollution event that affected London, England, during December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants mostly from the use of coal to form a thick layer of smog over the...
, which killed 4,000 Londoners - The 1983 Melbourne dust storm1983 Melbourne dust stormThe 1983 Melbourne dust storm was a meteorological phenomenon that occurred during the afternoon of 8 February 1983, throughout much of Victoria, Australia and affected the capital, Melbourne. Red soil, dust and sand from Central and Southeastern Australia was swept up in high winds and carried...
- The 1997 Southeast Asian haze1997 Southeast Asian hazeThe 1997 Southeast Asian haze was a large-scale air quality disaster which occurred during the second half of 1997, its after-effects causing widespread atmospheric visibility and health problems within Southeast Asia...
- The 2005 Malaysian haze2005 Malaysian hazeThe 2005 Malaysian haze was a week-long choking smog-like haze over Malaysia that almost brought the central part of Peninsular Malaysia to a standstill, prompted crisis talks with Indonesia and caused widespread inconvenience. The haze was at its worst on August 11, 2005...
- The 2006 Southeast Asian haze
- Yokkaichi asthmaYokkaichi AsthmaYokkaichi asthma, one of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan, occurred in the city of Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture, Japan between 1960 and 1972...
in Japan - Health problems due to the Jinkanpo Atsugi IncineratorJinkanpo Atsugi IncineratorThe Jinkanpo Atsugi Incinerator, was a waste incinerator located in Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It began operation in the 1980s and was closed in 2001...
in Japan - Kuwaiti oil firesKuwaiti oil firesThe Kuwaiti oil fires were caused by Iraqi military forces setting fire to 700 oil wells as part of a scorched earth policy while retreating from Kuwait in 1991 after invading the country but being driven out by Coalition military forces...
Land
- The Dust BowlDust BowlThe Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
of Canada and the United States - Contaminated soils in Mapua, New ZealandMapua, New ZealandMapua is a small town in the South Island of New Zealand.It is to the west of Nelson on State Highway 60 and on the coastline of Tasman Bay. The 2006 census gave a population of 1878, up 16.1 percent since the 2001 Census.:...
due to the operation of an agricultural chemicals factory - Basin FBasin FBasin F was constructed by the United States Army in 1956 at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, to provide for the disposal of contaminated liquid wastes from the chemical manufacturing operations of the Army and its lessee Shell Chemical Company....
, a disposal site in the United States for contaminated liquid wastes from the chemical manufacturing operations of the Army and its lessee Shell Chemical Company - 2006 Côte d'Ivoire toxic waste dump
Freshwater
- Sandoz chemical spillSandoz chemical spillThe Sandoz chemical spill was a major environmental disaster caused by a fire and its subsequent extinguishing at Sandoz agrochemical storehouse in Schweizerhalle, Basel-Landschaft, Switzerland, on November 1, 1986, which released toxic agrochemicals into the air and resulted in tons of pollutants...
, severely polluting the Rhine in 1986 - Selenium poisoning of wildlife due to farm runoff used to create Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge, and the artificial wetland
- The Jiyeh Power Station oil spillJiyeh power station oil spillThe Jiyeh Power Station oil spill is an environmental disaster caused by the release of heavy fuel oil into the eastern Mediterranean after storage tanks at the thermal power station in Jiyeh, Lebanon, south of Beirut, were bombed by the Israeli Air force on July 14 and July 15, 2006 during the...
in the Mediterranean region - Effects of polluted water in the Berkeley PitBerkeley PitThe Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, United States. It is one mile long by half a mile wide with an approximate depth of . It is filled to a depth of about with water that is heavily acidic , about the acidity of cola or lemon juice...
in the United States - Ignition and conflagration (13 times from 1868 to 1969) of the Cuyahoga RiverCuyahoga RiverThe Cuyahoga River is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river that caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s...
in Ohio, United States - Cheakamus River derailmentCheakamus River derailmentThe Cheakamus River derailment occurred on August 5, 2005, when nine cars from a Canadian National Railway freight train derailed into the Cheakamus River in British Columbia...
which polluted a river with caustic soda - Draining and development of the EvergladesDraining and development of the EvergladesThe history of draining and development of the Everglades dates back to the 19th century. During the Second Seminole War beginning in 1836, the United States military's mission was to seek out Seminole people in the Everglades and capture or kill them. Those missions gave the military the...
Marine
- Coral bleachingCoral bleachingCoral bleaching is the loss of intracellular endosymbionts through either expulsion or loss of algal pigmentation.The corals that form the structure of the great reef ecosystems of tropical seas depend upon a symbiotic relationship with unicellular flagellate protozoa, called zooxanthellae, that...
- The artificial Osborne ReefOsborne ReefOsborne Reef is an artificial reef off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida constructed of concrete jacks in a diameter circle.In the 1970s, the reef was the subject of an ambitious expansion project utilizing old and discarded tires...
off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the United States - Dumping of conventional and chemical munitions in Beaufort's DykeBeaufort's DykeBeaufort's Dyke is the sea trench between Northern Ireland and Scotland within the North Channel. The dyke is 50 km long, 3.5 km wide and 200–300 metres deep....
, a sea trench between Northern Ireland and Scotland - Marine debrisMarine debrisMarine debris, also known as marine litter, is human created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or...
- Environmental threats to the Great Barrier ReefEnvironmental threats to the Great Barrier ReefThe Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands that stretch for 2,600 kilometres and cover an area of approximately 344,400 km². The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast...
- NurdleNurdlePlastic particles are an increasing cause of water pollution. The particles include nurdles, microbeads from cosmetics products and the breakdown products of plastic litter. Nurdles are pre-production plastic resin pellet typically under in diameter found outside of the typical plastics...
s, plastic pellet typically under 5mm in diameter - Friendly FloateesFriendly FloateesFriendly Floatees are plastic bath toys marketed by The First Years, Inc. and made famous by the work of Curtis Ebbesmeyer, an oceanographer who models ocean currents on the basis of flotsam movements including those of a consignment of Friendly Floatees washed into the Pacific Ocean in...
- The Great Pacific Garbage PatchGreat Pacific Garbage PatchThe Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N...
- Minamata diseaseMinamata disease', sometimes referred to as , is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death...
, mercury poisoning in Japan - Mercury in fishMercury in fishFish and shellfish concentrate mercury in their bodies, often in the form of methylmercury, a highly toxic organic compound of mercury. Fish products have been shown to contain varying amounts of heavy metals, particularly mercury and fat-soluble pollutants from water pollution...
- Ocean acidificationOcean acidificationOcean acidification is the name given to the ongoing decrease in the pH and increase in acidity of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere....
due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions
See also
- Natural disasterNatural disasterA natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...
- Timeline of environmental eventsTimeline of environmental eventsThe timeline lists geological, astronomical, and climatological events in relation to events in human history which they influenced. For the history of humanity's perspective on these events, see timeline of the history of environmentalism...
- Index of environmental articlesIndex of environmental articlesThe natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, includes all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth....
- EcophagyEcophagyEcophagy is a term coined by Robert Freitas that means the literal consuming of an ecosystem. It derives from the Greek "οικος" or Late Latin "oeco-", which refers to a "house" or "household", and Greek φᾰγεῖν phagein "to eat"...
, the consuming of an ecosystem - List of Superfund sites in the United States