Environmental Disasters

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A CHRONICLE OF INDIVIDUAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND GOVERNMENTAL CARELESSNESS LEE DAVIS The adagé "truth is stranger than fiction" aptly summarizes Lee Davis's detailed chronicle of the worst environmental tragedies of the 20th century. In each account he describes precisely the conditions leading to disaster, the unfolding of events, and their ruinous aftermath. To guide readers through the complexities of how and why these seemingly avoidable calamities occur, Environmental Disasters is organized into five thematic sections: Collective and Individual Assaults Against the Environment illustrates the destructive capability of ordinary citizens + Industrial and Governmental Disasters details the devastating environmental costs of somé profit-driven industrial activities and how these are, officially or unofficially, sanctioned by governments * Oil Spill Disasters describes the sometimes deadly side effects of consumer demand for low-cost fossil fuel, the transport of which has poisoned vast... Tovább

Fülszöveg

A CHRONICLE OF INDIVIDUAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND GOVERNMENTAL CARELESSNESS LEE DAVIS The adagé "truth is stranger than fiction" aptly summarizes Lee Davis's detailed chronicle of the worst environmental tragedies of the 20th century. In each account he describes precisely the conditions leading to disaster, the unfolding of events, and their ruinous aftermath. To guide readers through the complexities of how and why these seemingly avoidable calamities occur, Environmental Disasters is organized into five thematic sections: Collective and Individual Assaults Against the Environment illustrates the destructive capability of ordinary citizens + Industrial and Governmental Disasters details the devastating environmental costs of somé profit-driven industrial activities and how these are, officially or unofficially, sanctioned by governments * Oil Spill Disasters describes the sometimes deadly side effects of consumer demand for low-cost fossil fuel, the transport of which has poisoned vast stretches of land and sea * Nuclear Disasters dramatizes the unimaginable consequences of humán error and hubris in an industry driven by modern appetites for cheap energy * War Crimes Against the Environment recounts deliberate assaults against the environment for nationalistic aims Each section of Environmental Disasters is preceded by an introduction that places in context the articles that follow, a chronology, and a geographical guide. The book alsó contains photographs that vividly illustrate the effects of environmental disasters, a bibliography, and an index. Lee Davis is a biographer, journalist, theater histórián, and educator. Among his previously published works are Natural Disasters and Man-Made Catastropbes, both for Facts On File. He lives and works in Westhampton, New York. On the cover: On the afternoon of July 10, 1976, a cloud containing dioxin-an ingrcdicnt in the defoliant Agent Orange-billowed out of the lemesa chemical plánt in Seveso, Italy, obscuring the towns of Seveso, Desio, and Cesano Maderno, an area populated by 1,500 unwary residents. The cloud lasted for half an hour before coming apart and dispersing droplets of dioxin to the ground. (Tim Alipalo/UNEP/Topham) Vissza