THE 12 WORST HUMAN-MADE DISASTERS OF ALL TIME MORE TO EXPLORE Free Ebook | Live Updates by Susan E. Hamen 12StoryLibrary.com THE 12 WORST HUMAN-MADE DISASTERS OF ALL TIME by Susan E. Hamen www.12StoryLibrary.com Copyright © 2019 by 12-Story Library, Mankato, MN 56003. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. 12-Story Library is an imprint of Bookstaves. 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Table of Contents Toxic Sludge Poisons New York State Neighborhood .............4 “Door to Hell” Burns for Decades in Turkmenistan Desert ....6 E-Waste Harms Environment in Chinese Town .......................8 Sulfur Dioxide Sickens Iraqis Near Mosul .............................. 10 Irrigation Shrinks Asia’s Aral Sea ............................................ 12 Nuclear Disaster Creates a Ghost Town in Ukraine ............. 14 Cyanide Spill in Romania Is Environmental Catastrophe .... 16 Chemical Explosion in China Forces Evacuation ................... 18 Toxic Gas Leak Is India’s Worst Industrial Accident ............. 20 Huge Floating Garbage Patch Threatens Marine Life .......... 22 Gulf Oil Spill Is Worst in US History ........................................ 24 Earthquake Leads to Nuclear Meltdown in Japan ................ 26 Staying Safe If There Is a Human-Made Disaster ................ 28 Glossary ...................................................................................... 30 For More Information ............................................................... 31 Index ............................................................................................ 32 About the Author ....................................................................... 32 1 Toxic Sludge Poisons New York State Neighborhood In the 1970s, children in the Love had two children who were sick. She Canal neighborhood of Niagara read a newspaper article that said Falls, New York, started getting chemical waste was buried in the sick. Some developed diseases area. Lois spoke to her neighbors. such as epilepsy and asthma. Many She recorded the conditions babies were born premature. Others residents had. Her work gained had birth defects. A number of national attention. children never grew their adult teeth. Officials began to When black goo began seeping up investigate. from the grass, residents knew They found something was wrong. Love Canal that the neighborhood. One young mother Hooker took action. Lois Gibbs The foundation of a home that was relocated. Behind is the filled-in chemical dump. 4 Children protest at a neighborhood Chemical rally in 1978. Company had dumped chemical waste in Love Canal decades earlier. The site was later covered with clay. It was then sold to the city. A school was built on the site. Over time, chemicals ate through the clay. They seeped up out of the ground. Children spent their recess on a playground with black, mucky, toxic goop. These poisonous chemicals made Love Canal residents sick. A PREVENTABLE DISASTER 56 The Hooker Chemical Company Percent of children in told city officials about the buried Love Canal born with birth chemicals. But officials didn’t pass defects from 1974 to along warnings to people who 1978. bought homes in the Love Canal • Children in Love Canal neighborhood. The state of New York began getting sick in the eventually purchased the homes of 1970s. nearly 1,000 families in the area. It • Toxic chemicals had been buried in the area. also paid to relocate people. • Exposure to the chemicals caused birth defects and 5 diseases. 2 “Door to Hell” Burns for Decades in Turkmenistan Desert Geologists went to the Karakum The large craters gave off natural Desert in 1971 to find oil. They gas. It contained a gas called began to drill in present-day methane. The methane made it Turkmenistan near the village of difficult for people and animals to Darvaza. These scientists did not breathe. Scientists noticed desert find oil. Instead, they drilled right into animals dying. Something had to be a large pocket of natural gas. done. When oil drills hit the natural gas Geologists lit the natural gas field on cavity, the ground gave way. It fire. They hoped the gas would burn couldn’t support the weight of the off quickly. After a few weeks, the machinery. The entire site collapsed. fires still burned. Months passed. Other areas near the drill site also Then years. Then decades. caved in. Open craters dotted the More than 40 years later, the Karakum Desert. Darvaza gas crater is still on fire. 6 The crater is 225 feet (69 m) across. Many people call it the “Door to Hell.” 99 Depth in feet (30 m) of In 2010, the president of the burning crater. Turkmenistan ordered the crater to • The Darvaza Gas Crater be filled in. He believed this would was created by geologists allow geologists to drill for oil in drilling for oil. nearby areas. But officials have yet to • Scientists lit a fire in the take action. The crater has become a crater to burn off natural gas containing methane. tourist attraction. No one knows how • The crater has been long the fire will burn. burning for more than 40 years. 7 Index Al-Mishraq sulfur plant, Fukushima Daiichi pesticide, 13, 20-21, 30 10-11 nuclear power plant, plastic, 8-9, 18, 22-23, 26-27 30 benzene, 18-19, 30 poisoned food chain, 17 birth defects, 4-5 ghost nets, 23 poisonous gases, 8, Gibbs, Lois, 4 20-21 chemical waste, 4-5 Greenpeace, 9 pollutants, 16, 18 chemicals, 5, 8-9, 13, groundwater, 8 18-19 radiation, 15, 26-27, 30 Chernobyl nuclear power hydrogen sulfide, 10 radioactive waste, 26-27 plant, 14-15 recycle, 8-9 conservation groups, 23 Love Canal, 4-5 respiratory problems, contamination, 19 11, 16, 20 methane, 6-7, 30 Darvaza Gas Crater, 6-7 mutated fish, 25 toxic gases, 20-21 diseases, 4-5, 19 dust storms, 13 natural gas, 6-7, 25 Union Carbide, 20-21 environment, 8-9, 10, 27 oil slick, 25, 30 About the Author Susan E. Hamen has written more READ MORE FROM than 30 books for children on various 12-STORY LIBRARY topics, including the Wright brothers, Every 12-Story Library Book World War II, and ancient Rome. is available in many fomats. Hamen lives in Minnesota with her For more information, visit husband, daughter, and son. 12StoryLibrary.com 32 Find More to Explore at 12StoryLibrary.com Get free, live content on this topic and a full digital version of this book. Just scan the code or use your school’s login for instant access. The website features: • A free multi-user ebook • Staff-generated news updates • Live content feeds from safe, reliable sources Scan here • Video, interactive maps, and graphics for live content on this book. • An educator’s resource page with lesson plans Note to educators: Visit 12StoryLibrary.com/register to sign up for free premium website access. Enjoy live content plus a full digital version of every 12-Story Library book you own for every student at your school. Read all the books in All-Time Worst Disasters Earthquakes, fires, tornadoes, and floods! Hurricanes, plagues, shipwrecks, and oil spills! This series has them all. Disasters are fascinating, awe- inspiring, and scary, all at the same time. Learn the facts about many of the worst disasters in human history. Then get some tips on how to prepare for disasters and stay safe. ALL-TIME WORST DISASTERS.