ARTICLE • THE ENVIRONMENT

Environmental Catastrophe: Doom, Doom, Doom?

by Austin Deang

Environmental Disaster. Illustrated by Mikaiah Bien for Hiraya.

It’s no wonder technology makes our lives easier, and advancements in it will improve our lives. However, these advancements come at a cost — they can bring in more destructive potential, and one mishap can lead to an environmental disaster, damaging the environment. But what exactly is an environmental disaster?

Clue: It’s humans

They’re not natural disasters — those happen without human activity. Examples of such include floods, typhoons, earthquakes, etc. Environmental disasters, however, are disasters directly or indirectly caused by human activity that affect the natural environment. Such examples include oil spills, dumping waste in water, nuclear meltdowns, man-made forest fires, etc.

With the advancements in technology over the past century, there have been various technology-related environmental disasters, like the Chernobyl incident, which happened on April 25–26, 1986. It occurred when a reactor unit in the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station in Chernobyl, Ukraine exploded in a poorly designed experiment, releasing tons of radioactive material into the atmosphere. This caused radiation induced illnesses in thousands of people.

The aftermath of the Chernobyl incident, wherein around 30% of the power station’s 190 metric tons of uranium entered the atmosphere. Photo by Sovfoto/UIG on Getty Images.

Others are the result of chemical and industrial processes, where accidents occur due to improper or careless handling and the side effects of these processes pollute the environment. One example is the Love Canal incident, where the respective canal had acted as a chemical dump decades prior, toxic chemicals contaminating it and the surrounding soil over time. Eventually, these chemicals started oozing into peoples’ homes, causing multiple health problems for local residents.

Domino disaster

Many environmental disasters have long term effects that can greatly affect the environment. One example was the creation of a hole in the ozone layer due to the release of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, into the atmosphere. Other examples include emissions from vehicles and factories, which release volatile compounds that, upon reacting with sunlight, produce toxic pollutants that can cause circulatory and respiratory problems. Another was the usage of DDT, an insecticide used against mosquitoes, which causes multiple health problems in humans in high amounts, although it and CFCs would eventually be banned.

When CFCs entered the atmosphere all the way from aerosol spray cans and refrigerators, the ultraviolet light breaks chlorine atoms away from the CFC molecule. Once a chlorine atom engages in chemical reactions that can damage the ozone layer, it can be reused to repeat its harmful cycle. Photo by NASA.

Is it possible humans could cause an environmental disaster that could destroy the world? So far, no environmental disaster has had the power to literally do so. However, the side effects of such disasters can result in severe environmental damage and the loss of millions of lives. Such side effects include acid rain resulting from high amounts of emitted carbon dioxide, the hole in the ozone layer, the pollution of the environment with toxic chemicals, and global warming due to the release of gases that trap the Sun’s heat, causing the global temperature to rise.

If you’re still worried about environmental disaster, there are still things you can do, like not littering, which can prevent harmful chemicals from mixing with the soil or water. Another thing that you can do is, just like natural disasters, you can raise awareness of the damage that environmental disasters can cause and help people properly plan for such events. Note that preventing environmental disasters won’t just take one person — it will take many, and you could be one of those many.

REFERENCES

• Beck, E.C. (1979, January) [EPA Journal]. The Love Canal tragedy.
• Blakemore, E. (2019, May 18). The Chernobyl disaster: What happened, and the long term impacts. National Geographic.
• Dabowski, C. (2018, August 4). A history of the Love Canal disaster, 1893-1988. The Buffalo News.
• National Geographic. (2008). The science book: Everything you need to know about the world and how it works. National Geographic.
• National Geographic Society. (2021). Humans induce and reduce environmental disasters. National Geographic.
• Rinkesh. (n.d). Top 15 worst environmental disasters caused by humans. Conserve Energy Future.
• Staff Reporter. (2019, June 10). How will the world end? The Ecologist.
• The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2021, January 22). Chernobyl disaster. In Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Urban, O. (2016, February 24). Health consequences of the Chernobyl accident.
• WHO. (n.d). Preventing national health emergencies. WHO.
• Wuebbles, D. (2021, February 12). Ozone depletion. In Encyclopedia Britannica.

#ARCHIVES: This article was previously published in Hiraya Zine Volume 1, Issue 3: The Environment last May 2021. Download the zine for free here.

This issue is presented in partnership with The Growth Initiative, Wavefarers, and Youth Strike 4 Climate Philippines.