Case Studies in Environmental Science Flashcards
Aral Sea, Uzbekistan/Kazakhstan (former Soviet Union and Mono Lake, California
a large inland sea that is drying up; its salinity is rising as a result of water diversion for irrigation crops
Ogallala Aquifer
the world’s largest aquifer; under parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas (the Midwestern U.S.). It holds enough water to cover the U.S. with 1.5 feet of water. It is being depleted for agricultural and urban use.
Minamata, Japan
mental impairments, birth defects, and deaths caused by mercury dumped in Minamata Bay by a factory. The mercury was converted to Methylmercury, bioaccumulated in fish, and biomagnified through food chains. Mercury entered humans who ate a traditional fish-based diet.
Aswan High Dam, Egypt
the silt that made the Nile region fertile fills the reservoir. Lack of irrigation controls causes waterlogging and salinization. The parasitic disease schistosomiasis thrives in the stagnant water of the reservoir.
Chesapeake Bay, Maryland/Virginia
the largest estuary in the U.S.’ lies off the Atlantic Ocean between Maryland and Virginia and was declared a dead zone in the 1970s due to hypoxic conditions created from nutrient loading by fertilizers, which caused cultural eutrophication
Love Canal Housing Development, Niagara Falls, New York
hazardous chemicals buried in an old canal leaked into homes and school yards. Led to the passage of the Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund Act.
Three-Mile Island, Pennsylvania
on March 29, 1979, the emergency cooling system of a nuclear reactor was shut down erroneously by an operator. This led to a partial core meltdown. The containment structure worked well to retain all radioactive materials, but eventually some radioactive gas was purposely release to reduce pressure in the containment structure and avoid a more serious accident.
Bhopal, India
on December 2, 1984, poisonous methyl isocyanate gas was released accidentally by a Union Carbide pesticide plant killing about 5,000 people and causing serious health effects for 50,000-60,000.
Chernobyl, Ukraine
on April 26, 1986, an unauthorized safety test led to a fire and explosion at a nuclear power plant — as a result, millions of people in Europe are exposed to unsafe levels of radiation
Valdez, Alaska
on March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Prince William Sound spilling 260,000 barrels of oil. It was the largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters
Yucca Mountain, Nevada
the proposed site for permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste, 70 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Critics are concerned about the safety of transporting high-level radioactive waste to the site and the proximity of the site to a volcano and earthquake faults
Three Gorges Dam, China
the world’s largest dam on Yangtze River submerged ecosystems, cities, archaeological sites, displaced two million people, and fragmented the river habitat
Clinch River, Tennessee
the Tennessee Valley Authority’s power plant near Knoxville had a wall breached in retention pond holding sludge from the coal burning power plant. This release up to 1 billion gallons of mercury- and arsenic- containing sludge into the nearby Clinch River watershed.
a large inland sea that is drying up; its salinity is rising as a result of water diversion for irrigation crops
Aral Sea, Uzbekistan/Kazakhstan (former Soviet Union and Mono Lake, California
the world’s largest aquifer; under parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas (the Midwestern U.S.). It holds enough water to cover the U.S. with 1.5 feet of water. It is being depleted for agricultural and urban use.
Ogallala Aquifer
