Places to KNow Flashcards
Chernobyl, Ukraine
April 26, 1986, unorthorized safety (irony), leads to fire and exposion at the nuclear power plant– millions exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.
Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania
March 29, 1979, nuclear power plant loses cooling water 50% of core melts, radioactive materials escape into atmostphere, near meltdown. (disaster)
Yucca Mountain, Nevada
contreversial as proposed site for permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste, 70-miles northwest of Las Vegas, near volcano and earthquake faults.
Aral Sea, Uzbekistan/Kazakhan (former Soviet Union)
large inland sea us drying nup as a result of water diversion.
Love Canal, NY
chemicals burried in old canala, school and homes built over it led to birth defects and cancers.
Aswan High Dam, Egypt
the silt that made the Nile region fetile the resevoir. Lack of irrigation controls causes waterlogging and salinization. The parasitic disease schistosmiasis thrives in the stagnant water of the resevoir
Three Gorges Dam, China
world’s largest dam in the Yangtze River will drown ecosystems, cities, archeological sites, fragment habitats, and displace 2 million people.
Ogallala Aquifer
world’s largest aquifer; under parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas (the midwest). Holds enough water to cover the US wuth 1.5 feet of water. Being depleted for agricultural and urban use.
Minamata, Japan
mental impairments, birth defects, and deaths were caused by mercury dumped in Minamata Bay by factory and urban use.
Bhopal, India
Dec, 2, 1984, methyl isocynate released accidently by Union Carbide pesticide plant kills 5,000.
Valdez, Alaska
March 24, 1989, tanker Exxon Valdez hits submerged rocks in Prince Williams Sound— worst oil spill in US waters
