Top Man-made Environmental Disasters : Chernobyl disaster

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Top Man-made Environmental Disasters

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Patch is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre .It is located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N.

Compiled By Philaso G. Kaping

Deepwater Horizon oil spill (BP oil spill)

It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed for three months in 2010. It released about 4.9 million barrels of crude oil.

Shrinking of Aral Sea

It was one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68,000 square kilometres. The Soviet Union diverted its tributaries for irrigation projects in the 1960s. It had declined to 10% of its original size. The maximum depth of the North Aral Sea is 42 m (as of 2008).

Exxon Valdez oil spill

The disaster occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, when the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef spilling 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil. The remote location of the accident made response difficult. The effects of the spill continued to be felt for many years. Huge quantities of marine life were destroyed.

Baia Mare cyanide spill

The spill has been called the worst environmental disaster in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster. Cyanide was leaked from the gold mining company, Aurul in Romania, into the Somes River which eventually reached the Danube, killing large numbers of fish.

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

Dead zones are hypoxic (low-oxygen) areas in the world`s oceans. The Mississippi River dumps high-nutrient runoff from its vast drainage basin creating the dead zone which is of 22, 126 square kilometre and still increasing.

Bhopal Gas tragedy

It occurred at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. A leak of methyl isocyanate gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people. Around 2500 people died within weeks of the leakage and another 8,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.

Chernobyl disaster

The disaster is considered as the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. It occured at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. Large quantities of radioactive contamination were released into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe.