Birds are flying away from us. Will their disappearance result in an environmental disaster?
The situation around the Great Barrier Reef continues to deteriorate and threatens to become the largest disaster in human history. reCensor remembered when the environment was still in a state of emergency due to human actions.
Scientists believe that, despite all the efforts of environmentalists, the world's largest coral reef is in danger of destruction in the near future. More recently, experts noted that more than 50% of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is at the stage of death. According to updated data, the figure increased to 93%.
The formation of such a unique natural formation occurred about 10 thousand years ago. It includes almost 3 thousand different coral reefs. The length of the Great Barrier Reef is 2.5 thousand kilometers with an area of 344 thousand square kilometers. A coral reef is home to billions of different living organisms.
In 1981, UNESCO recognized the Great Barrier Reef as a natural wonder that should be protected. However, in 2014, environmentalists began to notice that many corals had lost their color. It should be noted that similar changes have occurred in many coral reefs around the world, so scientists initially thought this was a standard anomaly. But after several months, it became clear that the number of bleached corals was growing exponentially.
Terry Hughes, head of the Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Research at James Cook University, said coral bleaching almost always leads to their death. “Corals can be saved if the bleaching rate has not reached 50% percent. More than half of the Great Barrier Reef's corals currently have bleaching rates between 60% and 100%.
Ecologists have been sounding the alarm for several years now, since the death of corals will lead to the disappearance of the entire ecosystem. Coral bleaching occurred in several stages. The largest wave of bleaching occurred in 2015, but scientists believe the biggest die-off is yet to come. “The reason for this is climate change associated with global warming. The temperature of the waters in the oceans has increased greatly, as a result of which corals began to die. The saddest thing is that we do not know how to confront this problem, so the extinction of the Great Barrier Reef will continue,” the scientists state. 
The disaster of a large industrial tanker that occurred in 2010 is also considered one of the reasons for the extinction of corals. As a result of the tanker crash, more than 65 tons of coal and 975 tons of oil fell into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.
Experts are confident that this incident was an irreparable environmental disaster. “In the modern world, a trend has emerged that leads to the fact that, due to extremely careless human activity, almost all the animals inhabiting our planet will die. Even the destruction of the Aral Sea cannot compare with the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef,” says Professor Terry Hughes.
Most of the largest environmental tragedies occurred in the 20th-21st centuries. Below is a list of the 10 largest environmental disasters in history, information about which was collected by reCensor correspondents.
One of the largest incidents that caused serious damage to the environment is the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige. The incident happened on November 19, 2002 on the coast of Europe. The ship was caught in a strong storm, which caused a huge hole, more than 30 meters long, to form in its hull. Every day, a tanker carries at least 1 thousand tons of oil, which is released into the waters of the Atlantic. The tanker eventually broke into two pieces, sinking with all its cargo stored on it. The total amount of oil that entered the Atlantic Ocean was 20 million gallons.
2. Bhopal leak methyl isocyanate
The largest toxic vapor leak in history occurred in 1984. methyl isocyanate in the city of Bhopal. The tragedy caused the death of more than 3 thousand people. In addition, another 15 thousand people died later as a result of exposure to the poison. According to experts, the volume of deadly vapors in the atmosphere was about 42 tons. It still remains unknown what caused the accident.
3. Explosion at the Nipro plant
In 1974, a powerful explosion occurred at the Nipro plant, located in the UK, followed by a fire. According to experts, the explosion was so powerful that it could only be repeated by collecting 45 tons of TNT. The incident killed 130 people. However, the biggest problem was the release of ammonium, which resulted in thousands of people being admitted to hospitals with vision and respiratory problems.
4. The largest pollution of the North Sea
In 1988, the largest accident in the history of oil production occurred on the Piper Alpha oil platform. The damage of the accident amounted to 4 billion US dollars. The accident caused a powerful explosion that completely destroyed the oil production platform. Almost all of the company's personnel died during the accident. Over the following days, oil continued to flow into the North Sea, whose waters are now among the most polluted in the world.
5. Major nuclear disaster
The largest environmental disaster in human history is the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which occurred in 1986 on the territory of Ukraine. The cause of the explosion was an accident in the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant. The explosion caused the death of more than 30 people.
However, the most terrible consequence is the release of huge amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. At the moment, the number of people who died as a result of radiation poisoning in subsequent years has exceeded several thousand. Their number continues to grow, despite the galvanized sarcophagus that sealed the exploded reactor.
In 1989, a major environmental disaster occurred on the coast of Alaska. The Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit a reef and was seriously holed. As a result, the entire contents of 9 million gallons of oil ended up in the water. Almost 2.5 thousand kilometers of the Alaskan coastline were covered in oil. This accident caused the death of tens of thousands of living organisms living both in water and on land.
In 1986, as a result of a tragedy at a Swiss chemical plant, the Rhine River was forever no longer safe for swimming. The chemical plant burned for several days. During this time, more than 30 tons of toxic substances spilled into the water, destroying millions of living organisms and polluting all drinking sources.
In 1952, a terrible disaster occurred in London, the causes of which are still unknown. On December 5, the capital of Great Britain was plunged into acrid smog. At first, the townspeople took it for ordinary fog, but after several days it still did not dissipate. People with symptoms of pulmonary diseases began to be admitted to hospitals. In just 4 days, about 4 thousand people died, most of them children and old people.
9. Oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico
In 1979, another oil disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident occurred at the Istok-1 drilling rig. As a result of the problems, almost 500 thousand tons of oil spilled into the water. The well was closed only a year later.
10. Amoco Cadiz oil tanker wreck
In 1978, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz sank in the Atlantic Ocean. The cause of the crash was underwater rocks that the ship's captain did not notice. As a result of the disaster, the French coast was flooded with 650 million liters of oil. An oil tanker accident killed tens of thousands of fish and birds living in the coastal region.
TOP 10 largest environmental disasters in history updated: July 7, 2016 by: EDITORIAL
In the world of birds.
The similarity of ecological preferences of these groups of species determined the similarity of morphology: small size (up to 10 cm in modern species), short and rounded wings, long strong legs, thin pointed beaks for catching small invertebrates, protective coloration of plumage (see mimicry). Birds from New Zealand are distinguished from true wrens by short tails, reverse sexual dimorphism in size (females are larger than males), a clear tendency to lose the ability to fly in conditions of a shortage of terrestrial predators, unusually fluffy integumentary plumage, as well as a number of structural features of internal organs. Many of these traits are rare, if not unique, to passerine birds. This is a significant example of how habitat change affects island species that have lived in complete isolation from mainland fauna for millions of years.
The reasons for the unusual characteristics of New Zealand wrens have become clear after studying their DNA. It turned out that of all the passerines, which now make up more than half of the world's avifauna, it is the New Zealand wrens that are the branch of the evolutionary tree that separated the earliest - according to the most recent data, presumably at the beginning of the Eocene. For this reason, modern taxonomists often classify these birds into their own suborder. Acanthisitti. This isolated taxonomic position makes New Zealand wrens a valuable subject for a variety of molecular and morphological studies that can explain many aspects of the life and evolution of birds.
Of the seven species of the family that met the first people of New Zealand about 700 years ago, only two have survived to this day. The most numerous of them is the shooter ( Acanthisitta chloris), which received such an unusual name due to the similarity of its protective colors with the uniform of the New Zealand infantry riflemen. Males and females of the shooter are clearly distinguished by color: the back and top of the head of males are uniformly green, while those of females are olive green with dark and light streaks. In addition, females are distinguished by a slightly more upturned tip of the beak and a slightly longer claw of the hind toe. The current range of the species is both large islands of New Zealand, North and South, as well as a number of smaller islets adjacent to them. The clutch consists of 3–5 eggs; Both parents take part in building the nest and caring for the offspring. Arrows are found mainly in wooded areas; Due to their limited flight abilities, they are unable to cross vast open areas, making them especially vulnerable to massive tree felling that fragments the species' range.
The second modern species of the family is the New Zealand rock wren ( Xenicus gilviventris; see photo above). It inhabits the alpine and subalpine mountain belt of the western part of the South Island; in the North, populations of the species - probably representing a separate subspecies - died out in historical time. The usual habitat of this bird is more open locations with bare rock outcrops, often covered with low bushes. Sexual dimorphism in color is less pronounced: males are colored predominantly green on top, females are brownish. Birds construct relatively large, closed nests with an entrance from the side from dry grass and twigs with inclusions of feathers from other birds. There are usually three eggs in a clutch. Like the shooter, both parents take care of the offspring. The total population of the rock wren does not exceed 15 thousand individuals and tends to decline; The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The main threat to New Zealand rock wrens is persecution by invasive mice, rats and stoats.
The rock wren's closest relative was the New Zealand bush wren ( X. longipes), distinguished by a darker color on the top, a predominantly gray belly and slightly longer legs. The range of this species until the last century was not inferior to the range of the shooter, dividing into three geographical races: X.l. stokesii lived in the North Island, nominative X.l. longipes - on Yuzhny, X.l. variabilis - on Stewart Island and a number of adjacent small islets. Successive invasions of several species of rats, as well as mice and stoats, into New Zealand led to the extinction of all three subspecies during the 20th century. The northern subspecies was last seen at Lake Waikaremoana in 1955, the southern in 1968 in Nelson Lakes National Park. Following a rat invasion on the last stronghold of the Stuart subspecies, Big South Cape Island, New Zealand's Natural Resources Conservation Service carried out a desperate rescue operation, transporting six individuals to the rodent-free island of Kaimohu. Unfortunately, the small population of birds was not able to gain a foothold in the new place: after the sighting of a pair of bush wrens in 1972, birds of this species were no longer seen.
Three more relatively large (up to 30–50 g) species of the family were able to survive only until the time when the islands of New Zealand were colonized by the Maori natives. This is the New Zealand long-billed wren ( Dendroscansor decurvirostris), as well as two species of great-footed wrens, which until recently were classified as an independent genus Pachylpichas - northern ( Xenicus jagmi) and southern ( X. yaldwyni). Subfossil remains of these birds indicate their more pronounced adaptation to a terrestrial lifestyle and a complete or almost complete renunciation of flight. The latter was probably the reason for the extinction of these species: around 1280 AD, New Zealand was colonized by the Maori natives and their unwanted companions - the Polynesian small rats ( Rattus exulans). It is unlikely that tiny wrens aroused much gastronomic interest among people who preferred larger game, such as the flightless ostrich-like moa ( Dinornitiformes), exterminated over the next few centuries. But for rats, small birds and their nests have become desirable and easy prey, since over millions of years of evolution in isolation they have not developed any means of defense against land mammals. The first European colonists did not find either long-billed or great-legged wrens in New Zealand.
The last, seventh species of the family is the famous Stephen's bush wren ( Traversia lyalli), lived on the tiny island of Stephens (or Stephens) in Cook Strait between the North and South islands. The legend of the disappearance of this bird is widely known (see The cat that destroyed an entire species of birds). However, in reality this story is somewhat more complex, but, alas, no less tragic. Archaeological finds eloquently indicate that until the time of settlement by the Maori, the species was common on both large islands of the archipelago. The invasion of Polynesian rats led to the extinction of this bird everywhere except for the only island, which the harmful rodents were unable to penetrate. But with the appearance of the first colonists of European origin on Stevens, the island was populated by other predatory companions of humans - cats. The cat of the first keeper of the newly built lighthouse, David Lyell, began to bring “trophies” to the owner in the summer of 1894, in which he quickly recognized something interesting for science, after which he handed over the carcasses to local naturalist Walter Buller.
Unfortunately for a rare bird, Tibbles - that was the cat's name - did not act alone. Old documents from the first settlers of Stevens indicate that in February of the same 1894, at least one pregnant cat was released onto the island, which apparently managed to survive and successfully raise its offspring. A few years later, the island was literally swarming with alien predators: Robert Cathcart, the new lighthouse keeper, reported personally killing over a hundred feral cats in 1899 alone! However, a small bird, practically unable to fly, was able to cope with a smaller concentration of furry killers: the last information about an encounter with this wren dates back to August 1895. Subsequently, Stevens, by the way, lost both the cats, purposefully destroyed by local natural resource conservation services by 1925, and the last primary forests, cleared for the needs of local residents.
The bottom line is that we have the following picture. Over the course of two waves of settlement by humans and synanthropic species of mammals, a family of birds endemic to the island archipelago has been reduced to two species, one of which is in a vulnerable position. Their habitat in some cases has been destroyed, in others it has experienced significant anthropogenic transformations and cannot be restored to its original form without the investment of serious effort and material resources. The environmental legislation of modern New Zealand is one of the strictest in the world, but a significant share of the resources of the country's specialized organizations is spent on correcting the mistakes of previous generations. One of the most destructive of them is the introduction of numerous species that were previously not characteristic of the archipelago. The same problem is key for many other tropical and subtropical islands, which to this day harbor remnants of pristine flora and fauna, fighting for survival against hordes of foreign invaders.
Pictured is a New Zealand rock wren ( Xenicus gilviventris). Photo: © Robin Bush from nzgeo.com
Pavel Smirnov
Environmental disasters occur due to the negligence of people who work in industrial enterprises. One mistake can cost thousands of human lives. Unfortunately, environmental disasters happen quite often: gas leaks, oil spills, etc. Now let's talk in more detail about each catastrophic event.
Water disasters
One of the environmental disasters is a significant loss of water from the Aral Sea, the level of which has dropped by 14 meters over 30 years. It split into two bodies of water, and most marine animals, fish and plants died out. Part of the Aral Sea has dried up and become covered with sand. There is a shortage of drinking water in this area. And although attempts are being made to restore the water area, there is a high probability of the death of a huge ecosystem, which will be a loss on a planetary scale.
Another disaster occurred in 1999 at the Zelenchuk hydroelectric station. In this area, rivers changed, water was transferred, and the amount of humidity decreased significantly, which contributed to a decrease in the populations of flora and fauna; the Elburgan Nature Reserve was destroyed.
One of the most global disasters is the loss of molecular oxygen contained in water. Scientists have found that over the past half century this figure has fallen by more than 2%, which has an extremely negative impact on the state of the waters of the World Ocean. Due to anthropogenic impact on the hydrosphere, a decrease in oxygen levels in the near-surface water column has been observed.
Water pollution from plastic waste has a detrimental effect on water areas. Particles entering the water can change the natural environment of the ocean and have an extremely negative impact on marine life (animals mistake plastic for food and mistakenly ingest chemical elements). Some particles are so small that they are impossible to notice. At the same time, they have a serious impact on the ecological state of waters, namely: they provoke changes in climatic conditions, accumulate in the bodies of marine inhabitants (many of which are consumed by humans), and reduce the resource capacity of the ocean.
One of the global disasters is considered to be the rise in water levels in the Caspian Sea. Some scientists believe that in 2020 the water level may rise by another 4-5 meters. This will lead to irreversible consequences. Cities and industrial enterprises located near water will be flooded.
Oil spill
The largest oil spill occurred in 1994, known as the Usinsk disaster. Several breaks occurred in the oil pipeline, resulting in the spill of over 100,000 tons of oil products. In the places where the spill occurred, the flora and fauna were practically destroyed. The area received the status of an environmental disaster zone.
Not far from Khanty-Mansiysk in 2003, an oil pipeline burst. More than 10,000 tons of oil leaked into the Mulymya River. Animals and plants became extinct, both in the river and on the land in the area.
Another disaster occurred in 2006 near Bryansk, when 5 tons of oil spilled on the ground over 10 square meters. km. Water resources in this radius have been polluted. An environmental disaster occurred due to a hole in the Druzhba oil pipeline.
There have already been two environmental disasters in 2016. Near Anapa, in the village of Utash, oil leaked from old wells that are no longer in use. The extent of soil and water contamination is about a thousand square meters, hundreds of waterfowl have died. On Sakhalin, more than 300 tons of oil spilled into Urqt Bay and the Gilyako-Abunan River from a non-working oil pipeline.
Other environmental disasters
Quite often accidents and explosions occur at industrial enterprises. So in 2005 there was an explosion at a Chinese factory. A large amount of benzene and toxic chemicals ended up in the river. Amur. In 2006, a release of 50 kg of chlorine occurred at the Khimprom enterprise. In 2011, at the Chelyabinsk railway station there was a leak of bromine, which was transported in one of the carriages of a freight train. In 2016, there was a fire of nitric acid at a chemical plant in Krasnouralsk. In 2005, there were many forest fires due to various reasons. The environment has suffered enormous losses.
Perhaps these are the main environmental disasters that have occurred in the Russian Federation over the past 25 years. The reason for them is inattention, negligence, and mistakes that people have made. Some disasters occurred due to outdated equipment, the breakdown of which was not discovered at the time. All this led to the death of plants, animals, diseases of the population and human deaths.
Environmental disasters in Russia in 2016
In Russia in 2016, many major and minor disasters occurred, which further worsened the state of the environment in the country.
Water disasters
First of all, it is worth noting that at the end of spring 2016, an oil spill occurred in the Black Sea. This happened due to an oil leak into the water area. As a result of the formation of a fuel oil slick, several dozen dolphins, fish populations and other marine life died. Against the backdrop of this incident, a big scandal erupted, but experts say that the damage caused is not excessively huge, but damage to the Black Sea ecosystem was still caused and this is a fact.
Another problem occurred during the transfer of Siberian rivers to China. As environmentalists say, if you change the regime of rivers and direct their flow to China, this will affect the functioning of all surrounding ecosystems in the region. Not only will river basins change, but many species of river flora and fauna will also die. Damage will be caused to the nature located on land; a large number of plants, animals and birds will be destroyed. Droughts will occur in some places, agricultural yields will drop, which will inevitably lead to a shortage of food for the population. In addition, there will be changes in climate and soil erosion may occur.
Smoke in cities
Plumes of smoke and smog are another problem in some Russian cities. It is, first of all, characteristic of Vladivostok. The source of the smoke here is a waste incineration plant. This literally prevents people from breathing and they develop various respiratory diseases.
In general, several major environmental disasters occurred in Russia in 2016. To eliminate their consequences and restore the state of the environment, large financial costs and the efforts of experienced specialists are required.
Environmental disasters of 2017
In Russia, 2017 has been declared the “Year of Ecology”, so various thematic events will be held for scientists, public figures and ordinary people. It’s worth thinking about the state of the environment in 2017, since several environmental disasters have already occurred.
Oil pollution
One of the biggest environmental problems in Russia is pollution of the environment with petroleum products. This occurs as a result of violations of mining technology, but accidents most often occur during oil transportation. When it is transported by sea tankers, the threat of disaster increases significantly.
At the beginning of the year, in January, an environmental emergency occurred in the Golden Horn Bay of Vladivostok - an oil spill, the source of which was not identified. The oil stain spread over an area of 200 square meters. meters. As soon as the accident occurred, the Vladivostok rescue service began to eliminate it. Specialists cleared an area of 800 square meters, collecting approximately 100 liters of a mixture of oil and water.
At the beginning of February, a new disaster occurred due to an oil spill. This happened in the Komi Republic, namely in the city of Usinsk in one of the oil fields due to damage to the oil pipeline. The approximate damage to nature is the spread of 2.2 tons of petroleum products over 0.5 hectares of territory.
The third environmental disaster in Russia associated with an oil spill was an incident on the Amur River off the coast of Khabarovsk. Traces of the spill were discovered in early March by members of the All-Russian Popular Front. The “oil” trail comes from sewer pipes. As a result, the stain covered 400 square meters. meters of shore, and the river area is more than 100 square meters. meters. As soon as the oil slick was discovered, activists called the rescue service, as well as representatives of the city administration. The source of the oil spill was not discovered, but the incident was recorded in a timely manner, so prompt elimination of the accident and collection of the oil-water mixture allowed us to reduce the damage caused to the environment. An administrative case was initiated into the incident. Water and soil samples were also taken for further laboratory research.
Accidents at oil refineries
In addition to the danger of transporting petroleum products, emergencies can also occur at oil refineries. So at the end of January in the city of Volzhsky, an explosion and burning of petroleum products occurred at one of the enterprises. Experts have established that the cause of this disaster is a violation of safety rules. It was fortunate that there were no casualties in the fire, but considerable damage was caused to the environment.
In early February, a fire occurred at one of the plants specializing in oil refining in Ufa. Firefighters began to extinguish the fire immediately, which allowed them to contain the elements. The fire was extinguished within 2 hours.
In mid-March, a fire occurred at an oil products warehouse in St. Petersburg. As soon as the fire occurred, warehouse workers called rescuers, who arrived instantly and began to eliminate the accident. The number of employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations exceeded 200 people, who managed to put out the fire and prevent a major explosion. The fire covered an area of 1000 square meters. meters, and part of the building wall was destroyed.
Air pollution
In January, brown fog formed over Chelyabinsk. All this is a consequence of industrial emissions from city enterprises. The atmosphere is so polluted that people are suffocating. Of course, there are city authorities where the population can turn with complaints during smoke periods, but this has not brought tangible results. Some enterprises do not even use cleaning filters, and fines do not encourage owners of dirty industries to start taking care of the city’s environment. As city authorities and ordinary people say, the amount of emissions has increased sharply recently, and the brown fog that enveloped the city in winter is proof of this.
In Krasnoyarsk, a “black sky” appeared in mid-March. This phenomenon indicates that harmful impurities are dissipating in the atmosphere. As a result, a situation of first degree danger developed in the city. It is believed that in this case, the chemical elements affecting the body do not cause pathology or disease in people, but the damage caused to the environment is still significant.
The atmosphere is also polluted in Omsk. Recently there was a major release of harmful substances. Experts found that the concentration of ethyl mercaptan was 400 times higher than normal levels. There is an unpleasant smell in the air, which was noticed even by ordinary people who did not know about what had happened. In order to bring to justice those responsible for the accident, all factories that use this substance in production are being inspected. The release of ethyl mercaptan is very dangerous because it causes nausea, headaches and loss of coordination in people.
Significant air pollution with hydrogen sulfide was discovered in Moscow. So in January there was a large release of chemicals at an oil refinery. As a result, a criminal case was initiated because the release led to a change in the properties of the atmosphere. After this, the plant’s activities more or less returned to normal, and Muscovites began to complain less about air pollution. However, in early March, some excess concentrations of harmful substances in the atmosphere were again discovered.
Accidents at various enterprises
A major accident occurred at a research institute in Dmitrovgrad, namely, smoke from the reactor plant. The fire alarm went off instantly. The reactor was stopped to fix a problem - an oil leak. Several years ago, this device was examined by specialists, and it was found that the reactors could still be used for about 10 years, but emergencies regularly occur, which is why radioactive mixtures are released into the atmosphere.
In the first half of March, a fire occurred at a chemical industry plant in Tolyatti. To eliminate it, 232 rescuers and special equipment were involved. The cause of this incident is most likely a leak of cyclohexane. Harmful substances have entered the air.
Environmental disasters of 2018
It’s scary when Nature is rampant and there is nothing to resist the elements. It’s sad when people bring a situation to a catastrophic level, and its consequences threaten the lives of not only humans, but also other living beings.
Garbage passions
In 2018, the confrontation between residents of environmentally disadvantaged regions and “garbage barons” continued in Russia. Federal and local authorities are building landfills for storing household waste, which poisons the environment and makes life in the surrounding areas impossible for citizens.
In Volokolamsk in 2018, people were poisoned by gases emanating from a garbage dump. After the people's meeting, the authorities decided to transport garbage to other regions of the Federation. Residents of the Arkhangelsk region discovered the construction of a garbage dump and began similar protests.
The same problem arose in the Leningrad region, the Republic of Dagestan, Mari-El, Tyva, Primorsky Krai, Kurgan, Tula, Tomsk regions, where in addition to official overcrowded landfills there are illegal garbage dumps.
Armenian disaster
Residents of the city of Armyansk experienced breathing difficulties in 2018. The problems arose not from garbage waste, but from the work of the Titan plant. Metal objects rusted. Children began to suffocate first, followed by elderly people; healthy adult residents of the North of Crimea lasted the longest, but they also could not withstand the effects of sulfur dioxide.
The situation reached the evacuation of the city residents, an event that has not happened in history since the Chernobyl disaster.
Sinking Russia
In 2018, some territories of the Russian Federation ended up at the bottom of rain rivers and lakes. In the cold autumn of 2018, part of the Krasnodar Territory went under water. A bridge collapsed on the Dzhubga-Sochi federal highway.
In the spring of the same year, there was a resonant flooding in the Altai Territory, rainfall and snow melting led to the overflow of the tributaries of the Ob River.
Burning cities of Russia
In the summer of 2018, forests burned in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk Region and Yakutia, and rising smoke and ash covered populated areas. The cities, villages and towns looked like film sets for a post-apocalyptic world. People did not go out into the streets unless absolutely necessary, and it was difficult to breathe in their houses.
This year, 3.2 million hectares burned in Russia in 10 thousand fires, which killed 7,296 people.
There's nothing to breathe here
Outdated factories and the reluctance of owners to install treatment facilities are the reasons that in 2018 in the Russian Federation there were 22 cities unsuitable for human life.
Large industrial centers are gradually killing their residents, who suffer from oncology, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, and diabetes more often than in other regions.
The leaders of air pollution in cities are the Sakhalin, Irkutsk and Kemerovo regions, Buryatia, Tuva and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
And the shore is not clean, and the water will not wash away the dirt
In 2018, Crimean beaches surprised vacationers with poor service and frightened them with sewage and garbage dumps at popular vacation spots. In Yalta and Feodosia, city wastewater flowed directly near the Central Beaches into the Black Sea.
Environmental disasters of 2019
In 2019, many interesting events happened in the Russian Federation; man-made disasters and natural disasters also affected the country.
New Year was brought to Russia by avalanches, not Santa Claus
Three avalanches at once caused a lot of misfortune at the very beginning of the year. In the Khabarovsk Territory (people were injured), in the Crimea (they escaped with fright) and in the mountains of Sochi (two people died), the snow that fell blocked the roads, the melting of snow from the mountain peaks caused losses to the tourism industry, rescue forces were involved, which also cost a pretty penny to the local and federal budget.
Water in large quantities brings bad luck
This summer, the water element in Russia has been in earnest. Floods were severe in Irkutsk Tulun, where there were two waves of flooding and inundation. Thousands of people lost property, hundreds of houses were damaged, and enormous damage was caused to the national economy. The rivers Iya, Oka, Uda, Belaya rose tens of meters.
All summer and autumn the full-flowing Amur River overflowed its banks. The autumn flood brought damage to the Khabarovsk Territory of almost 1 billion rubles. And the Irkutsk region “lost weight” by 35 billion rubles thanks to the water element. In the summer, in the resort of Sochi, another one was added to the usual tourist entertainment - taking photographs of drowned streets and posting them on social networks.
The hot summer was fueled by numerous fires
In the Irkutsk region, Buryatia, Yakutia, Transbaikalia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, forest fires were extinguished, which became an event not only of an all-Russian, but also a global scale. Traces of burnt taiga were found in the form of ash in Alaska and the Arctic regions of Russia. Large-scale fires affected thousands of square kilometers, the smog reached large cities and caused panic among local residents.
The earth shook, but there was no major damage
Throughout 2019, local movements of the earth’s crust occurred. As usual, Kamchatka shook, tremors occurred in the area of Lake Baikal, and the long-suffering Irkutsk region also felt tremors in the fall of this year. In Tuva, the Altai Territory and the Novosibirsk Region, people did not sleep very peacefully and followed the messages of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
A typhoon is not just a strong wind
Typhoon "Linlin" caused the flooding of houses in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, because with it heavy downpours came to the Amur region, which, coupled with powerful gusts of wind, caused damage to individual farms and the infrastructure of the region. In addition to the Khabarovsk Territory, Primorye and the Sakhalin region were also affected, which were also left without electricity due to rain and wind.
Unpeaceful atom
While developed countries around the world are abandoning nuclear energy, tests related to this technology continue in Russia. This time the military miscalculated, and the unexpected happened - spontaneous combustion and detonation of a nuclear-powered rocket in Severodvinsk. Excessive radiation levels were reported even from Norway and Sweden. War vultures have left their mark on access to information about this incident; it is difficult to understand what was more, radiation or media noise.
Some incidents entail not only human casualties and extensive material damage, but also severe changes in climate, flora and fauna. In this article we will talk about the ten largest environmental disasters in the world, which led not only to great human casualties, but also to monstrous consequences for nature.
Environmental disasters are those that not only claim lives, but also lead to quite disastrous consequences for the environment. Typically, such disasters are the result of human activity. After all, the development of modern technologies, in particular in the energy sector, not only provides tangible material benefits, but also, if used ineptly, can lead to disastrous consequences.
Oil release due to the accident on the Prestige tanker
The single-hull tanker Prestige, which flew the Bahamian flag, was originally designed to transport crude oil, built at the Hitachi shipyard and commissioned on March 1, 1976.
When the tanker was passing through the Bay of Biscay on November 13, 2002, it encountered a severe storm off the coast of Galicia. Due to the damage received, a crack thirty-five meters long appeared, which led to a leak of fuel oil in the amount of 1000 tons per day.
To make the situation worse, Spanish coastal authorities refused to allow the ship to enter the nearest port. Instead, an attempt was made to tow the tanker to one of the ports of Portugal, but local authorities also refused. As a result, the ship was towed out to sea.
The final loss of the ship occurred on November 19. It simply split into two parts and its remains sank to the bottom, to a depth of about 3,700 meters. Because the damage could not be repaired and the oil could not be pumped, more than 70 million liters of oil spilled into the sea. The resulting stain stretched for thousands of kilometers along the coastline, causing irreparable damage to flora and fauna.
This oil spill was the most serious environmental disaster on the European coast. The damage from the incident was estimated at four billion euros, and three hundred thousand volunteers had to be involved to eliminate its consequences.
Exxon Valdez tanker wreck
The oil tanker Exxon Valdez departed the terminal in Valdez, Alaska, on March 23, 1989, at 9:12 p.m., bound for Long Beach, California, via Prince William Sound. The tanker was fully loaded with oil. The pilot took him through Valdez, and then handed over control of the vessel to the captain, who had been drinking liquor that evening.
In order to avoid a collision with icebergs, Captain Joseph Jeffrey Haizwold deviated from the chosen course, which notified the coast guard. Having received the appropriate permission, the captain changed course and at 23 o'clock left the wheelhouse, transferring control of the ship to his third mate and the sailor, who had already served one watch without receiving the required six hours of rest after it. At that time, the ship itself was controlled by an autopilot, which guided the ship through the navigation system.
Before leaving the pilothouse, the captain left instructions to his assistant to turn at the moment when the ship was abeam of the island two minutes higher. Despite the fact that the assistant gave the corresponding order to the helmsman, it was either announced late,
or completed with delay. This resulted in the ship colliding with Blythe Reef on 24 March 00:28.
This resulted in 40 million liters of oil leaking into the sea, although some environmentalists argue that the actual leak was much higher. 2,400 kilometers of coastline were damaged, making this incident one of the worst environmental disasters.
Bhopal disaster
The Bhopal incident is considered one of the worst environmental disasters in the world due to the fact that it resulted in the death of eighteen thousand people and enormous damage to the environment.
The construction of the chemical plant in Bhopal was carried out by a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation. Initially, the enterprise was intended to produce pesticides to be used in agriculture. It was planned that the plant would import some of the chemicals, but in order to compete with similar enterprises, it was decided to move to more complex and dangerous production, which made it possible to do without foreign raw materials.
In July 1984, it was planned to sell the company, since due to crop failures the demand for its products had seriously decreased. Due to insufficient funding, work continued on equipment that did not meet safety standards.
At the time of the disaster, the plant was producing the then popular insecticide Sevin, which appears as a result of the reaction of methyl isocyanate with alpha-naphthol in a carbon tetrachloride environment. Methyl isocyanate was stored in three containers with a total capacity of approximately 180 thousand liters of liquid, which were partially dug into the ground.
The cause of the accident was a sudden release of methyl isocyanate vapor, which heated above the boiling point, causing the emergency valve to rupture. Because of this, forty-two tons of toxic fumes were released, forming a cloud that covered an area with a radius of two kilometers from the plant, and in particular covered the railway station and residential areas.
Due to late information to the population and a lack of medical personnel, about five thousand people died on the first day. Thirteen thousand more died within a few years from the effects of toxic fumes released into the atmosphere.
Accident and fire at the SANDOZ chemical factory
On November 1, 1986, one of the worst environmental disasters in the world occurred, which led to terrible consequences for wildlife. The chemical plant, located near the Swiss city of Basel, on the banks of the Rhine River, was engaged in the production of various agricultural chemicals. Due to the fire, about thirty tons of mercury and pesticides were dumped into the river.
As a result of chemicals entering the water, the Rhine turned red, and people living on the coast were forbidden to leave their homes. In some cities in Germany it was necessary to close water pipelines and use only the water that was brought in tanks. In addition, about half a million fish and representatives of river fauna died, and some species also became completely extinct. The program, aimed at making the waters of the Rhine suitable for swimming, runs until 2020.
London smog 1952
At the beginning of December 1952, a cold fog descended on London, causing residents to actively use coal for heating their premises. Because in Britain
After the war, low-quality coal was used, which contained a lot of sulfur; combustion produced a lot of smoke, which contained sulfur dioxide. Also, a certain contribution to air pollution was made by motor vehicles, which only recently began to be actively used in London, as well as the operation of several coal-fired power plants. Also, polluted air from the industrial areas of Europe was brought by the wind, which blew from the English Channel.
Since fogs are not uncommon in London, the reaction of the townspeople to what was happening was quite calm. But the consequences of this incident were quite sad. According to statistics, more than one hundred thousand people suffered from respiratory diseases, of whom about twelve thousand died.
This incident is considered one of the worst cases of air pollution and led to serious changes in attitudes towards environmental research and the impact of clean air on human health. To date, this incident is considered one of the largest disasters in England.
Flixborough chemical plant disaster
The Nipro plant, located in Flixborough, produced ammonium. Its storage facilities contained up to two thousand tons of cyclohexane, more than three thousand tons of cyclohexanone, about four thousand tons of caprolactam, two and a half thousand tons of phenol and other chemicals.
Ball tanks and other process containers were not sufficiently filled, which seriously increased the risk of explosion. In addition, many flammable materials were kept in factory settings at elevated temperatures and pressures. In particular, the cyclohexane oxidation production plant contained approximately five hundred tons of flammable liquid.
In addition, due to the rapid pace of production growth, the fire protection system quickly lost its effectiveness. Production engineers partly deviated from technological regulations and began to ignore safety standards under pressure from management.
On June 1, 1974 at 16:53, the plant was rocked by a powerful explosion. The flames engulfed the production premises, and the shock wave swept through the surrounding villages and towns, tearing off roofs from houses, breaking windows, injuring people, which led to the death of 55 people. The power of the explosion was approximately equal to the effect of a 45-ton TNT charge.
In addition, due to the explosion, a large cloud of toxic gases appeared, which led to the need to evacuate residents of populated areas near the plant.
The total damage from the disaster amounted to 36 million pounds sterling, which is the heaviest blow to English industry.
Death of the Aral Sea
The drying up of the Aral Sea is one of the most famous environmental disasters that occurred in the former Soviet Union. Initially, this body of water was considered the fourth largest lake in the world.
Due to poor design of agricultural canals that took water from the Amudarya and Syr Darya rivers that fed the Aral Sea, starting in 1960, the lake retreated from the shore, revealing a bottom covered in pesticides, chemicals and salt. This led to rapid evaporation of water. In particular, between 1960 and 2007, the Aral Sea lost a thousand cubic kilometers of water, and its size is less than 10% of its original size.
Of the 178 species of vertebrates that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 survived.
Fire on the Piper Alpha oil platform
The disaster that occurred on July 6, 1988 on the Piper Alpha platform, which was used for oil and gas production, is considered the largest in the history of natural resource extraction. Due to the fact that the actions of the personnel were not sufficiently thought out and indecisive, 167 people out of 226 who were on the platform at that moment died in the fire. In addition, due to the fact that the supply of hydrocarbons through the pipes was not immediately stopped, the fire was maintained for a long time and only became stronger.
Insured losses due to this disaster amount to $3.4 billion, which does not take into account the number of environmental problems caused by this incident.
Disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
The tragedy that occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is known to any person living in the countries of the former USSR. The consequences of this incident are still felt today, and, without any doubt, this is one of the biggest environmental disasters in the world.
On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred in the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as a result of which the reactor was completely destroyed and a powerful release of radioactive substances was released into the environment. In the first three months after the accident, 31 people died. Over the next fifteen years, between 60 and 80 people died due to the effects of radiation exposure.
Due to the release of radioactive substances, more than one hundred and fifteen thousand people had to be evacuated from a thirty-kilometer zone around the station. More than six hundred thousand people took part in eliminating the consequences and significant resources were spent. Part of the territory around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still considered unsuitable for permanent residence.
Accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant
On March 11, 2011, the largest environmental disaster in the world occurred. A strong earthquake and tsunami damaged the power supply system and backup diesel generators of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which disabled the cooling systems and caused a meltdown of the reactor core in power units 1, 2 and 3. As a result, due to the formation of hydrogen, an explosion occurred that did not damage the reactor vessel, but its outer shell was destroyed.
Radiation levels quickly began to rise, and due to the leaky cladding of some fuel rods, radioactive cesium leaked.
In sea water in the thirty-kilometer zone of the station on March 23, an excess of the norm of iodine-131 and an amount of cesium-137 was found, which was significantly below the permissible norm. Over time, the radioactivity of the water increased and on March 31 it exceeded the norm by 4385 times. And this is not surprising, because during the accident, tons of contaminated water were thrown into the sea.
“...We can, perhaps, say that the purpose of man is, as it were, to destroy his race, having first made the globe uninhabitable...”
J. Lamarck
Is coevolution possible?
Currently, there are two extreme opinions - some researchers believe that processes of co-evolution of humans and ecosystems are possible, others conclude that humans are such an aggressive species that they are capable of destroying (and actually destroying) all living things in their path, and the higher the level of development of civilization , the more intense the processes of technogenic impact on the ecosystem.
However, most scientists consider the processes of human impact on the environment (ecosystem, biogeocenoses) only over the last 100-200, or at best 300 years.
But there is also a well-founded opinion that in ancient times man was not a creator, and did not co-evolve in interaction with nature, but, on the contrary, was a kind of “destroyer,” and we are now seeing the consequences of the impact of ancient civilizations on the ecosystem in a number of regions of the Earth. The processes of ancient technogenic impact contributed to soil erosion and degradation, depletion of the species composition of animals and plants, and lead to a complete change in the landscape.
About 10-12 thousand years ago, at the end of the last Valdai glaciation, man began to master agriculture and at the same time domesticate animals, which made it possible to create reserves and be less dependent on chance during the hunt. This probably happened for the first time in the warm northern zone of the Eastern Hemisphere. At that time, a significant part of Europe and Asia was occupied by taiga, still separated from the nival zone by the tundra-steppe.
The Apennine Peninsula, Greece, Asia Minor, Southern China, Indochina were covered with deciduous forests, and North Africa, the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, where there is now a desert or dry steppe, were occupied by wet savannah or forest-steppe. Forest-steppe and savannah areas were the most favorable for life. It was there that the cereals that people began to domesticate and grow grew - barley, sorghum and millet (Vavilov, 1987).
Grains were sown in Palestine, Asia Minor, the west of the Iranian Plateau, in Egypt already in the 10th-8th millennium BC, and in the Balkans and Southern Turkmenistan no later than the 6th millennium BC. Probably at the same time, the goat and sheep (more than 10 thousand years ago), the donkey, cattle and pig (about 9 thousand years ago) were domesticated.
The horse was domesticated in the Southern Urals about 8 thousand years ago (the dog was the first animal domesticated by humans back in the Late Paleolithic). The period of human transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture is usually called neolithic revolution .
About 8-10 thousand years ago, the valleys of the great rivers of Africa and Asia - the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Indus and Ganges, Yellow River - were developed by farmers, and a little later by pastoralists. The transition to agriculture and cattle breeding did not occur suddenly, of course, but took several millennia (meaning the entire period from the end of the Mesolithic to the “developed” Neolithic). The first objects of cultivation by farmers were single-row wheat and barley, and the first domesticated animals were goats and sheep. Most likely this first happened around the 9th millennium BC. on the territory of modern Palestine, Israel, Lebanon.
With the departure of the glacier, partial, often regional aridization of the climate occurred and, in a number of areas, people gradually adapted to the changing landscape. Agriculture was no longer based on rain irrigation, but on damming streams and diverting water through a system of ditches and canals to the fields. With the growth of the agricultural population, part of it began to move deeper into the steppes, and livestock breeding became more and more important in their way of life. However, the horse and camel were not yet domesticated, pastoralists were not yet able to make long seasonal migrations, and to some extent still depended on agriculture. Grazing of livestock, especially sheep and goats, could greatly deplete the already dry steppe, and periods of drought could give impetus to the resettlement of groups and tribes previously engaged in agriculture.
For a number of regions in the zone of dry steppes and deserts (for example, Egypt and Mesopotamia), where grain cannot grow normally without artificial irrigation, and during intense annual floods large spaces become swamped, the population of these landscapes, which are very unfavorable for life, have learned to fence off flooded fields with earthen ramparts, diverting water into special reservoirs.
Presumably, in Egypt and Sumer by the end of the 4th millennium BC, they received 10-20-fold harvests. The abundance of grain made it possible to save grain in case of crop failure, and in some cases free some of the community members from agricultural work. Crafts began to develop intensively - pottery, weaving, metallurgy, etc.
Let us note that if in the Paleolithic the intensity and characteristics of the settlement of the territory were associated primarily with the productivity of hunting grounds, then in the future - not only with the possibility of agricultural development, but with the creation of certain production complexes (manufacture of stone tools, ore mining). An important factor in the development and maximum population of the territory is safety, protection from natural and anthropogenic factors.
The relationship between man and the landscape is a constant value determined by adaptation. “...All peoples of the Earth live in landscapes at the expense of nature, but as diverse as the landscapes are, the peoples inhabiting them are also diverse, because no matter how much they change the landscape, by creating anthropogenic relief, reconstructing flora and fauna, people have to feed only on what what the nature of a given territory can provide. A person not only adapts to the landscape, but also adapts the landscape to his needs and requirements, and when the landscape changes - under the influence of anthropogenic or natural factors, people must either adapt, leave, or die...” wrote L.N. Gumilev.
During the time of the Roman Empire, migrants (legionnaires, as well as former prisoners of war), sent to its remote parts (Syria, Britain, Gaul, Thrace), finding themselves in an unfamiliar, “hostile” landscape for them, preferred life in cities, where walls separated and protected them from a hostile nature and, accordingly, their attitude towards nature was consumerist, predatory. In those days, the landscape of Europe changed greatly, which was associated with the laying of roads by the Romans and the construction of fortifications, 2/3 of the forests of Gaul and the beech groves of the Apennine Peninsula were cleared, the valleys of the Atlas Mountains were plowed up and depleted, the landscapes of Africa and Asia were greatly improved - the Sumerians drained the swamps between the Tigris and Euphrates. The hills of Hellas and Phrygia, the islands of the Aegean Sea, sung by Homer, were actually “eaten by goats” (in the literal sense of the word!), the grazing of goats turned almost bare rocks, the landscapes of the island were practically destroyed by goats. Tenerife.
Subsequently, on the territory of Europe, Germanic, Proto-Slavic and Slavic tribes cut down huge areas of forest for fire-slash farming; in the Middle Ages, oak forests were cut down and landscapes in Europe were transformed. Now there are no relict forests left here, unless in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Easter Island tragedy
One of the most striking examples of the complete destruction of an ecosystem is Easter Island. Easter Island, covering an area of only 165 square meters. km is one of the most secluded habitats: it is located in the Pacific Ocean at a distance of more than 3,700 km from South America and 2,600 km from the nearest inhabited island of Pitcairn.
When the island was settled around 400 AD. e. Polynesians, it was covered with forest, but after just 500-600 years the island’s ecosystem was completely changed, after another few centuries all tree vegetation was destroyed, and the population of the once prosperous island decreased tenfold.
Before the arrival of people, and in the first years of their stay, the island was not at all as deserted as it is now. A subtropical forest of trees and undergrowth rose above the shrubs, grasses, ferns and turf. The forest contained tree daisies, hau-hau trees, which can be used to make ropes, and toromiro palms, which are useful as fuel.
When Easter Island was discovered in 1722 by the expedition of Jacob Roggeveen, it was already a devastated area, covered with dried grass and scorched vegetation, not a tree or bush was visible anywhere. The only domestic animals were chickens, and the island's population was only about 2,000 people.
Paleontologist David Steadman conducted a study of Easter Island in order to find out what its flora and fauna used to be like. As a result, data appeared for the tragic, and at the same time instructive history of its settlers.
Blooming Island
Before people arrived, the island was an ideal place for birds; they had no enemies. Only 25 species of birds nested here - albatrosses, gannets, frigate birds, fulmars, and it was the largest bird market in the entire Pacific Ocean.
The islanders once grew bananas, taro, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, and mulberries on the island.
The relatively cold coastal waters supported fishing in only a few places and the main marine prey were dolphins and seals.
The beginning of the tragedy.
But around the 800s, the disappearance of forests began - when scientists studied rocks, layers of charcoal from forest fires began to appear more and more often, there was less and less tree pollen and more and more pollen appeared from grasses that replaced the forest. Around 1400, the palm trees disappeared completely, not only as a result of cutting down, but also because of the ubiquitous rats, which did not give them the opportunity to restore the palm trees by eating nuts. And rats were brought to the island by the Polynesians.
A little later, not only the palm trees disappeared, but the entire forest - it was destroyed by people who cleared areas for gardens, cut down trees to build canoes, to make skating rinks for sculptures, and for heating. The paradise that opened to the first settlers became almost lifeless 1600 years later. Fertile soils, an abundance of food, plenty of building materials, sufficient living space, and all opportunities for a comfortable existence were destroyed.
The ever-growing population depleted the forests faster than they could regenerate, more and more space was taken up by vegetable gardens and soil devoid of forests, springs and streams dried up, and the trees that were used to transport and lift statues, as well as to build canoes and dwellings, were not enough even for cooking food.
Rats ate seeds, and birds died out due to contamination of flowers and a decrease in fruit yield, and the fertility of arable land decreased due to wind and rain erosion. The same thing happened that happens everywhere in the world where forests are destroyed: most of the forest inhabitants disappear.
All species of local birds and animals disappeared on the island, and all coastal fish were caught. By the 15th century, dolphins had disappeared from the diet of people: there was nothing to go out to sea on, and there was nothing to make harpoons from.
Chaos, hunger, cannibalism.
As birds and animals were destroyed, famine set in. Small snails were used as food, and things even reached the point of cannibalism. The surviving islanders told the first Europeans to visit them how the centralized system had been replaced by chaos and the warlike class had defeated the hereditary leaders. The stones bear images of spears and daggers made by the warring parties in the 1600s and 1700s, and they are still scattered throughout Easter Island.
By 1700 the population was between a quarter and a tenth of its former size. People moved into caves to hide from their enemies. Around 1770, rival clans began knocking over each other's statues and cutting off their heads. The last statue was toppled and desecrated in 1864.
As the picture of the decline of Easter Island civilization unfolded before the researchers, they asked themselves: “Why didn’t they look back, didn’t realize what was happening, didn’t stop before it was too late? What were the inhabitants of the island thinking when they cut down the last palm tree?
The catastrophe did not occur suddenly, but stretched out over several decades and the changes occurring in nature were not noticeable for one generation - the trees gradually became smaller, thinner and less significant. Once upon a time, the last fruit-bearing palm was cut off, and the young shoots were destroyed along with the remains of bushes and undergrowth.
And no one noticed the death of the last palm tree...
A.
A.
Kazdym
Doctor of Geology
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