The book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson is regarded as the most significant environmental novel as it was the start of the environmental movement. This book highlights the human poisoning of the biosphere through chemicals aimed at pests and disease control, particularly dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). DDT pesticides were particularly harmful because as they entered the biosphere, they not only killed the bugs but also entered the food chain. DDT accumulated in the fatty tissues of animals and humans which had potential to cause cancer and genetic damage. This also contaminated world food supply as DDT can enter any animal that we eat. Despite the immense effect of DDT some insects survived and passed on their resistance resulting in tougher descendants, so more toxic insecticides needed to be…
A natural disaster at a chemical facility has a higher probability than a terrorist threat, but a terrorist attack would cause more destruction. Any disaster whether natural or man-made can affect an entire community and the health of everyone around a chemical facility. “A disaster is the result produced from the combination of a hazard, vulnerability, and…
What lessons, if any, have we learned from the dust bowl catastrophe—about how human actions, well-intentioned or not, can lead to environmental damage? Is there anything comparable on the horizon today?225). What lessons, if any, have we learned from the dust bowl catastrophe—about how human actions, well-intentioned or not, can lead to environmental damage? Is there anything comparable on the horizon today? Drawing on more contemporary examples of environmental disasters or concerns, write a paper that explores how this debate continues to be timely or that takes a stand on this debate.…
The smell grows dank, as the streets become narrower. Walls are replaced by trickling streams running along the side of the road. Children dart around the rickshaws, bicycles, and the occasional car as garbage piles rise high in the streets. The piles steadily grow higher, mocking their patrons in doing the impossible: rising from the streets where they began their lives. In a day to day struggle, children grow up quickly, too quickly, though the rapid ascent is not swift enough.…
According to Shrivastava (1996), on the night of 2/3 December 1984, an enormous accident happened in Bhopal, India, the highly poisonous and unbalanced chemical gas was escaped from the factory and continue to spread over the city which caused by the lack of the attention and care ness. Apart from that, Marchi and Funtowicz and Ravetz (1996) states that in the 10 July 1976, a powerful weed killer which named 245T was exploded in a small town which located near Milan, the 245T contained the most powerful and toxic chemicals, it can kill any live stocks and human very easily, the accident was caused by man made unmanaged instructions and the toxic dioxin was spilled to the atmosphere. Between these two accidents, they were all caused by people not nature. Unlikely, these two took places in different period and locations.…
“Long after the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, and the subsequent birth of the environmental movement, the days of concern over the effects of at-home and commercial pesticide use are long from over. Carson's book described numerous environmental impacts of indiscriminate spraying of DDT in the United States and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment without understanding their effects on the environment or human health. Her book facilitated the ban of the pesticide DDT in 1972 in the United States and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Through her masterpiece Silent Spring, she accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation regarding the safety of their products, and public officials of accepting industry claims uncritically. Forty years later, we can still find certain parallels between DDT and the use and consequences of other commonly used pesticides today.…
In 1969, Union Carbide India, Ltd. (UCIL) and Union Carbide Corporation agreed with the govern- ment of India to build a pesticide manufacturing plant in Bhopal.6 Originally, this plant was designed to combine and package intermediate chemicals thereby producing the end pesticide, Sevin,v The constituents of the mildly toxic pesticide Sevin, alpha-naphthol and methyl isocyanate (MIC) were to be combined, diluted with non-toxic powder, and packaged at the Bhopal plant.8 In India, where pesticides are viewed as a miracle,9 Union Carbide demonstrated both sophisticated technology and export potential to the government of India, there- fore, the Union Carbide Corporation was permitted to own 50.9 percent of Union Carbide India, Ltd. which owned the Bhopal plant, and the remaining 49.1 percent was distributed among Indian share- holders,l° Fifty and nine-tenths percent of its stock is owned by Union Carbide Corporation, 22% is owned or controlled by the government of India, and the balance is held by approximately 23500 Indian citizens.*l Union Carbide Corporation is a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of New York. 1…
Madhya Pradesh, as per its name, is situated right in the centre of India, madhya means centre and pradesh means state. This largest state of India is bordered by Maharashtra in the south, Chattisgarh in the east, Uttar Pradesh in the northeast, Gujarat in the west and Rajasthan in the northwest. Occupying an area of 308,144 sq km, the state has Bhopal as its capital and Indore as its largest city.…
Many people were roasted alive in a devastating fire at Nimtoli in the capital in 2010. The blaze occurred apparently due to storage of combustible chemicals in the residential area. Businesspersons dealing in chemicals in old Dhaka have come under surveillance by law enforcers and regulators after the Nimtoli fire. But the civil society and the people in general also have a role to play.…
hough the Bhopal gas tragedy took place close to 29 years ago, the city is still experiencing the effects of the gas leak. Around 3700 people died almost immediately following the incident in December 1984. The immediate cause of death was due to choking, circulatory collapse and pulmonary oedema (filling up of fluid in the lungs). Further post mortem reports revealed that people died not only of suffocation but also because the toxins had caused swelling in the brain, leading to disorientation and finally death, due to collapse of the nervous system. Other conditions include degeneration of the liver, and kidneys and rotting of the intestines. The stillbirth rate was 300% and neonatal mortality (death as an infant) was about 200% right after the tragedy.…
Honking, shouting, clinging and bargaining all at once. With Tuk Tuks sliding through the ocean of people. Bikes unbalanced, with snake like speed diving into any gapes available. The ground was marked with wheel prints and footprints, checkering the earth. With smokes of morning cheap breakfast zic zacking it’s way through the street. Markets up for business, bargains started, shouting started. The words sound like spike. Hot summers day, the sun poured its heat into the city, flowing through each street. Sweat dripping down each and other’s back, leaving a sting on their t-shirts.…
It was six o’clock in the evening, just the beginning of rush hour. A glass door of an office building burst open as a crowd of square-eyed office workers strode out. Within minutes, the street was packed with people rushing back home from work. The originally wide and spacious road seemed to have shrunk. Some pedestrians were forced to walk on the vehicular road because the narrow pavement simply could not fit in so many people a time. The pace of the people was unbelievable like an Olympic walker. Vehicles shuttled between streets and avenues as more and more people came streaming out from different blocks.…
The Bhopal disaster (commonly referred to as Bhopal gas tragedy) was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes.[1] It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 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. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release.[2] Others estimate 3,000 died within weeks and another 8,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.[3][4] A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.[5] As many as 25,000 deaths have been attributed to the disaster in recent estimates.[6]…
Bhopal Gas Tragedy was one of the worst scientific disaster in history that led to the killing of around eight thousand people in Bhopal. It was the most devastating industrial disaster. It is a story of betrayal and an American dream that turned into an Indian nightmare with a terrifying legacy. Union carbide a great American corporation, in the 60’s and 70’s promoted a dream to feed the world’s hungry million’s by developing pesticide to protect crops. Union carbide decided to pursue this dream in the vast and lucrative densely populated Madhya Pradesh province in Bhopal, India for their new product methyl isocyanate gas and formally known as MIC. MIC is an organic compound and is an intermediate chemical in the production of pesticides. Its molecular formula is C2H3NO and maybe manufactured from mono methylamine and phosgene. Some brands of cigarettes also contain about 4ug/ cigarette MIC in the Tobacco smoke. Its physical properties are a…
During these holidays we have in the spring, spring break, I made a road trip with my friends through several cities and states of the U.S. coast. That fact has given me to compare many aspects between towns and cities here against the cities in Europe. There are many aspects that differentiate us Europeans with Americans, and there are also great differences between our cities, infrastructure, decor, shapes of buildings and many other aspects. But one of the great things that has struck me is how little suffering American cities with traffic problems.…