The Minamata Bay incident also known as the Minamata disease was the largest and most tragic case of industrial pollution to be recorded in history. In the late 1950’s, the consequences of dumping methylmercury into the ocean from the formation of acetaldehyde was not taken into account by the Japanese authorities of the Chisso Corporation chemical factory at that time. As a result, the methylmercury infected water was taken up by the marine life and caused major food poisoning when consumed by the Japanese people ranging from serious neurological diseases (Yorifuji et al., 2008), speech impairment and in some cases, death. The severity of the disease took its toll of up to thousands of innocent civilians and as a form of compensation, the officials responsible for the outbreak offered payments to the grief stricken families who were victims of the horrendous disease. The epidemic came into motion again in 1965, this time in the Agano River basin in Niigata causing the same symptoms as the previous outbreak but this time, the numbers of civilians affected were reduced greatly. It was recently reported in March 2001 that the official death toll of the disease was 1,785 with Chisso Corporation compensated $86 million for the families who were affected by the disease. In May 2006, a memorial service was held to mark 50 years of the discovery and the past left behind of the Minamata disease.
The aftermath of the Minamata disease had taken its toll on the Japanese people claiming many lives and rendering some of its victims permanently disabled. This is highlighted in the article titled “Minamata Disease” written by K. Murata and M. Sakamoto, published in the “Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, 2013”. The...
... middle of paper ...
...along Minamata Bay where all sorts of horrifying cases were exhibited such as neurological diseases, comas and in some cases, death.
Based on the cases discussed above from various authors, it is evident that the most tragic industrial pollution that is, Minamata Bay bears a dark story in history claiming many innocent lives where the methylmercury manifested in various forms, making it an environmental tragedy. Due to the ignorance and negligence of the officials responsible for the dumping of methyl mecury, symptoms such as impaired vision, loss of motor skill and mental retardation was exhibited to people that had very low illness history. The prevalence of this epidemic could have been haltered by the Japanese officials but failure to detect the poisoning at an early stage allowed the disease to manifests itself unto both the Japanese people and the ecosystem.
The Great Tuna Boat Chase and Massacre Case has Ecuador claiming that the United States is in violation of its 200-mile territorial sea. From it’s inception, Ecuador had accepted the customary three mile limit as the demarcation of its territorial waters. However, after 130 years, Juan Valdez achieved power in 1952. Under his regime, he proclaimed that the three mile boundary was never meant to be considered a fixed and unalterable boundary, and that historical practices as well as the natural features of the area justified a 200-mile territorial sea. Each Ecuadorian president since Valdez claimed this as well.
Morro Bay is a beachfront town in San Luis Obispo County, California. It is located along the central coast of California, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. According to the United States Census Bureau (n.d.), the 2010 census reported that Morro Bay had a population of 10,234. Moreover, the 2010 census reported that the total population was composed of 4.4% of persons under 5 years of age, 15.0% of persons under 18 years of age and 23.7% of persons 65 years of age and over. The top three industries in Morro Bay are: “transportation and warehousing; travel, hospitality and tourism; retail and wholesale trade” (Simply Hired n.d.). The companies offering the most jobs in Morro Bay are Gordon Trucking, Cedar Rapids Steel Transport Expedited, and Taco Bell. The per capita income in Morro Bay in 2010 was $31, 899 (Neighborhood Scout, n.d.). Education statistics represent the highest level of education achieved by residents in Morro Bay. In Morro Bay, 8% of residents 18 and over graduated from high school while 31% of residents accomplished a Bachelor’s
24 March 2011 an incident also called “Yellow Rain” occurred in Japan. This incident however was not as the la...
Infamy: Pearl Harbor and its Aftermath was written by John Toland, an American author and historian. He was a graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts and attended Yale School of Drama, with his primary goal of becoming a playwright. Some of his most famous books were written about the World War II Era. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Rising Sun, focusing on the history of Japan during WWII from the Japanese point of view, rather than the American side. He also wrote Adolph Hitler: A Definitive Biography and Battle: The Story of the Bulge. Many of his books focused on the military, so he was quite qualified to write this book.
The history of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant began in 1968 with the construction of Unit 1 Reactor. Unit 2 Reactor went under construction the following year. Unit 1 was up and running in 1974 and four years later in 1978 Unit 2 was put into business. Unit 2 was practically new when a nuclear accident took place and ended the nuclear power production of TMI-2.
In December of 1982, the EPA found high levels of dioxin in Times Beach, forcing the locals to leave their town. “Dioxin used to be considered one of the most dangerous chemicals on the planet, but it is now under debate because of the differences between high and low-level contamination” (Chemical Conundrum).
When someone thinks of problems plaguing the world, nuclear energy is not the first thing that comes to peoples minds these days.[1]Nuclear power was once deemed the new energy of the future.[2]However, numerous nuclear power plant accidents around the world put a damper on that notion.The United States considers itself one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, but 103 nuclear reactors currently operating within her borders, one was bound to fail sometime or another.[3]
Expoure to elemental mercury is mostly due to indoor spills, medical waste, and left over mercury from school labs, which is due to humans not pro...
The following paper is about the Sultana Disaster in 1865. It describes the story of the disaster, includes a description of the ship, as well as ethics, the cause, results, and conclusion of the tragedy. Research includes online sources as well as a newspaper entry. Future work may include research of the aftermath and cleanup procedures of the disaster, as well as publicism throughout the U.S. Furthermore, research questions may address the structure of the ship’s boilers and other possible causes for the incident.
On March 11 2:46pm the pacific coast of Japan experienced an earthquake reading a 9.0 on the Richter scale. Within less than an hour a tsunami crashed against the coast 10 kilometers inland destroying millions of buildings leading to the death of 19,000 citizens (“Fukushima Accident” World Nuclear Association. July 2016, World-nuclear.org, 27 October 2016). At the time a total of eleven nuclear reactors were operating at four different locations Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Daini, Tohoku's Onagawa, and Japco's Tokai. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is 250 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. Operating 6 different nuclear reactors. At the time only three were completely functional; reactor units 1, 2 and 3. Reactors 4, 5 6 were not operational. Our main purpose is to understand how the reactors responded to the earthquake and after the tsunami hit. We also want to understand whether or not the release of radioactive elements into the Pacific Ocean has any severe and chronic impact on marine life.
It has been three years since Japan experienced its worst ever earthquake, causing serious damage to Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The 9 magnitude quake and its resulting tsunami sent three of Japan's reactors into meltdown. This led to reactors being exposed to the environment and radiation waste able to seep into the ground as runoff and affect more areas. Could the government have done more in the early stages of this disaster to prevent any more horrible damage on the environment? Perhaps even lowering the or dramastically reducing the cost and how much more Japan has to pay in order to clean up this mess? In this essay, I hope to explain my research on the disaster in Fukushima, Japan and hope to give
In the morning of December 3, 1984 a tragic event occurred in the city of Bhopal, the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It has been known as the world's worst industrial disaster. A Union Carbide India, Limited (UCIL)'s plant released 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas which instantly killed over 3,000 people and carrying on causing the death of more than 20,000. This tragic event involved not only the technical, safety issues at the time, but also ethical issues on the responsibility of those who would have been able to prevent the tragedy from happening and those who denied or intentionally decreased the responsibility of causing it.
The Aral Sea Disaster Abstract The Aral Sea and the entire Aral Sea basin area have achieved worldwide notoriety due to the environmental disaster. The example of the Aral Sea disaster has sent a signal to the entire international community demonstrating how fast and irrevocable the environmental system can be ruined if there is no long-term thinking and planning in place. This paper gives a broad overview of the policies that have resulted in dying of the forth-largest inland body of water. It concentrates on the policies and approaches of the international organizations towards the problem, describes examples of the projects and presents a conclusion on effectiveness of such policies. Introduction The Aral sea used to be the forth largest inland body of water.
Pollution is so harmful to human beings. Polluted water can cause many kinds of diseases, such as diarrhea, enteritis, and so on. And sometimes the diseases even take man’s life. Dirty air or air-borne garbage causes stinging eyes and running nose. Pollutants are destructive. They will cause runs in stockings and crack rubber tires and they always eat away at stone and rust iron. Time and time again, there are serious accidents that polluted the air. For example, At 1986 there was a bad accident at a nuclear power station in Russia. A cloud of radiation crossed the whole Europe. It is said that 125,000 people died in Russia as a result of illnesses caused by that accident. In 1984 there was an accident at a factory in India and a dangerous cloud gas covered the town of Bhopal. Over 2,500 people were killed that night, and hundreds and thousands of people were injured. Many of the injured lost their sight, and it really dangerous, even in our imagination.
...t entire families died which left no one to identify remains of the deceased. Union Carbide claimed 3,800 people died as a result of this industrial accident. The municipal workers that moved the bodies of the deceased estimated 15,000. However, the local government’s official death toll is 20,000. The Indian Government reported that over a half-million people were exposed to the toxic gas and that survivors are, to this day, still dying from long-term effects of exposure.