10 of the worst man-made disasters in history

THE ABERFAN COLLIERY SLIP - Big man-made disasters don’t often happen in Britain, which made the Aberfan colliery slip even more shocking. The Welsh Valleys village of Aberfan grew up around the nearby coal mine that was established back in 1869. By 1966, the settlement had grown, and the village was surrounded by seven huge spoil piles – waste material from mining.

THE SEVESO DISASTER - This industrial accident took place at a chemical plant north of Milan, Italy. On Saturday July 10 1976, the factory was producing a chemical called 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol, which has been used as a chemical weapon and in weedkillers, according to the journal Chemosphereopens in new tab.

CHERNOBYL MELTDOWN - One of the most well-known man-made disasters in history is the Chernobyl explosion, and for good reason. It all began innocently enough, with engineers conducting a standard experiment to see if the plants emergency water cooling would function in the event of a power outage. The test had been performed before, but this time there was a power surge, making it impossible for engineers to turn off Chernobyls nuclear reactors. One reactor experienced a steam buildup, roof collapse, nuclear core exposure, and radioactive material release into the atmosphere.

MONTANA ASBESTOS CLOUDS - One of the most notorious man-made disasters in history is the Chernobyl explosion, and for good reason. It all began innocently enough, with engineers conducting a standard experiment to see if the plants emergency water cooling would function in the event of a power outage. The test had been performed before, but this time there was a power surge, making it impossible for engineers to turn off Chernobyls nuclear reactors. One reactor experienced a steam buildup, roof collapse, nuclear core exposure, and radioactive material release into the atmosphere.

THE DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL - Oil spills are among the most visible man-made disasters of our times, and 2010’s Deepwater Horizon incident is reputed to be the largest marine oil spill in history.

THE BHOPAL DISASTER - According to The Atlantic, a petrol leak occurred on December 2, 1984, at a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India opens in new tab. 40 tonnes of a substance called methyl isocyanate leaked into the atmosphere as a result of broken safety systems and a runaway pressure increase. More than 600,000 people were exposed to the lethal cloud because there was such a large amount of toxic material nearby and the plant was surrounded by tightly packed housing.

THE SIDOARJO MUD VOLCANO - Most people think of lava flowing from a volcano, but in Sidoarjo, Indonesia, you’ll find the world’s biggest mud volcano. It was created by an explosion at a gas well drilled by an energy company, although company officials claim that an earthquake around 155 miles 250km away provoked the problem.

HE NORTH PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH - There aren’t many man-made disasters that are as large or as visible as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. There’s nothing particularly complicated about what’s gone on here a huge amount of rubbish has made its way into the ocean over the past decades because of negligent humans.

CALIFORNIAN WILDFIRES - Climate change has seen wildfires become a far more common threat around the world, and 2018 saw huge areas of California affected by some of the worst fires in recent memory,. More than 100 people died in more than 8,500 fires across California, and the fires destroyed more than 24,000 buildings and burned two million acres of land.

THE JILIN CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION - This incident took place in the Chinese city of Jilin in November 2005, and saw a series of explosions at a petrochemical plant. In the immediate aftermath of the blasts more than 10,000 people were evacuated from the local area, according to the New York Times

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