Man – made disasters Some environmental disasters

Transcript:Man – made disasters Some environmental disasters:
Man – made disasters Some environmental disasters are caused by humans... We are responsible for 2 main sorts of disasters. The first are short-term events that happen suddenly. This kind of disaster might be on the television news: a terrible oil spill or a leak from a chemical factory or a nuclear accident. The second sort of man-made disaster takes place over a long period of time. These are less likely to appear on the news because they don’t happen as a single event like an oil spill. In some ways these long-term disasters are more serious. They take a long time to sort out because they build up over a long time. Examples of this include the effect our industries are having on the world’s climate, loss of some of the world’s species of animals and the destruction of the world’s forests. Bridge collapses The Westgate Bridge Catastrophe Melbourne, 15th October 1970 The building of the Westgate Bridge was welcomed by the people of Melbourne because it would connect the city’s eastern and western suburbs. Instead it turned out to be a nightmare. Thirty-five workmen were killed when a span of the bridge collapsed during construction. Westgate Bridge Catastrophe The ‘pinging’ noise was heard, followed by the screech of metal grinding over metal. The gap widened and one end of the span collapsed. The other span slid down, its 2000-tonne weight plummeting into the river. The Tasman Bridge Collapse Hobart, 5th January 1975 On a dark, drizzly night early in 1975 a 7000 tonne ship carrying a large cargo of ore tried to pass under Hobart’s Tasman Bridge, but didn’t make it through. Not only did the bridge collapse but the ‘Lake Illawarra’ sank like a stone, claiming 12 lives. Tasman Bridge Collapse A 73-metre long section of the bridge’s roadway fell onto the ‘Lake Illawarra’. On the bridge, cars skidded as lights went out. Four cars plunged 50 metres into the Derwent River. Two others stopped, half hanging over the edge of the bridge. Aviation Since the birth of planes, aircraft have crashed, often with serious consequences. This is because of the unforgiving nature of flight. Approximately 80 percent of all aviation accidents occur shortly before, after, or during takeoff or landing, and are often described as resulting from 'human error'; mid-flight disasters are rare but not entirely unheard of. Among other things, the latter have been caused