Human-created environmental catastrophes vary in size and scope, but the worst disasters can leave entire landscapes uninhabitable. The landscapes that remain after these events serve as a stark reminder of humankind’s ability to reshape the world, in ways both positive and negative.
In some cases, disasters like nuclear accidents or mining operations have prompted permanent evacuations, leaving behind ghost towns. In others, rising sea levels due to climate change are slowly inundating island communities. Dams, irrigation canals, or other public works projects can also lead to disaster when poor planning results in flooded valleys or shrinking lakes.
From Fukushima to the Aral Sea, here are 5 places that have been ruined by human-caused disasters.
1. Pripyat
Located within the Chernobyl disaster zone, Pripyat, Ukraine, was ground zero for the worst nuclear disaster in history when an accident destroyed a plant reactor in 1986. The city, which once bustled with nearly 50,000 residents, was evacuated after the disaster and is now a ghost town. Radiation levels in the 1,000-square-mile disaster zone still remain too high for permanent human habitation, though it is considered safe for short-term travel.1 Nature has reclaimed much of the city, with trees and grasses obscuring sidewalks and buildings. Wildlife numbers around the city have also rebounded, and researchers say that the area now functions as a successful, albeit unplanned, wildlife reserve.
2. Centralia
A coal mine that extends under Centralia, Pennsylvania has been burning since 1962 and has left the town, which once had a population of 1,000, virtually uninhabited. The fire, which was started to burn a garbage pile but then escaped into the tunnels of the nearby mine, has been burning underground ever since. Though the fire is not expanding as quickly as it once was, researchers believe it may continue to burn for another 100 years.3 The town is not off-limits to visitors and even serves as an off-beat tourist attraction. However, officials strongly discourage visitation, citing dangerous gases, collapsing roads, and hidden heat vents.
3. Carteret Islands
Residents of the Carteret Islands, a low-lying island chain in the Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea, have been forced to evacuate their homeland over the past several decades due to rising sea levels. The local sea-level changes, which researchers believe are tied to broader changes due to climate change, have flooded several of the islands.4 Seawater has also destroyed crops and flooded freshwater wells, reducing the islanders’ access to food and water. Though many residents have left, the islands are still habited.
4. Wittenoom
Wittenoom, a town in Western Australia, is the site of a former asbestos mine that caused the worst industrial disaster in Australian history. Before the entire town was shuttered in 1966, thousands of workers and their families were exposed to lethal levels of blue asbestos—1,000 times higher than was legally regulated at the time. Today, the air remains contaminated, especially when the soil is disturbed. The state of Western Australia has the highest rate of malignant mesothelioma per capita of anywhere in the world.
5. Picher
The ghost town of Picher, Oklahoma, is an example of cross-contamination from a local lead and zinc mine. The landscape around the town was used for surface-level mining, which destabilized the ground underneath buildings in town and exposed residents to toxic levels of lead.5
Surrounded by piles of toxic mine tailings, Picher was declared to be the center of a 40-square-mile Superfund site in 1983. In 1996, studies found that about one-third of the children living in Picher had elevated blood levels of lead.6 In 2009, the city government and school district dissolved, and all residents who remained in Picher were offered funds from the federal government to relocate.……See More
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