By Daniel Stone
Most environmental disasters—hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires—lie largely beyond human control. But some of the world’s most lethal calamities have been caused at the hands of people. The pursuit of more (and more efficient forms of) energy, food, and building materials have depleted parts of the globe. The effects of things like overfishing and coal and ash spills are assessed quickly, but the longer-term impacts often permanently threaten the livelihood of the world’s ecosystems and the human populations that depend on them. Here, we offer the world’s most iconic environmental disasters. All of which, unlike hurricanes, earthquakes, or wildfires, might have been avoided.
