According to Discovery magazine, it has been 20 years since the oil spill of the American oil tanker Exxon Valdez, which always reminds people of the great destruction of human behavior on this planet. The following pictures cover the impact of this accident and nine other environmental disasters on the earth. Although some of these accidents have happened, their impact on the environment continues.

1. Early environmental damage: the bison massacre

/kloc-in the 0 th and 9 th centuries, the U.S. military allowed a large number of bison to be slaughtered, and these cow bones were waiting to be processed into fertilizer for agricultural production in the Midwest of the United States. The massacre effectively curbed the increase in the number of bison. It is estimated that from 1800 to 1890, the number of American bison decreased rapidly from about 60 million to 750.

2. Kingston, Tennessee is full of mud.

65438+ Last February, due to the collapse of a dam, a large amount of coal ash sludge overflowed from Kingston Petrochemical Plant, resulting in more than 65438+ billion gallons of toxic sludge flowing into a community in Tennessee. Kingston Petrochemical Plant is a thermal power plant under the Tennessee Valley Authority.

As we all know, coal ash contains dangerous elements such as arsenic, lead and selenium. However, at first, the Tennessee Valley Authority was unwilling to issue any health warning for this coal ash sludge leakage accident. A few weeks after the incident, the bureau finally admitted that there was a leak in the power plant, but at first refused to admit that an area full of mud like the one in the photo was no longer suitable for living.

3. The harm of Bhopal gas leakage accident in India still exists.

During the period of 1984, a serious toxic gas leakage occurred in pesticide plant, a subsidiary of Bhopal Union Carbide Company. More than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate leaked overnight, causing more than 20,000 deaths, which is by far the most serious chemical industry accident in the world. After the accident, the researchers studied these skulls in Hamidiya Hospital to see if toxic gas would affect the brain. These chemicals not only cause serious harm to people who inhale them, but also have adverse effects on nearby animals and trees. The leaves around the factory turned yellow and lost their luster in a few days.

However, although it has been 25 years since the accident, people are still complaining that the leakage accident still has a serious impact on the local environment, but the relevant departments have not taken any remedial measures at all. In order to calm people's anger, the Indian government decided to look at the long-term impact of the accident on Bhopal through a study.

Level the top of the mountain

Through the mountain-building movement, mankind blew up the top of the mountain with explosives and obtained the coal used by power companies to generate electricity. In this activity, people must first clear the trees and vegetation on the mountain, then clear the topsoil and pour the soil from the top of the mountain into the nearby valley, which will cause the surrounding rivers to be blocked.

Among them, the Appalachian Mountains are the most seriously affected by orogeny. So far, at least 6.5438+0 million acres of this mountain range have been destroyed. Because orogeny often has an irreversible impact on the environment, people have always been controversial about this behavior.

5. Nile perch, an invader of Lake Victoria in Africa.

Nile bass is one of the most influential 100 invasive species in the world. Since the introduction of Lake Victoria in East Africa in 1950s, it has had a fatal impact on the environment here. In some parts of the world, it is illegal to sell or feed this kind of fish. It is reported that Nile perch has caused hundreds of species of fish in Lake Victoria to be "extinct".

After the Nile perch wiped out all the fish that ate algae, the algae in Lake Victoria began to grow wildly. Because this kind of perch is rich in fat, people prefer to smoke it with firewood instead of drying it, so this kind of fish greatly increases the local people's demand for firewood. Adult Nile perch can weigh more than 440 pounds. They not only eat insects, crustaceans and other fish, but sometimes even their own kind is their prey. The Nile perch in this photo has been killed by fishermen and is being sent to the local market for sale.

6. Palm oil = deforestation = greenhouse gases

The tropical forest area in Indonesia ranks third in the world, but at present, the tropical forest in Indonesia is decreasing rapidly. Although most deforestation is illegal, there are two main purposes for people to do so. One is to obtain pulp and promote the development of paper industry, and the other is to cut down trees and cultivate oil coconuts. The development of many industries, from biofuels to soap to cosmetics, is closely related to this plant.

Due to the crazy deforestation, Indonesia is also the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, after the United States and China. After deforestation, carbon trapped in wetland soil will be released into the atmosphere.

7. The second largest oil spill

1On June 3rd, 979, a blowout occurred at Ixtoc-I well in bay of campeche, Mexico, 600 miles south of Texas. The blowout was not controlled until the second year, and the accident leaked1400,000 gallons of crude oil. The biggest oil spill occurred in the Gulf War of 199 1, when Iraq deliberately poured 462 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.

8. jungle meat

Although it is illegal to sell primates and snake meat, the "jungle meat" trade is increasingly rampant in some parts of the world. Jungle meat refers to the meat obtained by hunters killing wild animals for commercial or edible purposes. African forests produce about 6.5438 million tons of jungle meat every year, and the number of endangered gorillas, the main victims of this trade, is rapidly decreasing. This photo shows a gorilla family in a forest area in southeastern Cameroon. Jungle meat hunters killed them in their nests.

Great moment

1In July 1969, American astronauts Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin finally landed on the moon on behalf of all mankind, taking an important step in human exploration of space and setting a new milestone in the space industry.