Environmental Geology Case Studies Final Exam

Roger Revelle

GRANDFATHER OF CLIMATE CHANGE - discoverer of global warming and the greenhouse effect -(HANS SUESS -INDUSTRIAL EFFECT)

Super Typhoon Haiyan, Phillipines

the strongest typhoon and tropical cyclone of any kind on record, 2nd most devastating in Phillipines. Occurred on NOVEMBER 8, 2013 - considered CAT 5 - 195 MPH winds - SURGE TO 46 FT - 6, 352 DEAD - 1,071 MISSING - 28,689 INJURED - $2.2 BILLION DAMAGE

El Niño

CURRENTS IN PACIFIC OCEAN DRIVEN BY TRADE WINDS. NORMAL: COLD-DRY TO EAST, HOT WET TO WEST -REVERSES IN EL NINO CLIMATE IMPACTS - causes droughts in Australia, Indonesia, fishing issues + high ocean temps in South America

PESHTIGO, MICHIGAN, CHICAGO FIRES

occurred OCTOBER 8-10, 1871 - VERY DRY FALL (DROUGHT) CONTROLLED FIRES FOR CLEARING STRONG COLD FRONT - GALE FORCE WINDS - FIRE STORMS 200 FT HIGH - 2,000 degrees F - FIRE AREAS: 1.2 & 2.5 MILLION ACRES BURNED DEAD: 2,400, 500, 300 RESPECTIVELY 4 SQ MILES BURNED IN CHICAGO - 17,000 BUILDINGS

Permian Extinction Event

250 MA"GREAT DYING" greatest mass extinction of life ever mainly from erupting VOLCANOES IN SIBERIA. Volcanism caused SO2 RAIN, ACIDIFIES OCEANS, CO2, CLIMATE CHANGE, METHANE FROM OCEANS - 8.1 degrees F TEMP INCREASE IN 10k YEARS - 96% MARINE LIFE DEAD - 75% TERRESTRIAL LIFE DEAD

Otis Air Force Base/Joint Base Cape Cod

HEAVY POLLUTION AT MILITARY BASES - ALL LOOSE SAND AND GRAVEL ON CAPE COD - MULTIPLE POLLUTANT PLUMES - PLUMES TRAVELLED OFF BASE AND INTO RESIDENTIAL AREAS - HEAVY POLLUTION OF DRINKING WATER - SUPERFUND SITE - MULTIPLE REMEDIATION PROJECTS BURIED STEEL WALL

ENSIGN BICKFORD COMPANY, CT

PRODUCED AND TESTED ORDINANCE EXPLOSIVES FOR MILITARY - RESIDUE AND LEAD IN SOIL

Centralia Pennsylvania Coal Mine Fires

COAL MINING AREA w/ MULTIPLE MINES + NEW MUNICIPAL DUMP IN OLD COAL STRIP MINE -

PAYATAS LANDFILL SLIDE, PHILIPPINES

ALL MUNICIPAL WASTE FROM MANILLA PUT IN ONE DUMP DUMP MOVED TO PAYATAS "NEW SMOKEY" GREW ENORMOUS VERY QUICKLY

Love Canal, NY Site

LARGE CANAL BEGUN NEAR NIAGARA FALLS, NY IN A CLAY-RICH DEPOSIT/IMPERMEABLE

New Zealand Invasive Flightless Birds

Invasive Species in New Zealand - NUMEROUS FLIGHTLESS BIRDS - Humans first brought mammals IN 1600 in area, BEGAN WIPING OUT FRAGILE SPECIES - IMMEDIATELY MORE PEOPLE BROUGHT MORE INVASIVE SPECIES, SOME TO FIX MISTAKES, ultimately DECIMATED NATIVE SPECIES

Monarch Butterfly Population Collapse

2 GROUPS: EAST AND WEST OF ROCKIES - PHENOMENAL MIGRATIONS TO 2,000 MILES WINTER IN MEXICO ALSO FL AND CA, SMALL AREA IN MEXICO BEING DEVELOPED -HABITAT DESTRUCTION- MONARCHS BREED ON BUTTERFLY MILKWEED - MIDWEST BIOFUEL PRODUCTION USES HUGE AMOUNTS OF ROUND UP, KILLS OFF ALL THE MILKWEED, IMPACTS BREEDING -MIGRATING MONARCHS ARE NOW ENDANGERED

American Bald Eagle Increase

BIOMAGNIFICATION AND BIOACCUMULATION OF DDT IN BALD EAGLES CAUSED EGGSHELLS TO BE SO THIN THAT BROODING MOTHERS CRUSHED THEIR EGGS.

PROJECT PLOWSHARE

"PEACEFUL" USES FOR NUCLEAR DEVICES

Radium Girls, NJ

US RADIUM CORP PAINTED DIALS WITH LUMINESCENT RADIUM - HIRED LOCAL GIRLS TO PAINT - LICKED POINTED BRUSHES TO GET SHARP LINES - INGESTED LARGE AMOUNTS OF RADIUM - RADIUM SUBSTITUTES FOR CALCIUM IN BONES + TEETH, TEETH FELL OUT, BONES COLLAPSED "RADIUM JAW" GIRLS DIED.

Chernobyl Disaster

1986 - WORST CIVILIAN NUCLEAR ACCIDENT EVER. OLD FASHIONED GRAPHITE MODERATED REACTOR W/ NO SOLID CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE

LAKE KARACHAY, RUSSIA

Most polluted place in the world - MAYAK CHEMICAL COMBINE WAS A SECRET COLD WAR COMPLEX TO BUILD ATOMIC + NUCLEAR BOMBS.

KYSHTYM NUCLEAR DISASTER, MAYAK

September 27, 1957 - NUCLEAR REACTOR EXPLOSION, SMALLER THAN CHERNOBYL, but LARGE RADIOACTIVE CLOUD BLOWN BY WIND 186 MILES LONG, UP TO 30 MILES WIDE COVERED 217 TOWNS, 270,000 PEOPLE AFFECTED

THE DUST BOWL

Region of the Great Plains that experienced a drought in 1930 lasting for a decade - PRAIRIE GRASS, PLOWED FIELDS, USED WET AREA FARMING TECHNIQUES ALL THE TOPSOIL BLEW AWAY, SOIL EVERYWHERE - MANY FARMERS ABANDONED THEIR FARMS - LARGEST MASS MIGRATION IN US HISTORY - 2.5 MILLION PEOPLE

Aral Sea Disaster, Kazakhstan + Uzbekistan

LARGE LAKE/SEA IN MIDDLE OF DESERT FED BY 2 RIVERS FROM MOUNTAINS - FISHING INDUSTRY ON LAKE DIVERTED WATER TO USE IN IRRIGATION - POOR DEVICES LOST A LOT OF WATER. SEA DRIED OUT AND IS NOW A DESERT SALT AND PESTICIDE IN SEDIMENT - DUST STORMS BLOW IT ALL OVER THE AREA - DISEASE RATES MUCH HIGHER THAN NORMAL - WILDLIFE GONE - NEW EFFORTS TO FIX IT ARE SLOW.

BLACK SUNDAY DUST STORM

APRIL 14, 1934 BLEW DUST TO WASHINGTON DC (NYC, BOSTON) - DUST FILLED HOMES, CAUSED DISEASE - DEATHS FROM ASTHMA, COPD - BLACK DUST IN AIR ABSORBED HEAT - HOTTEST SUMMERS ON RECORD -TOPSOIL IS GONE AND WILL TAKE 1000S OF YEARS TO REPLACE - US SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE ESTABLISHED TO PREVENT THIS FROM EVER HAPPENING AGAIN

Ogallala Aquifer, Central USA

HUGE AQUIFER UNDER 8 STATES IN MIDWEST - ALL AGRICULTURE DEPENDS ON AQUIFER - OVERUSE OF GROUNDWATER PUTTING IT INTO CRISIS - RIVERS SWITCHED FROM EFFLUENT TO INFLUENT - IF WATER GETS TOO LOW, US LOSES ITS MAIN SOURCE OF FOOD (GRAINS)

Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone

OVERUSE OF FERTILIZER RUNS OFF INTO STREAMS/RIVERS + EMPTIES IN OCEAN - FERTILIZER CAUSES ALGAL BLOOMS WHERE ALGAE DIES AND BACTERIA USES ALL OXYGEN CONSUMING IT - EUTROPHICATION - HYPOXIC ZONES CAN'T SUPPORT LIFE - EVERYTHING DIES OR FLEES

Caspian Sea Dead Zone

very 1ST DEAD ZONE IN LATE 1970S - NOW 450 DEAD ZONES AROUND THE WORLD EXTREME REDUCTION IN HUMAN FOOD SUPPLY(FISH)

Hurricane Floyd + Hog Waste, NC

2ND LARGEST PORK PRODUCTION IN US - IN FLOOD PLAINS - FACTORY FARMS HUGE HOG WASTE LAGOONS - HURRICANES OVERFLOW LAGOONS, KILL HOGS - SMELL /WASTE WASHES DOWNSTREAM - PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS HIGH IMPACT OF AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES -HURRICANE FLOYD MADE A MESS CAUSES EUTROPHICATION

Clair Patterson

Got Lead banned single-handedly after fighting for it's harm to the air and people. Lead harms brain function and IN PIPES, GASOLINE, TIN CANS, PAINT - IN AIR, WATER, SOIL - PUBLIC OUTCRY AGAINST IT

EARTH DAY

APRIL 22, 1970 - ORGANIZED BY 2 GRADUATE STUDENTS - 20 MILLION PEOPLE ATTENDED - 203,392,031 = POPULATION OF THE US 10% ATTENDED, ANOTHER 10% WERE HIGHLY SUPPORTIVE -SENT A MESSAGE TO GOVERNMENT AND COMPANIES THAT "WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT"

Rachel Carson

Public Outcry forced her to act and get DDT banned - IN MOTHERS MILK - POISON BABIES BY NURSING THEM BIOACCUMULATION - MADE SHELLS THIN IN RAPTOR EGGS BALD EAGLES ALMOST EXTINCT (PELICANS, FALCON)

Marine Base Camp Lejeune, NC

LEAKING FUEL TANKS - BENZENE IN GROUNDWATER - PCE FROM DRY CLEANING STORE FROM 1953-87 - UP TO 1 MILLION SOLDIERS + FAMILIES IMPACTED - MILITARY KNEW ABOUT IT - HUGE CANCER SPIKE, BIRTH DEFECTS, STILLBORN BABIES - TOOK YEARS FOR MILITARY TO OWN UP

Nevada Nuclear Test Site

HUGE AREA IN DESERT USED TO TEST NUCLEAR WEAPONS - 925 DETONATIONS FROM 1951-92, 825 UNDERGROUND TESTS - RELEASED HUGE AMOUNT OF RADIOACTIVE DEBRIS INTO ATMOSPHERE - ATMOSPHERIC TESTS ARE WORSE WHERE CLOUDS OF RADIOACTIVE DEBRIS DRIFT ACROSS US. - FALLOUT OF DEBRIS MAKES ALMOST WHOLE US RADIOACTIVE. WILL NOT CLEAR FOR 100s of YEARS.

Gulf War Oil Spills/Fire

1991 - RETREATING IRAQI SOLDIERS BLOW-UP 850 OIL WELLS - OIL EVERYWHERE & MOST ON FIRE - 11,000 MILLION BARREL OIL SLICK - LARGEST EVER - OIL, WATER & AIR POLLUTION TOOK 8 MONTHS TO EXTINGUISH - WELL FIRES CAUSE GULF WAR SYNDROME