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Wikipedia on Environmental disasters

An environmental disaster is a disaster that is due to human activity and should not be confused with natural disasters. In this case, the impact of humans' alteration of the ecosystem has led to widespread and/or long-lasting consequences. It can include the deaths of animals and plant systems, or severe disruption of human life, possibly requiring migration. More »
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Global warming
Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. Global average air temperature near the Earth's surface rose 0.74 ± 0.18 °C during the past century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes, "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas... More »
Climate change
Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes internal to the Earth, external forces or, more recently, human activities. In recent usage, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term "climate change" often refers only to changes in modern... More »
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a major accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986 at 01:23 a.m. The power plant is located near Pripyat, Ukraine. An explosion at the plant was followed by radioactive contamination of the surrounding geographic area. It was the worst accident ever in the history of nuclear power. A plume of radioactive fallout drifted over parts of the Western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and Eastern North America. More »
Radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination is the uncontrolled distribution of radioactive material in a given environment. The amount of radioactive material released in an accident is called the source term. More »
Scientific opinion on climate change
National and international science academies and professional societies have assessed the current scientific opinion on climate change, in particular recent global warming. These assessments have largely followed or endorsed the IPCC postition that ''"An increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system... There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human... More »
Nuclear and radiation accidents
This article covers notable accidents involving nuclear devices and radioactive materials. In some cases, a release of radioactive contamination occurs, but in many cases the accident involves a sealed source or the release of radioactivity is small while the direct irradation is large. Due to government and business secrecy, it is not always possible to determine with certainty the frequency or the extent of some events in the early days of the radiation industries. More »
Chernobyl disaster effects
:''This article is about the effects of the Chernobyl disaster, for the main article on the disaster see: Chernobyl disaster'' The Chernobyl disaster triggered the release of substantial amounts of radiation into the atmosphere in the form of both particle and gaseous radioisotopes, and is the most significant unintentional release of radiation into the environment to date. The International Atomic Energy Agency alleges that, while the Chernobyl disaster released as much as 400 times the... More »
Mitigation of global warming
Mitigation of global warming involves taking actions aimed at reducing the extent of global warming. This is in contrast to adaptation to global warming which involves taking action to minimize the negative effects of global warming. More »
Nuclear meltdown
A nuclear meltdown occurs when the core of a nuclear reactor ceases to be properly controlled and cooled due to failure of control or safety systems, and fuel assemblies inside the reactor begin to overheat and melt. A meltdown is considered a serious nuclear accident because of the possibility that a nuclear meltdown will defeat the reactor containment and potentially release highly radioactive fission products into the environment. Several nuclear meltdowns of differing severity have... More »
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident had been the worst accident in American commercial nuclear power generating history, even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community. On March 28, 1979, the Unit 2 nuclear power plant on the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg suffered a partial core meltdown. The accident unfolded over the course of five tense days, as a number of agencies at local,... More »
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