Environmental Disasters & Health Impacts

Environmental Disasters & Health Impacts

 

Due Date

Sunday @ midnight (week 4) – Late papers are not accepted.

 

Assignment Description

Pick a major environmental disaster from history, such as an oil spill, nuclear meltdown, or chemical fire and describe this event in detail according to the description below. If you have trouble thinking of a topic, I have provided a number of topics below that you may choose from.

 

Essay Format

8-10 pages in length

Double spaced

Times New Roman, 12 points font

APA 6th Edition format for references

 

Essay Structure

Title Page (Page 1): Include separate page containing your full name, university, and title of your paper

Abstract (Page 2): Write about 250 words on an overview of the paper; this is written in past tense.

Introduction (Page 3): About a half page. What disaster did you choose to write about? How does this disaster fit in the context of the world? Does history regard this as the greatest disaster of all time in the U.S. or elsewhere? What is its relevance to environmental health? Etc. Background: About 1 page. Set the stage for the environmental disaster. What region of the world did it take place? What year did it occur? What season? Was it in a village, city, or rural area? Was this area low or high income? What was the demographic makeup? Etc.

Methods (Page 3): Less than half a page. This section needs to describe how you conducted your literature review. It needs to include keyword searches and search engines used.

Discussion (Page 4, 5, 6): About 3 pages. This is the main body of your paper. Describe the disaster in detail. What was the problem? Who was involved? Did it turn into a legal matter? Were any new environmental policies created as a consequence? How many people were affected? Provide any information that you deem necessary or useful in telling this story. Be sure to identify the specific chemical(s) involved in this disaster. What are they typically used for and how/why were they involved in the disaster? How long have such chemicals been in use? What health effects were caused? Cite some studies that have investigated the health effects of such chemicals. Do these studies describe health effects based off of lab tests with animals or do these studies involve people? What were the study findings? Include any graphs, maps, figures, or tables that would be useful in describing this event.

Conclusion (Page 6, 7): About a half page. Briefly conclude your paper by restating the importance of this disaster in the context of environmental health and society. What lessons were learned from this disaster that could be applied to prevent it in the future?

References (Page 8): Must include 5-10 references. At least 4 of these references should be from peer-reviewed studies or analyses, which can be searched using the online NU library or Google Scholar search engine. For all other references, do NOT cite Wikipedia or similar websites. Stick to the most credible sources, including university and government websites (EPA, NIH, NIOSH, ATSDR, etc.).

 

*Note, graphs, tables, pictures, and the references section do not contribute to the total page count.

 

 

 

General Grading Criteria

· 5% – Complete title page.

· 10% – In grading this paper, I want to see proper grammar, spelling, and adherence to the essay format and structure described above.

· 15% – I also want to see a complete references section according to the details described above, including an adequate number of citations.

· 70% – The primary grade of your paper will depend on the quality of the introduction, background, body, and conclusion of your paper. I want to see that you really dove in and gained an understanding of the environmental disaster and the different key factors involved. I’d like to see that you thought critically about what went wrong and explored the implications and extent of the impact to health and the environment.

Environmental Disaster Topics

· Bhopal Disaster – Dec. 2-3, 1984

· Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – April 20-July 15, 2010

· Exxon Valdez – March 24, 1989

· Cuyahoga River Fire – June 22, 1969

· Santa Barbara Oil Spill – January 28, 1969

· Chernobyl Disaster – April 26 1986

· Three Mile Island Accident – March 28, 1979

· Fukushima – March 11, 2011.

· Kuwaiti Oil Fires – Jan-Feb. Last well capped on November 6, 1991.

· Tokaimura Nuclear Plant – Sept. 30, 1999

· Seveso Dioxin Cloud – July 10, 1976

· Nagasaki Nuclear Bomb – 1945

· Hiroshima Nuclear Bomb – 1954

· London Fog – 1952

· Philidalphia & NY smog

· Thalidimide becomes over the counter drug – October 1, 1957

· Aral Sea issues

· Romanian Cyanide Spill – January 30, 2000

· E-waste – China

· Flint, Michigan water contamination

· Gulf Mexico Dead Zone

· Love Canal Disaster, USA – 1970s

· Woburn, USA – leukemia and water contamination

· Agent Orange Vietnam

· Liberia Oil Tanker Spill

· Vermiculite mines in Libby, Montana

· Derweze, Turkmenistan methane fire hole measuring

· Spanish Plutonium contamination – January 17, 1966

· Jilin, China, chemical plant explosions November 13, 2005

· Mining Accident

· Roane County, Tennessee Flash Ash Slurry – December 22, 2008.

· Benxihu (Honkeiko) Colliery Coal mine disaster – April 26, 1942

· Farmington (WV) Mine Disaster – lead to Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 – Nov 20, 1968:

· Donora, PN Smog – Oct 27, 1948 lasting several days