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5 Man-Made Natural Disasters

Floods to mud, there's lots we can take responsibility for besides global warming

By Lev Weinstein,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 3, 2008 9:29 AM CDT

(Newser) – Humans can do a righteous job of messing up the planet in the long term. We're also more than capable of wreaking short-term havoc with these man-made natural disasters, reports the New Scientist:

  1. Mud volcanoes: While we can't create the real thing, shoddy mining practices in East Java have made the ground hemorrhage mud since 2006.
 
 

  1. Earthquakes: In 1967, a quake hit Koyna, India, after a dam was built in what was thought to be a seismically safe region.
  2. Vanishing water: Drill underwater, and you might empty the tub. It happened at Louisiana's Lake Peigneur.
  3. Floods: Cloud-seeding during a storm can trigger quite the flood, much like a 1972 event in South Dakota that dumped a year's worth of rain in 6 hours.
  4. Hurricanes: A trail of black carbon can divert one, but to where?

Not too long from now, we may be able to divert the destruction caused by Hurricanes like Dolly, but to where?
Not too long from now, we may be able to divert the destruction caused by Hurricanes like Dolly, but to where?   (AP Photo)
An aerial view shows a house completely overwhelmed by mud flowing from a mud volcano Monday, May 28, 2008 in Sidoarjo, just outside Surabaya, Indonesia.
An aerial view shows a house completely overwhelmed by mud flowing from a "mud volcano" Monday, May 28, 2008 in Sidoarjo, just outside Surabaya, Indonesia.   (AP Photo/Trisnadi)
An Indonesian man salvages bricks from a village covered in mud oozing from a volcano that began erupting nearly 2 years ago Wednesday, May 28, 2008 in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia.
An Indonesian man salvages bricks from a village covered in mud oozing from a volcano that began erupting nearly 2 years ago Wednesday, May 28, 2008 in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia.   (AP Photo/Trisnadi)
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