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

Copied

5 Man-Made Natural Disasters — Not too long from now, we may be able to divert the destruction caused by Hurricanes like Dolly, but to where? (AP Photo)

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:

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

Earthquakes: In 1967, a quake hit Koyna, India, after a dam was built in what was thought to be a seismically safe region.
Vanishing water: Drill underwater, and you might empty the tub. It happened at Louisiana's Lake Peigneur.
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.
Hurricanes: A trail of black carbon can divert one, but to where?

(More natural disaster stories.)

Report an error