Book Review

This Borrowed Earth : Lessons from the Fifteen Worst Environmental Disasters around the World. By Robert Emmet Herman

This Borrowed Earth features a compelling look back at 15 disasters around the world that had an unforgettable effect on the environment and also the unsuspecting people affected. The author takes time to elaborate his differentiation between environmental hazards and environmental disasters, which is an important distinction. The former of the two results from natural processes, like floods or tornadoes that occur over a relatively short period of time. The latter refers to anthropogenic forces on the environment that usually occur over a long period of time and without knowing the consequences. Robert Herman provides a thorough and descriptive account on events ranging from Minamata, Japan to the Love Canal in New York. While these events happened in various locations around the world and within different cultures, the causes are much the same. By chronologically covering these events, Herman allows the reader to see how the causes and effects of these events have changed, or not, over time. It’s a very informative recollection of how human innovation and technology can result in disaster if not properly used or planned.

This book is far too descriptive and detailed for me to try and sum all of it up in a short summary. But what I will do is rather make connections between various events and hopefully develop a pattern on why these events occurred and how they may occur in the future. One reoccurring motif of this book was the negligence of those responsible for the disasters. The Exxon Valdez oil spill resulted in thousands of barrels of oil spilling into the ocean due to an inebriated captain. The exacerbated conditions that the people in Seveso faced because the company involved failed to alert local officials of a potential chemical explosion which later surrounded the community in a white poisonous gas that caused Chloracne, as well as far more deadly conditions. This ties together with another more apparent theme, which is trying to avoid blame. Chisso, the chemical company in Minamata,Japan responsible for deaths and birth defects for countless families, for over 15 years denied that their dumping of thousands of tons of mercury into the local fishing waters was causing the death and deformation in the community. They even went as far as suppressing their own study that proved the related deaths and symptoms appearing in the fishing village was due to mercury poisoning. Other companies like the Industrie Chimiche Meda Societa Anonima in Seveso, Italy, in fear of facing blame and potential lawsuits, withheld all information regarding the possible dioxin in the air from their chemical explosion. This happened in every event at least to some degree. Whether it is greedy corporations or ones own government, they all seem to avoid blame even until the end. 

In some cases, the resulting disaster didn’t come from corporations trying to save money and knowingly endangering thousands of people with toxic waste and chemicals. Some were failures of our own instruments, (and a bit of negligence) as was the case at Three Mile Island, PN and Windscale, England. Both of these events involved nuclear reactors melting down and the release of water vapor in the form of steam mixed with radiation that was blown over numerous towns that later caused numerous warnings on consuming food that had come into contact with the radiation. In the case of Windscale, the government was very slow in informing the public of what had happened, due to the fact that this was a secret project (after WWII countries scrambled to obtain nuclear power even after the events of Hiroshima). It took several days after the release of the deadly radiation to inform the public that it may be endanger. To me this seems like it should be a crime, the fact the government knew the chances that this radiation would affect the local village and stood by, instead of ordering an evacuation or any other feasible form of protection. But at the same time announcing false warnings, or warning to early can have negative outcomes (still far less than not ordering an evacuation). This happened with Three Mile Island. The news of the reactor meltdown and potential radiation was leaked before the local official could announce the current condition. This sent people into a panic, trying to withdraw their money from banks, securing gasoline, and various other things on the 

“impending death” checklist.

There are to many events to be able to give adequate time to all of them, but many of the characteristics of these events are the same. Negligence and avoidance of blame are two major contributors to how these disasters started and how they were made worse. In trying to save money companies look for the cheapest way to rid themselves of their wasteful by products that usually results in future generations paying for it. Governments sometimes out of trying to avoid more chaos withhold pertinent information to local communities, which again makes the problem worse. The affects of climate change are causing us to look for cleaner and more efficient energy sources. Nuclear technology is always at the forefront of this search, and this book is a reminder of what can happen if we become careless and complacent with technology.