Environmental Pollution

Today I came across an important resource from the Political Economy Research Institute which names the top 100 toxic air polluters in the US. Incidentally BP is #25 on this list which spans a wide range of industries from paper manufacturers to electricity corporations. In the context of the BP spill, could another similar accident occur at one of these corporate facilities? The environment is still feeling the effects of past environmental disasters. How long will the Gulf cleanup take? How long until the marine life recovers? See some of these library materials to learn more.

Past global environmental disasters:
Chernobyl by David Erik Nelson
– If you prefer fiction, read Wolves eat dogs by Martin Cruz Smith, set in Pripyat, Ukraine .
Five past midnight in Bhopal - an account of the Union Carbide gas leak in India,  December 3, 1984
-For a fictional account of the effects of this disaster on lives, Animal's people
Three Mile Island: A nuclear crisis in historical perspective

For research: Environmental issues: Essential primary sources and Encyclopedia of global warming and climate change

To gain awareness on environmental issues:
*READ coverage of the Gulf oil spill in the New Orleans’ Times-Picayune on the America's Newspapers database.
*Hot, flat, and crowded: Why we need a green revolution and how it can renew America
*Red sky at morning: America and the crisis of the global environment
*Dire predictions: Understanding global warming
*Eaarth: Making a life on a tough planet

Newsweek’s photo slideshow of Eco Disasters