9781422280560

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Scary World

Even a widespread infectious disease can qualify as a catastrophe if an entire community is affected. On the other hand, anthropogenic catastrophes are ones that result directly from things people do, such as war, terrorism, and mass shootings. An industrial accident could also qualify as a human- caused disaster. For example, a massive sinkhole opened up in Bayou Corne, Louisiana, in 2012 after a salt mine collapsed. Even a riot could be considered a catastrophe if the damage got way out of control. Whatever their cause, one thing catastrophes have in common is that they’re extreme events, beyond our typical daily experiences. In fact, they can make day-to-day life impossible, at least for a

The Aral Sea was once one of the largest bodies of water in the world. A water diversion project undertaken by the Soviet Union in the 1960s led to a slow-moving catastrophe that dried up much of the sea, destroying the fishing communities that once depended on it.