Geography 2152F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Oil Tanker, Walkerton, Ontario, Acute Radiation Syndrome
22 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Vary from a single toxic accident to an entire industry (nuclear energy) Exposure to pollutants, waste, oil spills, shipwrecks, bridge collapses. Hybrid disaster: earthquake that causes an oil spill. Technological disasters involving the environment included in this category. Eventually concentration reaches a threshold critical to human health. Toxic chemicals, acid precipitation, groundwater contamination, ozone depletion. Large scale structures: risk defined as probability of failure during lifetime of the structure. Transportation: risk is the probability of death or injury per km travelled. Industry: risk is the probability of death or injury per person per number of hours exposed. 2nd leading cause of lung cancer in north america. Becomes a hazard when it is released into our living space. Potentially high levels present in 5-10% of homes. Gas can move quickly through soil and seep into homes. Bacteria that can quickly clean up oil and toxic spills.
