Vulnerable on this Earth: Environmental Disasters of the Twentieth Century

The twentieth century brought technological advances that led to improved quality of life for millions. But technology also brought devastation at Chernobyl, Bhopal, Minamata, Love Canal, and other places throughout the world now synonymous with the dark side of technology and human action. Vulnerable on This Earth is the first comprehensive book to explore the causes and consequences of fifteen major manmade environmental disasters in the twentieth century. Author Robert Emmet Hernan tells the story of toxic materials dumped into the sea, buried on land, and discharged into the air; of polluters recklessly advancing their own financial interests and ignoring dangers to others; and above all, of the determination and dignity of ordinary people who heroically fought for justice and change. From the preface by Bill McKibben: In the years to come, the line that Hernan draws between natural and environmental disasters will blur. . . . What will remain the same, however, is human vulnerability. That vulnerability endangers us, of course-but it is closely related to the love, the shared concern, that might save us yet.