For hundreds of years, man has been the greatest destroyer of the planet. As the highest being on the food chain, our impact on the environment is the greatest contributor to the loss of species worldwide. Breeding grounds are being destroyed and access to resources is diminishing due to industrial and residential development, logging, crop farming, livestock grazing, mining, road and dam building and pesticide use. All of this in the name of progress. This topic is one that really hits me where I live. Nothing angers me more than a chemical spill that kills countless animals and has long lasting effects on their habitats. I’m going to talk about three instances where greed, human error and indifference caused permanent damage to huge swaths of land and ocean. I’m going to talk about the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Chernobyl nuclear incident and the Palestine, Ohio train derailment. These aren’t the only three chemical spills that have ruined countless miles of habitat and cost thousands of animals their lives, but these are hallmarks of what can happen when companies and their employees cut corners and refuse to follow the rules. Contact me at the website: www.causeofdeath100secs.net Check it out, leave a review, leave me a voicemail or an email. Look at the blog posts. Join my mailing list. There are so many ways to interact with me on that site that there’s no excuse not to! I also have a dedicated email for Cause of Death, you can reach me at jackie@causeofdeath100secs.net. Link Tree: https://www.linktr.ee.com/CauseofDeathpod Greed and Avarice: The Story of Chemical Spills and Wildlife Show Notes: https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/nwep16b.htm https://www.alleycat.org/resources/humans-the-number-one-threat-to-wildlife/ https://www.mdpi.com/journal/animals/special_issues/Species_conservation https://www.onekindplanet.org/man-made-disasters-animals/ https://bsed.org.in/effect-of-man-made-hazard-on-wildlife-and-aquatic-life/ https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/historical-achievements/animals-in-disasters https://www.animal-ethics.org/animals-natural-disasters/ https://earth.org/ohio-trail-derailment/ https://cnr.ncsu.edu/news/2023/03/ohio-train-derailment-health-impacts-air-pollution/ https://www.pennfuture.org/Blog-Item-2023-East-Palestine-Ohio-Train-Disaster https://prismreports.org/2023/03/09/why-east-palestine-train-derailment-environmental-impacts-unclear/ https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/environmental-disasters-affect-ecosystems-ohio-train-derailment-affect/story?id=97493398 https://winknews.com/2023/02/20/the-lasting-environmental-impact-of-the-ohio-train-derailment/ https://www-pub.iaea.org/mtcd/publications/pdf/pub1239_web.pdf https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/sciencebites/chapter/the-lingering-effects-of-the-chernobyl-disaster/ https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/581972/EPRS_BRI(2016)581972_EN.pdf https://www.greenfacts.org/en/chernobyl/l-3/3-chernobyl-environment.htm#0p0 https://www.bfs.de/EN/topics/ion/accident-management/emergency/chernobyl/environmental-consequences.html#:~:text=The%20accident%20at%20the%20Chernobyl,the%20environment%20are%20still%20exposed. https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Documents/OilSpills_Wildlife.pdf https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/oil-spill-environment-ocean/ https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/oil-spills/how-oil-harms-animals-and-plants-marine-environments.html https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/spills/#:~:text=The%20release%20of%20oil%20and,resources%20in%20the%20food%20chain. https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/exxon-valdez https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30718022/#:~:text=Abstract,likely%20death%20of%20small%20mammals. https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2022/scientists-cant-agree-about-chernobyls-impact-wildlife https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X17309347 https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/exxon-valdez-oil-spill https://www.npr.org/2023/02/23/1158972561/east-palestine-train-derailment-ntsb