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I occasionally check the Environmental Calendar that’s posted on Mr. McKinley’s blog, but never really find anything that interesting. However, today I went to the calendar and under Saturday, December 2, it says “Day of Remembrance for the Bhopal Tragedy.” What the heck is the Bhopal Tragedy??

I became curious and googled the Bhopal Tragedy. I found out it’s kid of a controversial issue, because surviving victims still haven’t recieved compensation. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve learned:

Bhopal is a city in central India. In 1984, a highly toxic vapor called methyl isocyanate burst from a Union Carbide pesticide plant, killing 2,000 people immediately, and injuring about 300,000. On top of that, 7,000 animals were injured, and 1,000 were killed. This incident has also been refered to as the “Hiroshima of the Chemical Industry,” and was one of the worst commercial industrial disasters in history. Even today, survivors are still suffering. Here are a couple examples of what they’re suffering from: partial or complete blindness, gastrointestinal disorders, impaired immune systems, and post traumatic stress disorders.

After the tragedy happened, involved parties began to argue and point the finger at one another. It’s also said that the site, even after 22 years, remains a source of lethal toxins. Some estimate that the number of those affected by the Bhopal Tragedy is above 500,000. I really can’t believe I never knew about this.
above photo: On the 20th anniversary of the gas tragedy, a woman in Bhopal views a photo exhibit. Courtesy of NPR.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4199681

http://www.hu.mtu.edu/hu_dept/tc@mtu/papers/bhopal.htm
http://ical.mac.com/WebObjects/iCal.woa/wa/default?u=mwmckinley&n=Environmental%20Calendar.ics