A guide to the archive · Disaster
Follow the chain of events.
A disaster is easier to understand when its mechanism is visible. A layer of warm air can trap pollution, failed cooling can leave dangerous waste overheated, and deep lake water can store a large volume of gas. The stories here follow how a hazard became an exposure.
Begin with three cases that ask different questions about prevention. Each article separates the physical process from the damage it caused, then examines the response and the limits of the evidence.
1952 · 3 min read
Why did London’s smoke stop dispersing?
In December 1952, a temperature inversion trapped coal smoke and other pollution close to the ground. The article explains that weather pattern, why estimates of the death toll use different time windows, and how smoke-control legislation addressed the sources of pollution.
Read the supporting sources →1957 · 2 min read
How could a waste tank contaminate a region?
At Mayak in 1957, a chemical explosion in stored radioactive waste spread contamination. The operator’s later reconstruction describes failed monitoring, lost cooling and dried salts. Follow that failure sequence and the cleanup, with the operator’s account clearly identified and other Mayak releases kept separate.
Read the supporting sources →1986 · 2 min read
What danger was stored beneath a quiet lake?
In August 1986, carbon dioxide escaped from Lake Nyos in Cameroon and spread into nearby valleys. The article explains gas accumulation in deep water, the evidence from survivors and the later use of controlled degassing. The mechanism and the uncertain initiating disturbance are different questions.
Read the supporting sources →