2007 - Top Ten Man-Made Disasters

Natural disasters generally bring out an immense outpouring of grief from the general public. But when the disasters are man-made a quick rethink on what went wrong and how best it could have been avoided is generally the focus. Here's a look at the top 10 man-made disasters of the year 2007.

1. Global Warming: From the hurricanes of the Carribean to the cyclones of Bangladesh, the melting of the Greenland ice cap, the melting of world's mountain glaciers, several catastrophes have been linked to global warming. How many of these disasters are actually directly related to global warming is debatable but the fact remains that Global warming will play a significant role in how the climate patterns around the world shape up in the coming century and threaten the lives of millions of people across the globe.

2. Brazil plane crash: Landing at Sao Paolo's Congonhas airport with its short runway and the airport being surrounded by thickly populated residential area is a pilot's nightmare. On July 17th the pilot of a TAM Airlines tried to land on the rain-slicked runway and realized that he would not make it. He tried to take-off again and failed. He skidded off the runway, went across the road, hit a gas station and plunged into a building owned by the airlines resulting in the death of 186 people onboard and 13 on land in what is the worst Brazilian aircrash till date.

3. Southern California forest fires: Southern California is prone to forest fires that is an essential part of the ecosystem. But the fires that ravaged Southern California between October 20th to November 6th was manmade. The Santiago Canyon blaze was manually set up and two other fires - the Witch and Rice Canyon were started after downed power lines ignited the surrounding bush. The fires killed 10 people and caused the movement of a half million people from their homes.

4. The disappearance of the Yangtze river dolphin: Called as Baiji or the goddess of the Yangtze, the only surviving member of a family of species that split off from the saltwater whales and dolphins some 20-40 million years ago has been declared extinct. This is the first time in 50 years that a large aquatic vertebrate species has disappeared. It is the first large mammal to fall prey to human activities. Too much noise in the river from boat collisions and dam constructions interfered with its sonar navigation, fishing procedurs like netting and dynamite explosions, have led to its doom. The disappearance of an apex predator like the river dolphin spells doom for the Yangtze ecosystem that sustains over 400 million people.

5. Minneapolis bridge collapse: Bridge collapses in the China and Vietnam killed more people than the 9 who perished in the Minneapolis bridge collapse. However the fact remains that faulty design incorporated in the bridge's construction 4 decades ago coupled with harsh weather and road salt proved that even rigorous inspection and a perceived immunity to such disintegrations cannot prevent accidents like these.

6. Utah mine collapse: The Crandall Canyon coal mine collapse was initially termed as an earthquake. In fact seismologists recorded an earth movement at Huntington, Utah on the 6th August. The recording arose from the wall of the coal mine collapsing and trapping nine miners. Ten days later 3 rescuers were killed in another collapse and all attempts at rescuing the 9 trapped miners were given up. Years and years of coal mining had made the shaft walls weak and it had to give up sometime.

7. North Korea oil pipe explosion: What goes on inside North Korea few people outside have a clue about. Only aid workers reported that an ageing oil pipeline in North Pyongyang province exploded on June 9th. This prompted several fuel-starved residents to salvage some fuel from the leak. There was a subsequent explosion that is presumed to have killed 110 people but the truth will never come out.

8. Siberian Mine Explosion: Russia's coal mines are notorious for their dilapidated state. It did come as a surprise when the Ulayanovskaya mine in the Kemerovo region of Siberia, a modern mine less than 5 years old with latest safety features, sustained a massive Methane explosion that ripped through the mines on March 19th. The blast waves radiated to 900 feet below the epicenter and resulted in the deaths of 107 miners with 90 miners having been rescued. The death toll was far lower than it could have easily been.

9. Mozambique munitions explosion: A stockpile of old ammunitions stored in a depot on the outskirts of Maputo, Mozambique blew up on the 22nd March, triggering fires and killing 117 people. Red Cross workers mentioned that heavy traffic in the area hampered the arrival of volunteers to the blast site.

10. Congo train derailment: Eight cars fell off the track and seven of them rolled over when the brakes failed on the passenger train between Ilebo and Kanaga on August 1st. The injured were carried to the nearest hospital that was six miles away on barebacks and cycles! The death toll stood at 100 by the time the recovery crew pulled the last bodies out.