The Renewable Energy Disaster Far More Deadly Than Chernobyl

The Renewable Energy Disaster Far More Deadly Than Chernobyl
Banqiao Dam after the catastrophe. Public Domain/Wikimedia
Ross Pomeroy
Updated:
Commentary
Decades ago, a single energy disaster left three million acres of land uninhabitable to humans and killed between 85,600 and 240,000 people. A casual student of history might assume these shocking statistics refer to the Chernobyl nuclear accident, but that would be incorrect. No, this catastrophic specter was the fault of the Banqiao Dam collapse in Henan, China. By comparison, Chernobyl killed fifteen times fewer people and desolated an area of land one-sixth as large.
Ross Pomeroy
Ross Pomeroy
Author
Steven "Ross" Pomeroy is chief editor of RealClearScience. A zoologist and conservation biologist by training, Ross has nurtured a passion for journalism and writing his entire life.
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