ABSTRACT

Having explored the impact of the environment on people we now turn to the impact of people on the environment, which we will consider under two main headings, chemical pollution and technological or human-made disasters. These two areas are interrelated in that they are both consequences of human behaviour in one way or another, and they both have a major impact on behaviour at the time and major consequences for the future. Disasters come in two forms, natural disasters in terms of floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. and human-made in terms of transportation accidents, nuclear explosions, and other major events which bring human death and suffering as a consequence of technological developments. Chemical pollution is a by-product of technological advance and often the outcome of technological disasters such as nuclear explosions and oil spills. At the time I write this people on a small island in the Shetlands are pursuing a public inquiry into the increased incidence of deaths from cancer which seems to have come in the aftermath of a nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Russia. It is being suggested that fallout from the accident has polluted vegetables grown on the island and that the link with cancer is through diet. In addition a fire at Chernobyl, which has spread through deserted villages in the exclusion zone, is threatening to spread radioactive particles carried in the smoke to originally safe areas all these years after the original disaster. About six weeks ago, one of the most beautiful stretches of seaside and beach in South Wales was almost destroyed by oil from a tanker which ran aground on the rocks. Large numbers of wildlife died as a result of the spillage. It is becoming increasingly difficult to remember a time when these type of events were not occurring on a regular basis. Hence the growing interest among environmental psychologists in exploring these issues.