ABSTRACT
There have always existed environmental threats to human survival. For example, a popular explanation for the Roman Empire’s fall was the declining birth rates caused by the use of lead in water pipes; the absence of sanitation in medieval Europe contributed to the incidence of diseases like cholera; in the nineteenth century, entire species of animals including the passenger pigeon – once the most numerous bird on earth – were wiped out, and the mercury used to turn fur into the felt in making hats was inhaled by hat makers, causing “mad hatters’ disease” with symptoms such as trembling, slurring of speech, and anxiety.1 The “mad hatter” was made famous in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
