Human induced hazards are unique because they are the result of mainly human activities and an unforeseen variable that causes destruction or harm on the surrounding environment. Different kinds of of human induced hazards have varying lengths of duration, degree of magnitude, level of predictability, regularity, frequency and speed of onset. For example a nuclear meltdown will have a different degree of magnitude and speed of onset than a deep sea oil spill.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is a prime example of a human induced hazard. There was poor planning and precautions taken in the event of a tsunami and this led to ultimate event of a level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, while the only event prior that was a 7 was the Chernobyl Disaster. There was a period 2 days where high levels of radioactive material was released into the air and surrounding environment. Including many months of using sea water to cool down the exposed radioactive reactors. Even since the incident, there is still radioactive water being released into the ocean today. The evacuation zone for airborne radioactive material was of a radius of 20km from the power plant. But even areas 65km north of the plant where experiencing radiation levels 60 times higher than normal, posing no threat though. This event could have been avoided and even predicted if safety regulations were done correctly of the wall protecting the power plant from the ocean. From the earthquake, it only took an hour for a 14 meter tall tsunami to reach the power plant and breeze over the 5.7 meter tall wall built to stop it. Just under a month of explosions, attempts to cool down the reactors with sea water and ventilation's of radioactive steam to release pressures the event is categorised as level 7 nuclear event by authorities as crisis evacuation begins. Nuclear events such as this or the Three Mile Island accident aren't frequent and aren't easy to predict. Nuclear events as a whole are fairly rare but do cause a lot of damage and long lasting damage.
Another example of human induced hazards is the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The accident was a result of methane gas being released from underground and causing a blowout of the oil rig which was then engulfed in flames. For 87 days oil was freely flowing into the ocean from the hole created by the oil rig after it was destroyed. It is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in history. As a result 4.9 million barrels of oil was released into the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting effect of this amount of oil on the environment and wildlife has been devastating. Alone the spill threatened 39 species in the area of the Gulf of Mexico ranging from whale sharks to seagrass. Only two months after the accident, there were 143 spill-exposure causes to the oil in the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. A Louisiana physician describe the event to be the biggest public health crisis from a chemical poisoning in the history of this country. It only took 2 days before miles on miles of oil slick began to cover the coastal areas near by. Birds, fish and vegetation was drenched in oil. Even till this day oil i being washed onto shore. Clean up on the shore in 2013 removed 4.6 million pounds of oily material from the beaches and this was more than double the clean up in 2012. However there is still oil being found all the way in Florida where the oil has mixed into the sand.
Like all human induced hazards these incidences can't be predicted to the exact day of occurrences but can be prevented with proper safety and precautions. Natural hazards can cause a human induced disaster similar to the Fukushima Nuclear disaster but if the correct procedures and safety was taken into account from the beginning then the human induced hazards could have been avoided all together. The magnitude of these hazards depend on the level of error but on most cases are fairly damaging to both the environment and the people who live there. It is the lasting damage that is unique to human induced hazards as these tend to be more damaging and last longer than any natural hazards such as earthquakes and typhoons.
