Mini DBQ
How have European actions changed the natural environment
of Europe?
You will analyze 13 documents through answering the document based questions
provided. The questions will help guide you toward picking out the key
information. Make sure you spend time on each source to truly understand the
meaning behind the document.
While you are investigating the subject, keep the following writing prompt in mind:
How have European actions changed the natural environment of Europe?
When you complete your research, you will use specific examples from the 13
sources provided to support your argument. The essay should be at least 5
paragraphs and fulfill the requirements in the rubric provided.
How have European actions changed the natural
environment of Europe?
Background Essay 1: Air Pollution
Source: Marsh, C. (2012). Student Workbook. (pp. 105-106). Peachtree City, GA: Gallopade International.
Air pollution is a concern in the United Kingdom (UK). In the
past, it was caused mainly by emissions from factories or from homes
burning coal for heat. The pollution mixed with the fog that occurs
frequently in the UK. The resulting smog hovered over cities, leading
to 4,000 deaths in the Great London Smog of 1952.
Today, the UK’s air pollution is mainly caused by emissions from
cars and trucks and from ozone. Pollutants from cars include carbon
monoxide and nitrous oxides. They hover close to the ground,
contaminating the air people breathe. Ozone adds to the problem,
forming when air pollutants mix and react with sunlight to from smog.
Air pollution can lead to many health problems.
The UK has been working hard to reduce air pollution since the
Great London Smog occurred. The government has tightened emissions
standards for vehicles, endorsed the use of cleaner fuels, and urged
citizens to use public transportation like buses and subway systems.
How have European actions changed the natural environment
of Europe?
Background Essay 2: Air Pollution
Source: Mullins, E. (2009). CRCT test prep. (p. 115). Atlanta, GA: Clairmont Press.
London, the capital of the United
Kingdom, is famous for air pollution. In
fact, the word smog was first used in
1905 to describe the air in London. Smog
is air pollution caused by sunlight acting
on the gases from automobile and factory
exhausts. It sometimes hangs over cities
in the United Kingdom. Thick London
smog happens when water in the air
mixes with smoke particles from a coal
fire. In the Great
Smog of 1952, the
smog was so dense
that, for four days,
the people in London
could not see what
was in front of them.
Transportation
slowed, crime
increased, and
thousands of people
died from the
pollution. People
around the world
suddenly were
frightened. They began to worry about
the quality of the air they were breathing
in.
The United Kingdom’s major
natural resources are oil, natural gas and
coal. Much of the United Kingdom’s
manufacturing uses these resources. The
Industrial Revolution began around the
coalfields where fuel was cheap and
available. Many people in the United
Kingdom work in these coalfields. Today,
coal from these fields still fuels the
country’s power plants. It also burns in
fireplaces and stoves in many homes. Use
of coal is decreasing. However, that
means fewer jobs for workers in coal
mining.
In the past, the major source of air
pollution was smoke and sulfur dioxide
from burning coal or other fossil fuels.
Today, exhaust from gasoline and dieselpowered vehicles is the major problem.
Asthma and pneumonia are linked to
vehicle emissions. This makes people
concerned about air pollution and heath.
It burns the lungs, nose, and eyes and
endangers human life. High air pollution
keeps children and senior
citizens indoors. Air
pollution also blackens
buildings and threatens
wildlife.
As far back as the
1300s, Kind Edward I tried
to solve the problem by
banning coal fires. After
the Great Smog, the
government created
smokeless zones in
London where only
smokeless fuels could be
used. Cleaner coals,
increased use of electricity, and use of gas
have reduced air pollution. Today the
government sets limits for industry.
Laws have forced automakers to build
vehicles that produce less harmful
exhaust. The government regularly
checks air quality. It asks citizens to
drive less and use cleaner forms of energy.
Londoners no longer experience
the blackout smog of the 1950s. Air
quality has improved. However, the
United Kingdom still ranks in the top ten
in the world in harmful industrial
emissions. Air pollution in the United
Kingdom continues to cause acid rain in
many countries in Western Europe.
Air Pollution Background Essay Questions
1. What pollution problem is the UK facing?
2. What is causing this problem?
3. Why should humans care about the effects of air pollution?
4. What other ways can the government can help?
Document A – Air Pollution
Source: Twomey, D. (2013, March 13). Air pollution puts UK in dock, EU in the red. Eco News. Retrieved from
http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/air-pollution-puts-uk-in-dock-eu-in-the-red/
Document “A” - Air Pollution Analysis:
1. Describe what you see the picture?
2. What message do you think the photographer was trying to get across with
this photograph?
3. Create a caption for this image.
4. How could this photo be used to record history? What information does it
provide?
Document B – Air Pollution
Source: Hudson-Smith, A. (2006). London air pollution in 3d [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpWWj6szNs&feature=youtu.be
Watch the video using the following link: http://youtu.be/P-pWWj6szNs
Document “B” – Air Pollution Analysis:
1. What are the yellow/red lines?
2. Why do you think those areas have more pollution?
3. There appears to be several large red spots showing increased pollution.
What do you think those are?
4. Why would those areas have the most pollution?
5. How can the government use the information in this video to improve air
quality in London?
Document C – Air Pollution
Source: Vidal, J. (2010, June 25). London air pollution 'worst in europe'. The Guardian. Retrieved from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/25/london-air-pollution-europe
London air pollution 'worst in Europe'
Britain faces court cases and unlimited
fines after dangerous levels of minute particles
breach EU levels
The City of London has been found to
be one of the most polluted places in Europe
after monitoring equipment recorded
dangerous levels of minute particles for the
36th time this year. Under EU rules, Britain is
allowed no more than 35 "bad air" days in the
whole year, and now faces court cases and
unlimited fines by Europe.
The breaching of the EU levels after
just six months will embarrass the
government, which was sent a final warning
only three weeks ago from the European
commission to improve air quality. Many other
places in central London are close to the limit
and can be expected to break the law within
weeks.
The government has applied to Europe
for a time extension until 2011 to comply with
daily particulate pollution from traffic, but is
not certain to be granted it because it has been
flouting EU air quality laws since 2005 and is
perceived by the environment commissioner
Janez Potočnik to have done little to address
the problem.
"Air pollution is bad for our health. It
reduces human life expectancy by more than
eight months on average and by more than two
years in the most polluted cities and regions,"
he said.
The London Liberal Democrat MEP
Sarah Ludford said: "This latest breach is yet
another wake-up call for the mayor of London
and the government. Research has shown that
airborne pollution in London could be
responsible for up to thousands of premature
deaths a year: this is an invisible public health
emergency."
Poor air quality is now considered one
of the biggest public health issues now facing
the UK. A recent report by the House of
Commons environmental audit committee
included evidence that air pollution could be
contributing to 50,000 deaths in the UK a year.
A study (pdf) commissioned by Boris Johnson,
mayor of London, calculated that more than
4,300 deaths are caused by poor air quality in
the city every year, costing around £2bn a year.
Simon Birkett, founder of the
Campaign for Clean Air in London, said: "With
the first of many London sites breaching the
legal limit before the end of June, it is
blindingly obvious now why the European
commission sent the UK a second and final
written warning for breaching these same legal
standards, every year since 2005 in London,
less than a month ago".
Jenny Bates, London campaigner for
Friends of the Earth, said: "Boris Johnson
must abandon plans that will make the
situation worse, such as scrapping the western
extension to the congestion charge, pursuing
more river crossings for vehicles and
supporting a 50% increase in flights from City
airport. This means taking strong action
himself, rather than relying on uncommitted
government measures to do the job."
A spokesperson for Johnson said: "This
is one of several central London locations
which will receive a targeted package of
measures to tackle pollution, for example
applying dust suppressants to road surfaces
and deploying the cleanest buses into these
areas. Other initiatives include proposed age
limits for taxis, converting the bus fleet to
hybrid and investing record levels into cycling.
"We are also proposing to include the
dirtiest lorries and vans in the London low
emission zone by early January 2012. The new
bus for London will be 40% less polluting than
traditional diesel and we are spending millions
to support the mainstream use of zeropolluting electric vehicles."
A Defra spokesman said: "The mayor
and London boroughs are responsible for local
air quality in London. The mayor has
published a draft air quality strategy which
includes specific measures to reduce PM10 and
NO2 pollution.
"We are confident that PM10 limits will
be met in London by the 2011 deadline and the
government has submitted evidence to the
European commission to demonstrate this."
Document “C” – Air Pollution Analysis:
1. Why is Britain facing fines from the European Union (EU)?
2. Explain how London’s high levels of air pollution are a public health
emergency?
3. Why does the author think that Britain will not receive a time extension?
4. What are some of the steps the government can make to help the air
pollution problem?
5. Would London’s air pollution problem prevent you from visiting the area as a
tourist? Why or why not?
6. If you were a member of the British Parliament, what suggestions would you
make to help solve the air pollution problem in London?
Document D - Air Pollution: Political Cartoon
Source: Baldwin, M. (Photographer). Asthma Cartoon 3 [Web Drawing]. Retrieved from
http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/a/asthma.asp
Document “D” – Air Pollution Analysis:
1. What people and objects are shown? ·
2. What's happening in the cartoon? ·
3. What issue do you think this cartoon is about? ·
4. What do you think the cartoonist's opinion on this issue is?
How have European actions changed the natural environment
of Europe?
Background Essay 1: Acid Rain
Source: Marsh, C. (2012). Student Workbook. (pp. 104-105). Peachtree City, GA: Gallopade International.
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
Every country on our planet
faces environmental issues. Many of
the environmental problems in Europe
have come about because of poor
practices in the past by local
industries. Industry has made many
countries wealthy, but has also had
some terrible effects on the
environment.
One example is the
problem of acid rain in
Germany. What is it?
Acid rain is rain polluted
by gases released into the
air by the burning of fossil
fuels, like coal or oil. In
the first half of the 1900s,
the former country of East
Germany burned massive
amounts of brown coal (or
lignite) to produce
electricity. When burned, brow coal
give off a gas called sulfur dioxide.
This gas mixes with moisture in the
air. So when it rains, the rain is
polluted with sulfur dioxide.
What are some effects of acid
rain?
 Acid rain has taken a terrible
toll on Germany’s forests.
Experts estimate that more
than one-half of Germany’s
trees have been damaged or
killed by acid rain.


Acid rain pollutes rivers and
lakes, killing fish as well as the
plants and microscopic
organisms that fish need to
survive.
Acid rain eats away at brick
and stonework buildings.
Experts say that some buildings
are losing up to 4 percent of
their weight each year from acid
rain damage!
Now What Happens?
The acid rain in
Germany is a concern for
all Europeans, and for
people around the world.
Brown coal is still
Germany’s chief domestic
sources of energy, meeting
one-quarter of the
country’s energy needs.
Therefore, Germany has made strict
changes to its coal production
practices and closed old, inefficient
factories.
Germany has also put strict
laws in place to reduce pollution.
Factory owners are fined if they do not
reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide
they emit into the air. Cars must
have a special converter fitted to the
exhaust system, and the government
is working to change over to less
polluting fuels like oil and natural gas.
Today, improving the environment is a
top issue in German society!
How have European actions changed the natural environment
of Europe?
Background Essay 2: Acid Rain
Source: Mullins, E. (2009). CRCT test prep. (p. 114). Atlanta, GA: Clairmont Press
Germany is a country of old
forests, beautiful rivers, and historic
artwork and buildings. Over the past
thirty years, acid rain has taken its toll on
these landmarks. Acid rain has ruined
nearly half of the Black Forest in
southwestern Germany. It has damaged
the soil and the trees growing in it. Many
acres of diseased trees are at risk of
dying. Sulfur and nitrogen found in acid
rain eat holes in the surfaces of statues
and buildings. Acid rain pollutes rivers,
like the Danube and the
Rhine, and kills the wildlife
living there.
When it comes to the
problem of acid rain, German
is its own worst enemy. The
main sources of acid rain are
smoke from factories and
power plants. These facilities
burn fuels like natural gas,
coal, and oil. Cars and buses
that burn gasoline and diesel
produce these gases too.
Germany, however, depends
on manufacturing. The country is one of
the leading exporters of cars, steel, and
chemical products. These industries have
mostly coal-burning factories. Germans
also own more cars than people of most
other countries do. This adds to acid rain
through auto emissions.
Nature plays a part in the acid
rain problem. The toxic smoke from
manufacturing plants is carried by air
currents to other places before it falls to
earth as acid rain. Germany shares its
borders with many other countries. With
other countries involved, it is also a more
difficult problem to solve. For example,
air currents bring the chemical-filled
smoke from coal-burning factories in the
United Kingdom to Germany. The
chemicals fall to earth in Germany as acid
rain.
Germany has been working on the
problem of acid rain. In southern
Germany, plants that use water power
form streams and rivers in the region are
replacing many coal-burning
factories. The German
government has passed laws
to reduce emissions from
automobiles and factories.
Factories are switching to
cleaner fuels. They are
building taller smokestacks
that scrub the smoke before
it enters the air. In 2007,
Germany, as a member of
the European Union,
promised to increase its use
of cleaner, renewable energy
by 20 percent. Germany’s goal is to
decrease the use of fossil fuels like coal
and oil.
Germany is developing new types
of energy. It is the leading producer of
wind turbines and solar power technology
in the world. It is home to the largest
wind farm and the largest solar energy
plant in the world. Because of these
changes, the country’s harmful emissions
are falling. This is reducing the amount
of acid rain.
Acid Rain Background Essay Questions
1. What is acid rain?
2. What are some effects of acid rain?
3. What has Germany done to reduce acid rain?
Document E – Acid Rain
Source: Dowdey, Sarah. "How Acid Rain Works" 05 August 2007. HowStuffWorks.com.
<http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/acid-rain.htm> 12 May 2013.
Document “E” – Acid Rain Analysis:
1. In this picture, what is causing acid rain?
2. How do the clouds become polluted?
3. What are the two forms of acid rain?
Document F – Acid Rain
Source: National Geographic. (n.d.). acid rain effects felt through the food chain. Retrieved from
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/acid-rain-overview/
Acid rain describes any form of
precipitation with high levels of nitric
and sulfuric acids. It can also occur in
the form of snow, fog, and tiny bits of
dry material that settle to Earth.
Rotting vegetation and erupting
volcanoes release some chemicals that
can cause acid rain, but most acid rain
falls because of human activities. The
biggest culprit is the burning of fossil
fuels by coal-burning power plants,
factories, and automobiles.
When humans burn fossil fuels,
sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen
oxides (NOx) are released into the
atmosphere. These chemical gases
react with water, oxygen, and other
substances to form mild solutions of
sulfuric and nitric acid. Winds may
spread these acidic solutions across
the atmosphere and over hundreds of
miles. When acid rain reaches Earth,
it flows across the surface in runoff
water, enters water systems, and
sinks into the soil.
Acid rain has many ecological
effects, but none is greater than its
impact on lakes, streams, wetlands,
and other aquatic environments. Acid
rain makes waters acidic and causes
them to absorb the aluminum that
makes its way from soil into lakes and
streams. This combination makes
waters toxic to crayfish, clams, fish,
and other aquatic animals.
Some species can tolerate acidic
waters better than others. However,
in an interconnected ecosystem, what
impacts some species eventually
impacts many more throughout the
food chain—including non-aquatic
species such as birds.
Acid rain also damages forests,
especially those at higher elevations.
It robs the soil of essential nutrients
and releases aluminum in the soil,
which makes it hard for trees to take
up water. Trees' leaves and needles
are also harmed by acids.
The effects of acid rain,
combined with other environmental
stressors, leave trees and plants less
able to withstand cold temperatures,
insects, and disease. The pollutants
may also inhibit trees' ability to
reproduce. Some soils are better able
to neutralize acids than others. In
areas where the soil's "buffering
capacity" is low, the harmful effects of
acid rain are much greater.
The only way to fight acid rain
is by curbing the release of the
pollutants that cause it. This means
burning fewer fossil fuels. Many
governments have tried to curb
emissions by cleaning up industry
smokestacks and promoting
alternative fuel sources. These efforts
have met with mixed results. But
even if acid rain could be stopped
today, it would still take many years
for its harmful effects to disappear.
Individuals can also help
prevent acid rain by conserving
energy. The less electricity people use
in their homes, the fewer chemicals
power plants will emit. Vehicles are
also major fossil fuel users, so drivers
can reduce emissions by using public
transportation, carpooling, biking, or
simply walking wherever possible.
Document F – Acid Rain Analysis:
1. According to the article, what is the biggest cause of acid rain and who is to
blame?
2. How does acid rain affect non-aquatic species?
3. How can acid rain be prevented?
4. What can you do to help stop the spread of acid rain?
Document G – Acid Rain
Source: Sustainable Development and Much Much More. (2008, November 07). Eastern European countries are plagued by
coal. Retrieved from www.edouardstenger.com/2008/11/07/eastern-european-countries-are-plagued-by-coal/
Document F – Acid Rain Analysis:
1. How does this map show that acid rain is a transboundary issue?
2. Which country is affected the most by acid rain?
3. Why could this map be different today?
Document G – Acid Rain
Source: McCracken, T. (Photographer). Singing in the Acid Rain [Web Drawing]. Retrieved from
http://www.mchumor.com/singing2_bframe.html
Document G – Acid Rain Analysis:
1. Describe what you see. ·
2. What do you see that might refer to another work of art or literature?
3. What's happening in the cartoon? ·
4. What do you think the cartoonist's opinion on this issue is?
How have European actions changed the natural environment
of Europe?
Introduction Image Analysis - Chernobyl
Document H(a) - Chernobyl
Source: History Channel. 26 April - This day in history [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.history.co.uk/this-day-inhistory/April-26.html;jsessionid=46242CA0E3A1432253C213FE9FA8B44F
Document H(a) – Chernobyl Analysis:
1. View the first picture. What do you think this is?
2. Justify why you think that?
Now view the Document H(b) on the next page.
Document H(b) - Chernobyl
Source: Kibiloki, L. (2009, July 12). Do you remember Chernobyl? nuclear disaster contamination: apparently worse than
previously thought.. Retrieved from http://electrodes.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/remember-chernobyl-nucleardisaster-contamination-worse-than-previously-thought/
Document H(b) – Chernobyl:
3. Are these the same buildings? Why are why not?
4. What do you think caused the damage in the second picture?
How have European actions changed the natural environment
of Europe?
Background Essay 1: Chernobyl
Source: Marsh, C. (2012). Student Workbook. (pp. 106-107). Peachtree City, GA: Gallopade International.
In April 1986, a nuclear reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power
plant in Ukraine, causing the worst nuclear disaster in history. At the time,
Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, which dissolved in 1991. Toxic radioactive
material shoe into the air and drifted over western parts of the Soviet Union,
Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. Fallout (radioactive particles falling to the
ground) contaminated about 100,000 acres, including the animals, crops, and forests
on the land. About 135,000 people were evacuated and resettled in other areas.
About 30 people died in the blast, and thousands more who cleaned up the site died
later from radiation poisoning.
The main environmental effects of the disaster have been contaminated
farmland, surface water, and ground water. Today, the area around the Chernobyl
nuclear plant is considered one of the most polluted places on Earth. Although the
reactor was buried in a concrete casing designed to absorb radiation, experts fear
leakage into the nearby ground water, and are working to re-contain the site. No
one knows exactly how many illnesses and caners have been caused by this
disaster, but about 4,000 children in the fallout zone have been diagnosed with
thyroid cancer in recent years. Ukraine and Belarus have spent huge amounts of
money on cleanup efforts.
How have European actions changed the natural environment
of Europe?
Background Essay 2: Chernobyl
Source: Mullins, E. (2009). CRCT test prep. (p. 116). Atlanta, GA: Clairmont Press.
In 1986, in Ukraine, a country
famous for its fertile plains and
agriculture, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power
Station experienced a disaster. This
disaster exposed one-tenth of the
Ukraine’s 233,090 square miles and
approximately one million of its people to
unsafe levels of radiation. One of the
nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl plant
exploded. Tons of radioactive material
surrounded the plant, poisoning the land
and the water. Even more
radioactive material
entered the air, falling on
northern Europe and
Scandinavia. Drinking
water was unsafe for
months after the accident,
and fish in the rivers of the
Ukraine and neighboring
countries were not safe to
eat for years. Nearby pine
forests tuned brown and
died. Many animals died
or suffered thyroid damage. A thirty-mile
area around the power station was
abandoned by humans and became known
as the “exclusion zone.” The faulty
reactor was quickly buried in concrete,
but this structure requires major work
and the radioactive material is still not
safe.
It is difficult to determine the
effects on human life. In the first months
after the disaster, twenty-eight
emergency workers died from acute
radiation syndrome. Since the accident,
doctors have noticed an increase in cases
of cancer in people living in contaminated
areas.
Because of Chernobyl, the
Ukrainian government decided to become
a nuclear-free country. However, due to a
lack of power plants in the country and
disagreements with Russia over how to
get rid of nuclear waste, the three other
reactors at Chernobyl continued to
operate. The last reactor was finally shut
down in 2000.
In the 1980s, many countries were
using nuclear power. Nuclear power
plants were producing
cheaper energy without
filling the air with
pollution and without using
up Earth’s supply of fossil
fuels. After Chernobyl,
concerns about nuclear
safety spread around the
world. A mistake in one
country could have
devastating results in
another country. Different
countries also had different
regulations about nuclear power. The
reactors at Chernobyl were not housed in
the same type of buildings required in
other countries. Reactors were not always
used for their intended purpose. The
Chernobyl reactor was built for weapons
material production, not for generating
electricity. While regulations did not
seem to cross borders, radiation did.
The debate continues. Is the cost
savings of nuclear-generated electricity
worth the risk of human life? How should
nuclear waste be disposed of safely? How
should it be regulated? Which is the
bigger risk to the environment, nuclear
energy or fossil fuel?
Chernobyl Background Essay Questions
Using the Background Essay, answer the following “W” questions:
1. Who? Who was impacted by this event?
2. What? What happened during this event?
3. Where? Where did this event occur?
4. When? When did this event happen?
5. Why? What is the significance or impact of this event? Why are you learning
about this event years after it happened?
Document I - Chernobyl
Click and watch the video, Meltdown In Chernobyl
1. Why do you think the Soviet Union waited to report the accident to the world
for two whole days?
2. Should the death toll from the accident just include those who died in the
explosion? Why or why not?
3. Besides direct human impact, what indirect impact did the explosion have on
humans?
Document J - Chernobyl
Source: Health 'Chernobyl cancer might have been prevented' . (1999, July 01). BBC News. Retrieved from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/382979.stm
Document J – Chernobyl Analysis:
1. What parts of Europe experienced the most radioactive fallout?
2. Why was the damage not just contained to the Ukraine?
Document K - Chernobyl
Source: Rosenthal, E. (2005, September 7). Experts find reduced effects of chernobyl. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20050907wednesday.html
ROME, Sept. 5 - Nearly 20 years
after the huge accident at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant in Ukraine, a new
scientific report has found that its
aftereffects on health and the
environment have not proved as dire as
scientists had predicted.
The report was prepared by a
panel of more than 100 experts convened
by United Nations agencies.
It says huge compensation
programs for people in the Chernobyl
region have become "a major barrier to
the region's recovery," both by creating a
culture of dependency and by soaking up
a high percentage of the region's
resources. It recommends that the
compensation programs be cut back.
The report, "Chernobyl's Legacy:
Health, Environmental and SocioEconomic Impacts," says 4,000 deaths will
probably be attributable to the accident
ultimately - compared with the tens of
thousands predicted at the time of the
accident.
Only 50 deaths - all among the
reactor staff and emergency workers - can
be directly attributed to acute radiation
exposure after Chernobyl's Reactor No. 4
exploded in April 1986, the panel found.
The rest will be from cancer at a higher
rate than would otherwise be expected in
people exposed to radiation near
Chernobyl in the wake of the accident.
But for millions of people who were
subjected to low levels of radioactive
particles spread by the wind, health
effects have proved generally minimal,
the report found.
The powerful explosion that rocked
Chernobyl sent chunks of the reactor core
into the surrounding fields and clouds of
radioactive particles into the air. The fire
burned for 10 days and released
radioactive particles that were carried by
the wind to large rural swaths of what
was then the Soviet Union. The particles
settled in human bodies and homes and
contaminated fields, forests and livestock.
The report acknowledged that
there was a core of people, probably
100,000 to 200,000, who continued to be
severely affected by the disaster.
But seven million people in what
are now Russia, Ukraine and Belarus still
receive some kind of Chernobyl benefits,
from monthly stipends to university
entrance preference to therapeutic annual
vacations. In Ukraine, the number of
people designated as permanently
disabled by the Chernobyl accident (and
their children) increased from 200 in 1991
to 64,500 in 1997 and 91,219 in 2001 even though the effects of radiation
decline over time, the report noted. Both
Ukraine and Belarus still spend about 5
percent of their annual budgets on
Chernobyl victims.
The panel found that contrary to
previous forecasts, there had been no
observed rise in the incidence of leukemia,
a blood cancer widely associated with
radiation exposure - except for a small
increase among workers who were in the
contaminated plant. Nor has there been
the expected detectable decrease in
fertility or increase in birth defects.
Indeed, the report concludes that
"the largest public health problem
unleashed by the accident" is "the mental
health impact." Residents of the region,
who view themselves as victims of a
tragedy they poorly understand, are still
haunted by anxiety that has prevented
many from restarting their lives.
In the immediate aftermath of the
disaster, the Soviet Union declared an 18mile "exclusion zone" around the reactor,
which still exists, and resettled hundreds
of thousands of people. Agriculture was
forbidden in contaminated areas, as was
the collection of forest products like
berries and mushrooms. A host of
compensation schemes were established.
[…]
The only concrete health impact in
the region has been thyroid cancer in
people who were young at the time of the
accident and drank contaminated milk
from cows that ate grass contaminated
with radioactive iodine dispersed during
by the accident. Radioactive iodine, which
is short-lived, concentrates in the thyroid
gland. Because the disease is generally
treatable, only 9 of the 2,000 who have
come down with the disease have died.
Other than the thyroid cancer
cases, other cancers and adverse health
effects, when they occur, may be
particularly difficult to link to the
Chernobyl accident, because life
expectancy dropped dramatically in the
region after the fall of the Soviet Union.
"The effect may be difficult to detect
against the background noise," Dr.
Mettler said.
"Early on, there were all sorts of
claims being made because people didn't
have much accurate information," said Dr.
Mettler, a University of New Mexico
expert on the effects of radiation
exposure. "Now, at last, we have the eight
U.N. agencies and the three governments
involved coming to a consensus about the
effects and what needs to be done."
Although five million people live in
areas still classified as contaminated by
Chernobyl, a vast majority are exposed to
very low doses of radiation, the study
found, with levels no higher than in large
areas of China, Brazil or Britain, where
naturally occurring background radiation
in soil is relatively high.
"People were evacuated from areas
that now have dose levels lower than
where I live in New Mexico," Dr. Mettler
said.
Although there is still a strong
stigma against growing or eating
agricultural products from anywhere in
the area, concentrations of radioactivity
"in agricultural food products produced in
areas affected by the Chernobyl fallout
are generally below national and
international action levels," the report
found.
Those who continue to be affected
by the accident include poor rural
dwellers who live in the few severely
contaminated areas, those with thyroid
cancer and those who were resettled after
the disaster but who had never found a
new life or employment in their new
communities.
"A small but important minority,
those caught in the downward spiral,
need substantial material assistance to
rebuild their lives," the report said. But
for the millions of others designated as
victims, it said, the priority should be to
encourage self-reliance, providing them
with realistic information about the
minimal risks they face.
Noting that the collapse of the
Soviet Union - and the end of Soviet-era
benefit programs - worsened the poverty
of the region, the researchers said its
people should now be provided with
incentives to develop small businesses, for
example.
"The extensive system of
Chernobyl-related benefits has created
expectations of long-term direct financial
support and entitlement to privileges, and
has undermined the capacity of the
individuals and communities concerned to
tackle their own economic and social
problems," the report concluded
Document K – Chernobyl Analysis:
1. Where is Chernobyl and what happened there nearly 20 years ago?
2. Approximately how many deaths, according to the report, were probably directly
related to the Chernobyl disaster?
3. According to the report, how many people continue to be severely affected by the
disaster?
4. Which countries offer such benefits to the victims?
5. What is the “exclusion zone”?
Document L – Chernobyl
Source: Carlos, L. (Photographer). (1999, July 01). Ghosts of Prypiat [Print Photo]. Retrieved from
http://timmsuess.com/2009/07/ghosts-of-prypiat-by-carlos-latuff/
Document L – Chernobyl Analysis:
1. What objects do you see in the picture?
2. What was the purpose of this room?
3. How is this room different from your classroom?
4. What do you notice about the boy?
5. Why would the artist draw the boy this way?
6. What do you think is the purpose of this drawing?
Understanding the Question
Now that you have analyzed the documents, it is time to start organizing for your essay!
1. What is the analytical question asked?
2. What word or words in the question need explanation or rephrasing?
3. Rewrite the question in your own words.
Bucketing- Getting Ready to Write!
Bucketing
Look over all the documents and organize them into categories (buckets). A three-bucket
format is suggested, but other formats are possible. Write labels for your “categories” under
each bucket and place the letters of the documents in the buckets where they belong. It is okay
to put a document in more than one bucket. Remember, your buckets are going to become
your body paragraphs.
Thesis Development and Roadmap
On the chicken-foot below, write your thesis and your roadmap. Your thesis is always an
opinion and answers the essay question. The roadmap is created from your bucket labels ad
lists the topic areas you will examine in order to prove your thesis.
Essay Outline Guide
Introduction Paragraph
Grabber
Background
Stating the question with key terms defined
Thesis
1st Body Paragraph
Baby Thesis for bucket one
Evidence: Supporting details from documents with document citation
Argument: connecting evidence to the thesis
2nd Body Paragraph
Baby Thesis for bucket two
Evidence:
Argument:
3rd Body Paragraph
Baby Thesis for bucket two
Evidence:
Argument:
Conclusion
Conclusion: Restatement of main idea along with possible insight.