Laughing Gas Explosion Brings More Fears Than Giggles
Tags: Climate Change, Media, Rings, Services, Waste Management
The chilling image of a thick, dark cloud reaching from the chimney of a factory owned and operated by Albion Chemicals Ltd. appears to have overstated the effects the accident caused. A week after the event nobody has been reported as injured and no environmental damage is thought to have occurred.
The accident was the result of workers at the plant adding nitric oxide to a contaminated container, causing a vast amount of nitrous oxide to be produced via a reaction that also created the thick streaks of black smoke which rose from the factory and into the air. The Firefighting and Police services in Belfast initially prepared an emergency plan, as the earliest reports of an explosion did not make it clear if the gas being produced was toxic to either humans or the environment.
Luckily, all that was produced in this instance was laughing gas, a non-flammable gas used in surgery and dentistry since the early 19th century, and now used in racing car engines and by those who enjoy its euphoric effects as a recreational drug.
Whilst the mistakes of the workers at this particular factory did not cause an environmental emergency the case shows just how vulnerable we are to human error. With factories such as this one able to potentially pump vast amounts of hazardous waste into the air during an emergency situation, it is rather unnerving to consider that sound human judgement and training is the difference between a normal day and a catastrophic one.
Other environmental catastrophes truly are unavoidable, particularly those that result from unpredictable events such as earthquakes. In 2001 Mt Nyragongo in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo erupted, spewing lava flows through the nearby towns and causing immediate displacement of people from the area. Whilst the lava flow in itself killed very few people, over fifty lives were lost five days later when the lava reached a petrol station and exploded.
Other impacts of natural disasters may be to do with the long-term waste management issues that they raise, or the damage they reek to the ecosystem. With the world already struggling beneath the weight of climate change and rapidly increasing population, let's keep our fingers crossed that nobody explodes anything more dangerous that a load of laughing gas into the sky anytime soon.
