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If only ... Answer in your notebook . 1 The following paragraphs were written by students . Read about some of the planet's worst environmental disasters . What caused each of the disasters ? Where and when did each disaster happen ? In my opinion , one of the worst disasters was the four-day fog in London in 1952 . It was so thick that it was impossible to see more than one meter . Everything in the city stopped . People even called it a "killer fog " because more than 4 , 000 people died . But it smoke was really smog — fog ^^^ mixed together . If only the government had stopped the air pollution earlier , the "killer fog" would not have had so many victims . Sheri When most people think . of Niagara Falls , they think of water — lots of it ! But a p art of the city , called Love Canal , was built on a landf ill that contained almost 21 , 000 tons of toxic chemicals f rom f actories In the _ area . Feople who lived there did not know about the _ danqerous chemlcale ^ Jwenty years later , many p eople started getting sick and dying , especially of cancer . In 1973 , the area was closed . If onl the chemical y companies had disposed _ of the _ toxic waste properly , it would not have leaked out and contaminated the ground . Henry In 1 979 , there was an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg , Pennsylvania . The cooling system failed , causing overheating and partial melting of the uranium core . Some radioactive gas also escaped into the air . Experts were afraid that there might be an explosion , so thousands of people had to leave the area . People were very lucky . Thousands could have died in this disaster . If only the workers at the plant had been better prepared for unexpected events , the accident would not have been as serious . Ken I think the Exxon Valdez accident shows us what can happen if we are just careless . In 1989 , the oil tanker Exxon Valdez hit an undersea reef near Prince William Sound , Alaska . More than 38 million liters of oil spilled into the water , killing wildlife in the area . It has taken years of work and millions of dollars to clean up the area . The investigation showed that the captain of the ship had been drinking at the time of the accident . If only the captain of the ship had not been drunk , the ship would not have struck the reef and caused so much damage to the whole area around the coast . Elaine 2 What could have been done in each case to prevent the disaster ?

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