Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places

Tapajos National Forest, 169–175

waste from logging, 176–77

waves of exploitation in, 164

Archeology sites on Spindletop, 109–10

Beijing, China, pollution in, 219–220

Carbon dioxide (CO₂)

China as biggest emitter of, 221

forests absorbing, 158

Fort McMurray’s emissions, 60–61

oil’s part in emissions, 77

small farmers’ footprint, 183

Cargill Incorporated

deforestation prompted by, 183, 186

forest “preserve” on land of, 193

Greenpeace and, 190–91, 199–200

Santarem terminal of, 159, 167–68

Chernobyl area

briefing for trip to, 15–18

cancer in, 36

firemen’s memorial, 18

Garbage Patch compared to, 127

liquidators in, 10

nature in, 23, 24, 25, 34–36

sanctioning of tourism to, 13

Chernobyl Museum, Kiev, 3–4

Chernobyl reactor

destruction caused by accident, 30

firemen at, 3, 18, 29

generation of electricity by, 5–6

model at Chernobyl Museum, 4

New Safe Confinement for, 31–32

nuclear lava in, 30

scale model of, 29–30

sequence leading to failure of, 12–13

Shelter Object around, 28–29, 30–31

visitor center, 29–32

Chernobyl town, 34–38

China

as biggest CO₂ emitter, 221

government jobs in, 240

journalists unwelcome in, 208–9

lead poisoning in, 217

as major e-waste importer, 207

polluted cities in, 231

Climate change

forests as protection from, 158

oil sands mining and, 44, 60–61

oil’s part in, 77

Coal mining in China, 232–245

changes in industry, 233, 242

coal bosses, 232–36

dangers of, 233, 243

pollution from coal, 221, 237–38

Sad Coal Man, 224–25, 230, 239–240, 245

small mines, 237, 242

visit to a coal mine, 239–245

wages for, 243

Dead zone, Chernobyl area, 19–20, 35

Dragline mining of oil sands, 54–55

Electricity generation

from fossil fuels, 112, 221, 238

nuclear, 5–6

renewable energy in China, 221

Electronics recycling, 206–19

countries involved in, 207

government representative for, 214–15

processes of, 211–13, 214, 215

shipping arrangements for, 207

60 Minutes report on, 207

souvenir chips bought by author, 214

toxic hazards of, 206

Environmentalism

beauty and, 226

Christianity and, 269–270

division of humanity and nature in, 171–73, 179–180, 292

of Hilton Kelley in Port Arthur, 80–84

in India, 248

nature-as-purity concept, 172–73, 280, 281, 292

oil sands development fight, 44

scorned by soy farmers, 186–87

Exclusion Zone

checkpoint at entry to, 14

dead zone, 19–20, 35

distribution of contamination, 17–18

itinerary through, 15

Kolachi (buried village), 20

Pripyat (deserted city), 22–28

Pripyat River, 32–33

reactor visitor center, 29–32

Red Forest, 21

as Zone of Alienation, 34

Fort McMurray, Canada

CO₂ emissions from, 60–61

described, 44–45

duck holocaust in, 41–42, 54

oil’s influence on, 49–50

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

challenge of cleaning up, 126, 127, 128, 129

challenges getting the voyage started, 121, 122, 124–25