Environmental Disasters

California's largest lake was created by accident in 1905. It is drying now, and the lakebed it leaves behind does not stay on the ground.

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Edward C.

Picher, Oklahoma: The Most Toxic Town in America

Picher, Oklahoma armed two world wars with the ore beneath its streets. The town was erased in 2009, and the reason is still stacked on the ground.

McMurdo Station: Antarctica's Largest Settlement and the Nuclear Reactor It Buried at the Bottom of the World

Antarctica's largest base ran on a leaking nuclear reactor for a decade — until cleaning it up forced the U.S. to ship a contaminated mountain home.

The Trans-Amazonian Highway: Brazil's 4,000-Kilometre Road of Death That Failed to Conquer the Amazon

Brazil's military launched history's largest road project in 1970 to conquer the Amazon. 55 years and thousands of deaths later, it never reached Peru.

Portrait of a male author wearing a cap and backpack, smiling with a city skyline at sunset in the background.

Faro: The Canadian Mining Town That Became a $5 Billion Cleanup Problem

Faro, Yukon was once home to the world's largest lead-zinc mine. Three owners went bankrupt, and the cleanup bill hit $5 billion. Who's still living there?

Edward C.

The Salton Sea: California's Largest Lake Was an Accident

Picher, Oklahoma: The Most Toxic Town in America

McMurdo Station: Antarctica's Largest Settlement and the Nuclear Reactor It Buried at the Bottom of the World

The Trans-Amazonian Highway: Brazil's 4,000-Kilometre Road of Death That Failed to Conquer the Amazon

Faro: The Canadian Mining Town That Became a $5 Billion Cleanup Problem