|
Agent Orange
Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. The U.S. was strongly influenced by the British who used Agent Orange during the Malayan Emergency. It is a mixture of equal parts of two herbicides, 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4,5-T and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-D. Agent Orange was produced in the United States beginning in the late 1940s and was used in industrial agriculture, and was also sprayed along railroads and power lines to control undergrowth in forests. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military procured over , consisting of a fifty-fifty mixture of 2,4-D and dioxin-contaminated 2,4,5-T. Nine chemical companies produced it: Dow Chemical Company, Monsanto Company, Diamond Shamrock, Diamond Shamrock Corporation, Hercules Inc., Thompson Hayward Chemical Co., Unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoffman-Taff
Hoffman-Taff was a Missouri chemical company founded in 1946 most well known for its role in the Times Beach Hazmat Incident. During the years it operated the company produced several products, including Agent Orange for the Vietnam War, Prist, a fuel additive for deicing, and Pantoplex, an animal feed fortifier. In 1969 Syntex Agribusiness bought the company and its assets. Verona, Missouri Production Facility The Verona, Missouri production facility was used by the company for multiple products, however, most notably it was the facility used to produce Agent Orange. In addition part of the facility was leased to NEPACCO for the production of Hexachlorophene, the byproduct of which was mishandled by both NEPACCO and the contractor in charge of disposal, contaminating the facility and Times Beach, Missouri. Hoffman-Taff built and began operating the site in 1949. In 1968 part of the facility was leased to NEPACCO, and in 1969 the facility and Hoffman-Taff was acquired by S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Modification Convention
The Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD), formally the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, is an international treaty prohibiting the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects. It opened for signature on 18 May 1977 in Geneva and entered into force on 5 October 1978. The Convention bans weather warfare, which is the use of weather modification techniques for the purposes of inducing damage or destruction. The Convention on Biological Diversity of 2010 would also ban some forms of weather modification or geoengineering. Many states do not regard this as a complete ban on the use of herbicides in warfare, such as Agent Orange, but it does require case-by-case consideration. Parties The convention was signed by 48 states; 16 of the signatories have not ratified. As of 2022 the convention has 78 state parties. History T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 31/72
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 31/72 referred the Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD) “to all States for their consideration, signature, and ratification”. The resolution was adopted on 10 December 1976 at the 31st Session of the UN General Assembly. The convention aims to prohibit the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques that have widespread, long-lasting, or severe effects. The convention entered into force on 5 October 1978. History According to the historical narrative of the U.S. Department of State, "although the use of environmental modification techniques for hostile purposes does not play a major role in military planning at the present time," the U.S. Government sought that such techniques might be developed in the future and "would pose a threat of serious damage unless action was taken to prohibit their use." Accordingly, in July 1972, the U.S. Government renounced the use of climate modification techniques ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and international security, security, to develop friendly Diplomacy, relations among State (polity), states, to promote international cooperation, and to serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of states in achieving those goals. The United Nations headquarters is located in New York City, with several other offices located in United Nations Office at Geneva, Geneva, United Nations Office at Nairobi, Nairobi, United Nations Office at Vienna, Vienna, and The Hague. The UN comprises six principal organizations: the United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, Security Council, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecocide
Ecocide (from Greek 'home' and Latin 'to kill') is the destruction of the natural environment, environment by humans. Ecocide threatens all human populations that are dependent on natural resources for maintaining Ecosystem, ecosystems and ensuring their ability to support future generations. The Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide describes it as "unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts". Common causes of ecocide include war, pollution, overexploitation of natural resources such as the Amazon rainforest, and industrial disasters. The term was popularised by Olof Palme when he accused the United States of ecocide at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, UN Conference on the Human Environment. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (adopted 1998, enforced 2002) makes no prov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until assassination of Olof Palme, his assassination in 1986. A longtime protégé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, he became Prime Minister of Sweden in 1969, heading a Privy Council of Sweden, Privy Council Government. He left office after failing to form a government after the 1976 Swedish general election, 1976 general election, which ended 40 years of unbroken rule by the Social Democratic Party. While he served as a Leader of the Opposition, he also served as special mediator of the United Nations in the Iran–Iraq War, and was President of the Nordic Council in 1979. He faced a second defeat 1979 Swedish general election, in 1979, but he returned as prime minister after electoral victories 1982 Swedish general election, in 1982 and 1985 Sw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species Diversity
Species diversity is the number of different species that are represented in a given community (a dataset). The effective number of species refers to the number of equally abundant species needed to obtain the same mean proportional species abundance as that observed in the dataset of interest (where all species may not be equally abundant). Meanings of species diversity may include species richness, taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity, and/or species evenness. Species richness is a simple count of species. Taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity is the genetic relationship between different groups of species. Species evenness quantifies how equal the abundances of the species are.Hill, M. O. (1973) Diversity and evenness: a unifying notation and its consequences. Ecology, 54, 427–432Tuomisto, H. (2010) A diversity of beta diversities: straightening up a concept gone awry. Part 1. Defining beta diversity as a function of alpha and gamma diversity. Ecography, 33, 2-22. Tuomisto, H. 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reforestation
Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purposes of reforestation programs are for harvesting of wood, for climate change mitigation, and for ecosystem and habitat restoration purposes. One method of reforestation is to establish tree plantations, also called plantation forests. They cover about 131 million ha worldwide, which is 3% of the global forest area and 45% of the total area of planted forests. Globally, planted forests increased from 4.1% to 7.0% of the total forest area between 1990 and 2015. Plantation forests made up 280 million ha (hectare) in 2015, an increase of about 40 million ha in the previous ten years. Of the planted forests worldwide, 18% of that area consists of exotic or introduced species while the rest consist of species native to the country where they are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birth Defects
A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can range from mild to severe. Birth defects are divided into two main types: structural disorders in which problems are seen with the shape of a body part and functional disorders in which problems exist with how a body part works. Functional disorders include metabolic and degenerative disorders. Some birth defects include both structural and functional disorders. Birth defects may result from genetic or chromosomal disorders, exposure to certain medications or chemicals, or certain infections during pregnancy. Risk factors include folate deficiency, drinking alcohol or smoking during pregnancy, poorly controlled diabetes, and a mother over the age of 35 years old. Many birth defects are believed to involve multiple factors. Birth defects may be visible at birth or di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centers For Disease Control And Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC's current nominee for director is Susan Monarez. She became acting director on January 23, 2025, but stepped down on March 24, 2025 when nominated for the director position. On May 14, 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that lawyer Matthew Buzzelli is acting CDC director. However, the CDC web site does not state the acting director's name. The agency's main goal is the protection of public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and worldwide. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease control and prevention. It e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named after the English physician Thomas Hodgkin, who first described it in 1832. Symptoms may include fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Often, non-painful enlarged lymph nodes occur in the neck, under the arm, or in the groin. Persons affected may feel tired or be itchy. The two major types of Hodgkin lymphoma are classic Hodgkin lymphoma and nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. About half of cases of Hodgkin lymphoma are due to Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and these are generally the classic form. Other risk factors include a family history of the condition and having HIV/AIDS. Diagnosis is conducted by confirming the presence of cancer and identifying Reed–Sternberg cells in lymph node biopsies. The virus-positive cases are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
