Landscapes of Risk

Abstract

Several hurricanes and industrial explosions in 2005 brought increasing public attention to the risk inherent in the location of US petrochemical facilities. The upper Texas GulfCoast is home to a significant cluster of petrochemical industries including some of the largest refineries in the United States. Residents live, play and work in the shadow of petrochemical towers. While the petrochemical industries have brought jobs and economic development to the area, they have permanently changed the landscape and been linked to increased stress and illness for local residents. Nevertheless, the US demand for their products means that these industries will continue to pose ongoing risks for citizens that live near them. Our photo essay intends to provide insight into these particularly important and complex landscapes of risk-landscapes in which the natural environment and well-being of residents is largely ignored as fuel prices and energy security are debated.

Light pollution enhances ground‐level exposure to airborne toxic chemicals for nocturnally migrating passerines

“…The breeding grounds for these species are concentrated around the Great Lakes (Mac Arthur, 1959) and the non‐breeding grounds are concentrated along the Gulf Coast within the Southeast (Ng et al, 2022). The Gulf Coast contains more ATC releasing facilities compared to the Great Lakes (Anenberg & Kalman, 2019), including the largest US petrochemical industrial complex, which is located along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana (Hemmerling et al, 2020; Meyler et al, 2007). The non‐breeding season occupies the largest portion of these species' annual life cycle (see Figure S1), placing species that winter along the Gulf Coast at considerable risk of long‐term ATC exposure.…”