On Tuesday, August 4th, two massive explosions rocked the Lebanese port-city of Beirut. The scale of human life lost and permanently altered is almost impossible to imagine. Equally is the way that much of the physical geography of the city was, in an instant, .
The explosion was caused by a massive store of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in both fertilizers and explosives. 2,700 tons of the material had been neglected; according to reports, a ship deposited the material at the port city in 2013. Various experts had, over the years, tried to bring attention to the potentially lethal nature of the material, but a combination of corruption and apathy appears to have forestalled any action.
The city of Beirut was already reeling from any number of other natural and human disasters; the way that corruption and negligence led to this explosion has led to at least one apt comparison to the Chernobyl tragedy in the Cold War-era Soviet Union. Many in Lebanon felt justifiably angry with their country’s government for the neglect, and the explosion and its aftermath have led to massive protests. And even now, the CBC is reporting that the Lebanese government has, indeed, resigned.
Many news outlets have also attempted to try and communicate the extent of the physical devastation to the city. This piece in the Independent provides both video and photos that are heartbreakingly important for understanding how this beautiful city has been reshaped in a moment of accidental violence.
by Nathan R. Elliott
The Longform Read of the Week: Perhaps, after all that, something with a happy ending? I really enjoyed, as did several of my students, this long read from the New York Times about an elephant being released from captivity. The piece is the biography of an elephant named Mara who spent a good chunk of her life in a zoo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Changing attitudes about zoos finally led government officials to release the animal to an elephant refuge in Brazil, but of course, the Covid-19 crisis closed borders and made that release even more of an adventure.
i. Ammonium nitrate: what is the chemical blamed for blast in Lebanese capital? The Guardian, August 5th, 2020. 4 mins. Intermediate.
ii. The Beirut Blast is Lebanon’s Chernobyl. Foreign Policy. August 5th, 2020. 8 mins. Intermediate/Advanced.
iii. Beirut Explosion: Anger at Officials Grows After Missed Warnings. The Guardian, August 6th, 2020. 7 mins. Intermediate/Advanced.
iv. Furious Lebanese Plan Protests over Beirut Blast. Al-Jazeera. August 9th, 2020. 6 mins. Intermediate.
v. Lebanese Government Resigns as Explosion Fallout Continues. CBC. August 10th, 2020. 7 mins. Intermediate.
vi. How to Move your Elephant During a Pandemic. New York Times. August 10th. Intermediate/Advanced. 19 mins.