10 Times We Ignored Deadly Warnings About Our World

It seems like once per month or more we are hearing about a natural disaster or man-made catastrophe that has shaken the world to its core. After the fact, sadly, is when the world tends to pay attention to when something disastrous happens, after thousands have lost their lives, and after millions, if not billions, of dollars worth of homes and businesses have been destroyed. Occasionally, science has come across world-wide catastrophes that we’ve known about for years at a time, and have been capable of doing something about. Unfortunately, we don’t. Here are ten deadly warnings about the planet that we somehow ignored.

Haiti Earthquake

Back in 2010, the Haiti Earthquake struck, destroying homes and killing thousands of people. Since 1998, however, researchers had been predicting such a massive earthquake within the region. No one did a thing about it, though.

Fukushima Meltdown

In 2011, a Japanese earthquake managed to devastate the country and destroy a nuclear power plant in its wake. It is considered one of the worst disasters in the world. Twenty years before that, though, scientists were investigating the potential for such a catastrophe, but no one listened.

Dangers Of Asbestos

Asbestos is one of the biggest mistakes hailing from the 19th century. It was once thought to be strong and resistant to fire. In the early 1900s, though, people knew it was dangerous due to the illness and death surrounding it. It was still stuffed into homes decades later.

Financial Crash

The most recent financial crash took the world by storm, with people losing millions of dollars or more. In 1996, however, Brooksley E. Born began fighting for a way to prevent such a crash, but no one wanted to hear her worries.

Deadliest Avalanche

While on a climbing expedition in Peru in 1962, David Bernays and Charles Sawyer were in the midst of the world’s deadliest avalanche. Glacier 511 was known for being unstable, and the local authorities knew it was dangerous, but they chose to sweep their findings under the rug until something went wrong.

Leaded Gas

Back in the early 1960s, Clair Patterson, a well known scientist, discovered the planet’s air was swimming with lead thanks to our vehicles. For the better part of a decade, people harassed him for his findings, but no one wanted to fix the problem.

Wall Street Crash

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 was considered the biggest financial meltdown of all-time. Earlier that same year, though, economist Roger Babson gave a speech saying the crash was imminent. People chose to ignore him instead of doing anything about it.

Tobacco’s Cancer Link

Big Tobacco has been the leading cause of death throughout the 20th century. These firms grew rich of people buying their tobacco products, even though doctors spoke out on how they caused cancer. These companies acted like nothing would happen, though.

The Rise Of Hitler

Back in 1919, after Germany ended World War 1 with their surrender, the French decided to fine the country with a massive amount, angering everyone. British economist John Maynard Keynes knew something bad would happen with such a fine. The bad thing would be the rise of Hitler.

9/11

9/11 was the most devastating terrorist attack to occur in the United States. As early as June 22, 2001, however, the CIA and Pentagon knew Al-Qaeda strikes were coming, and yet they hid the information the best they could.