Atkins' What is Chemistry Chapter 6: Its Achievements

In the other half of this chapter, Atkins makes mention of the more nefarious contributions of chemistry to society.

Chemical warfare whether intentional or accidental as in the numerous instances of chemical plant explosions.  He particularly highlighted the accident in Bhopal, India caused by water getting into a storage of methyl isocyanate resulting in the release of a toxic gas that killed thousands of people and injured hundreds of thousands of people.

Next is the invention of explosives, compounds that react or decompose producing gases and lots of heat at rapid rates causing "destructive and impulsive shock".  Nitroglycerin was highlighted as a molecule that contains both oxidizer and fuel which accelerates the reaction even more amplifying the shock produced.

Environmental degradation either through waste and effluent release by chemical processes or the removal of natural resources or introduction of synthetic chemicals to the environment is a ubiquitous by product of all of these achievements.  Chemists in both academia and industry have crafted green chemistry principles which prescribe the various ways that chemical processes can be made more environmentally benign for economical and social reasons, both.  "Chemistry is the only solution to the problem it causes in the environment, be it in air, water, or earth."