Natural Disasters & Environment

Natural disasters and changes in the environment—from the Krakatoa eruption to climate change—have profoundly shaped human history. Explore both the sudden and long-term impacts of natural and human-made disasters and phenomena.

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At first, hurricanes were only given women's names -- until some women protested and got storms named after men, too.

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Australian fires 2020

Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Featured Overview

At first, hurricanes were only given women's names -- until some women protested and got storms named after men, too.

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How Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' Galvanized the Environmental Movement

Carson's 1962 bestseller first warned the public about the devastating effects of chemical pesticides—and started a revolution.

5 Times Hurricanes Changed History

These violent storms have had far-reaching consequences that altered the course of history in surprising ways.

Hurricane Katrina

The 2005 hurricane and subsequent levee failures led to death and destruction—and dealt a lasting blow to leadership and the Gulf region.

1911 Heat Wave

Railway tracks buckled, people slept in parks, hundreds died, while others tried to die as the heat and humidity became unbearable.

How a Camping Trip Created our National Parks

How a Camping Trip Created our National Parks

A camping trip in 1903 might be the most influential in history! John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt spent three nights in Yosemite. Muir would convince Roosevelt to protect Yosemite, paving the way for a National Park Service.

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Natural Disasters & Environment
Supervolcano erupting, illustration

About 74,000 years ago, the Toba supervolcano blew its top in what's considered the largest natural disaster in the past 2.5 million years. Here's how humans managed to adapt—and survive.

Firemen on Horse-Drawn Fire Truck, "On the Way to a Fire", Chicago, USA, Postcard, circa 1890.

From ad-hoc 'bucket brigades' to steam-powered fire trucks, firefighting has seen steady advances, while climate change-fueled fires present new challenges.

wildfire

When a historic fire roared over more than 3 million acres in Montana, Idaho and Washington, the US Forest Service called for suppressing all fires. 

Open plain with cracked mud and clear sky

From ancient Egypt and Maya to the Dust Bowl, take a look back at some of history’s most devastating droughts.

Kilauea volcano

Active volcanoes abound in Hawaii, Alaska and the western United States, including several that have erupted in recent times.

These celestial events, whether solar or lunar, inspired fear, aided armies and helped confirm groundbreaking theories.

August 3, 2007. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Investigators move cautiously amid the rubble of the 35W bridge that lies in pieces in the Mississippi River.

The disasters had a wide range of causes, from marching soldiers to a crowd gathered to witness baptisms.

2018 California Camp Fire

These wildfires wrought extreme devastation as they roared through neighborhoods and lands in the U.S.

The Greek island of Santorini lies above a dangerous volcano that could be fatal at any moment.

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How Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' Galvanized the Environmental Movement

Carson's 1962 bestseller first warned the public about the devastating effects of chemical pesticides—and started a revolution.

5 Moments That Forced Americans to Confront Climate ChangeDraft SharePreviewPublish

Check out some moments that drove the national conversation around climate change.

Theo Wilson time-travels back to 1889 to the bucolic river shores of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where the biggest flood in U.S. history is about to be unleashed.

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7 of the Most Dramatic US Plane Crashes

Although not the deadliest, these flight disasters are among the most unforgettable in American history.

From crazy explosions to fast striking asteroids and even massive ice ages, planet Earth has had its life flash before its eyes a few times, see more in this episode of History Countdown.

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Night view on January 16, 2012, of the cruise liner Costa Concordia aground in front of the harbor of Isola del Giglio after hitting underwater rocks on January 13.

A captain and his crew needlessly endangered the lives of those on board.

5 of the Most Significant Impact Craters in North America

Meteors, comets and asteroids have slammed into the Earth with a force many times greater than the most powerful nuclear bombs. Sometimes, mass extinction followed.

5 of History's Deadliest Bear Attacks

Hungry bears—whether grizzly, black, brown or polar—can be shockingly brutal.

Fukushima Timeline: How an Earthquake Triggered Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

An earthquake, a tsunami...and then a devastating power plant failure.

The Deadliest Events in US History

From pandemics to wars to natural disasters, these events took the highest tolls on American lives.

7 Fires That Changed History

Massive fires have wrought devastation—but they've also led to significant reform and rebuilding.

5 Times Hurricanes Changed History

These violent storms have had far-reaching consequences that altered the course of history in surprising ways.

When London Faced a Pandemic—And a Devastating Fire

The Great Plague and the Great Fire of London were two unimaginable disasters with no silver lining.

Invasive Species That Have Harmed the U.S.

Feral swine. Rodents of unusual size. And a python that swallowed three deer.

Burmese Python

They've eaten practically every mammal in sight—and have no natural predators.

Categroy 5 Hurricanes That Have Hit the U.S.

Category 5 hurricanes pack the strongest winds but only a handful have been recorded making landfall in the United States.

At first, hurricanes were only given women's names -- until some women protested and got storms named after men, too.

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Photo of Aron Ralston

These people went off the beaten track. Then things went horribly wrong.

The Keeling Curve was among the earliest charts showing that carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere were on a steady uptick.

Throughout it's history, the U.S. has endured many devastating hurricanes. These are the deadliest hurricanes in American history.

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The Tri-State Tornado claimed nearly 700 lives.

The 1886 blizzard imperiled settlers and left fields of dead cattle in its wake.

The “Great Arctic Outbreak” of February 1899 set temperature and snowfall records from Michigan to Florida.

When a steel tank full of molasses ruptured in 1919, physics and neglect contributed to making the accident so horrific, leading to 21 deaths.

2004 Tsunami

The tsunami was the deadliest in recorded history, taking 230,000 lives in a matter of hours.

Hurricane Katrina

The powerful hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast in August 2005 and overwhelmed levees surrounding the vulnerable city of New Orleans.

1911 Heat Wave

Railway tracks buckled, people slept in parks, hundreds died, while others tried to die as the heat and humidity became unbearable.

'It's been a bit of a long shift,' joked shift foreman Luis Urzúa (in green) after being greeted by Chile's President Sebastián Piñera. Urzúa was the last of the 33 miners to be successfully lifted to the surface after being trapped 700 meters underground for two months in the San José Copper-Gold mine, on October 13, 2010 in Copiapó, Chile.

For these lucky survivors, the cavalry did arrive.

A house ripped from its foundation by the Johnstown flood, with a tree trunk sticking out of its window.

One storm left an estimated 8,000 dead in its wake, while an epic flood carried human bodies some 350 miles away.

Centralia, Pennsylvania was once a bustling mining center, but a hidden, underground fire has turned it into a smoldering ghost town.

Krakatau volcano (Krakatoa) erupting, Java island, Indonesia, c. 2003.

Krakatoa is a small volcanic island in Indonesia, located about 100 miles west of Jakarta. In August 1883, the eruption of the main island of Krakatoa (or Krakatau) killed more than 36,000 people, making it one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in human history.

The Great Fire of New York City, 1835. (Credit: The New York Public Library)

The Great Fire of 1835 destroyed nearly 700 buildings.

Smoking Horseshoe-Shaped Crater Top Of Mount Saint Helens After A Major Eruption May 18 1980

Ring of Fire Mount St. Helens and the Cascade Range are a small part of the Ring of Fire, a zone of intense volcanic and seismic activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the west coast of South America, northward through Central and No...

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964, Tsunami Damage Along The Waterfront At Kodiak

The Earthquake Strikes At 5:36 p.m. on March 27, 1964—Good Friday—the earth trembled just as many Alaskans were sitting down to dinner. Eyewitnesses described hearing a crunching, grinding noise as the earth shook. They recalled seeing asphalt roads ris...

A 2010 aerial photo of Mount Tambora's 10 volcanic crater that stretches over 7 miles wide and about half a mile deep. It was formed by the April 1815 eruption. (Credit: Iwan Setiyawan/KOMPAS Images/AP Photo)

It killed 100,000 people in the direct impact. But it led to tens of millions more deaths later.

Local youths and volunteers gather in an open field and wait to support firefighters during a wildfire next in the Greek village of Kamatriades.

Experiments linking human activity to rising temperatures surfaced in the 1800s, but it would be another century until climate change became a serious concern.

A road in Maine in winter at dusk.

The winter solstice is the day of the year with the fewest hours of daylight. Humans may have celebrated the winter solstice as far back as the Stone Age.

The city learned from its past as it looked to the future.

Fall Equinox

The fall equinox is the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Arriving between September 21 and 24, the day has spawned rituals in many cultures.

Residents are evacuated from their homes after severe flooding following Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas.

The Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale was originally created to help people decide how they should respond to storms.

The U.S. Weather Bureau got the forecast completely wrong.

HISTORY: Summer Solstice

The summer solstice falls between June 20 and 22 in the Northern Hemisphere. The longest day of the year, it has inspired celebrations for millennia.

Solar and lunar eclipses—astronomical events that occur when the Earth, the sun and the moon are aligned—have figured prominently in human history. Striking

Millions of children pack their bags each year and head to camps ranging from the rustic to the super-luxurious. But it was not always so.

Personal vendettas played out in the names of hurricanes.

Find out how our national pastime may have saved lives during the San Francisco Bay Area’s deadly earthquake of 1989.

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7th November 1966: Pedestrians use marooned cars as stepping stones in the flooded streets of Florence after the River Arno had burst its banks.

From time immemorial, floods have wreaked havoc and made their mark on history.

Painting of the terraces at Lake Rotomahana by Charles Blomfield.

Located on the shores of Lake Rotomahana, the Pink and White Terraces were formed over many hundreds of years from silica deposits left by the flowing waters of two hot springs. Beginning in the 1830s, these natural wonders—known respectively as Te Otukapuarangi (Maori for “fountain of the clouded sky”) and Te Tarata (“the tattooed rock”)—attracted thousands […]

Tulips seen from below during Spring.

During the vernal, or spring equinox, the amount of daylight and darkness is nearly the same in length. In the Northern Hemisphere, it signals the start of spring.

The Biggest Snow Storms in US History

We trudge back in time to revisit some of the worst blizzards in U.S. history.

Explore some of the key developments in our love-hate history with the wonderful (awful) white stuff, snow.

BOSTON - JANUARY 1: A molasses tank collapsed and caused widespread damage in Boston's North End in January 1919. The incident is commonly referred to as the Great Molasses Flood. (Photo by The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Sugary-sweet molasses turned deadly on January 15, 1919, when a holding tank burst and sent 2.3 million gallons of the sticky liquid sweeping through the streets of Boston.

Picture of a street in Gavinana area in Florence after the flood, 04 November 1966. (Credit: RAFFAELLO BENCINI/AFP/Getty Images)

Explore what happened during the 1966 disaster when the Arno River burst its banks in the city of Florence.

Painting depicting the Great Fire.

Between September 2 and September 6, 1666, a massive inferno ripped through London, reducing much of the city center to a smoldering ruin.

Legionella (Credit: BSIP/UIG/Getty Images)

After a mysterious illness killed dozens of American Legion members, public health officials launched the largest medical investigation in history to find out why.

hith reali life jaws Shark fin above ocean water

It wasn’t safe to go back in the water of the Jersey Shore in 1916, as a series of deadly shark attacks forever changed Americans’ attitudes toward the sea creatures.

How Washington, D.C. Got Its Cherry Trees

These 10 trees played a part in shaping world events.

Ruins in the vicinity of Post and Grant Avenue.

Look back at the deadliest earthquake ever to strike the United States.

A view of the Chernobyl Nuclear power after the explosion on April 26, 1986 in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

From the Dust Bowl to the BP oil spill, explore some of the most notorious environmental disasters of the last century.

Credit: Getty Images

On the 50th anniversary of the Great Northeast Blackout, look back at the night the lights went out on 30 million people in one of the largest power outages in U.S. history.

October 8, 1871 is best known as the start date of the Great Chicago Fire, which leveled three square miles of property and claimed 300 lives. Yet the very same night the Windy City went up in flames, an even bigger and more devastating blaze tore through tiny Peshtigo, Wisconsin, a frontier boomtown located a […]

Rain and storm winds blowing trees. (Credit: Blend Images/Getty Images)

Explore the story of the most destructive Atlantic storm in recorded history, which killed more than 22,000.

New Orleans poet Shelton “Shakespear” Alexander performs an original poem about his experience taking shelter at the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.

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U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Laurence Nettles describes helicopter rescues and details how the Coast Guard prepared for Hurricane Katrina.

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When Angela Trahan and her family were trapped in their own kitchen by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina, Brother Ronald Hingle, a member of their school community, braved the winds and rising waters to bring them to safety.

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When Hurricane Katrina forced New Orleans poet Shelton Alexander to evacuate his home, he took his truck and video camera to the Superdome. He escaped the chaotic shelter a few days later with a truckload of people and video documentation of history.

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Charity Hospital was one of the last hospitals to be evacuated after Hurricane Katrina hit. After five days without power or assistance, the staff of Charity took matters into their own hands — including orchestrating a risky roof evacuation — to care for their patients.

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summer, weather

In the summer of 1816, the Northern Hemisphere was plagued by a weather disruption of seemingly biblical proportions. Following a relatively ordinary early spring, temperatures in the eastern United States plunged back below freezing, and communities from New England to Virginia experienced heavy snowfalls and crop-killing frost during June, July and August. Europe also found […]

Survivors talk about the impact of Hurricane Katrina, 10 years after the historic storm devastated the Gulf Coast.

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Dog Days of Summer

The phrase has nothing to do with panting pooches.

From a climate-changing volcanic eruption to a mysterious explosion in Siberia, learn the stories behind six weird weather events that made their mark on history.

Five days after Hurricane Katrina trapped nearly 300 residents in their apartment building, known as The American Can, former recon Marine John Keller fought off looters, swam through floodwaters, and hot-wired boats to help guide them to safety.

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When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Laurence “Noodles” Nettles’ training was put to the test as he and fellow Guard members were forced to adapt their ocean rescue tactics to save thousands of stranded victims from rooftops and rising floodwaters.

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Robert Green lost his mother and granddaughter when his Ninth Ward home was lifted off its foundation and floated down the street in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After rebuilding several years later, Green has made it his life’s mission to bring the Ninth Ward residents back and rebuild their historic community.

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Golden Beer in a Glass Stein for Beer Fest

On October 17, 1814, a brewery accident unleashed a deadly tidal wave of beer through a London neighborhood in one of history’s strangest disasters.

alaska earthquake

Look back at the 9.2-magnitude earthquake, the largest ever recorded in North America, which shook Alaska 50 years ago.

September 21, 1938 weather map.

The monstrous Hurricane of 1938 killed hundreds as it tore through the Northeast—and no one knew it was coming.

Laika, the Russian space dog, rests inside the Soviet satellite Sputnik II in preparation of becoming the first living creature to orbit the earth.

Find out how members of the animal kingdom have helped shape history for mankind, from paving the way for human space flight to bringing down Bin Laden.

Death Valley's Furnace Creek

Get the story behind Death Valley’s record-breaking heat wave.

The sun during a heatwave in California.

From London's 'Great Stink' of 1858, to a sweltering stint during the Great Depression, take a look back at some of the deadliest heat waves in history.

People being rescued during the Great Flood of Dayton in 1913.

The Great Flood of 1913 was one of the worst in U.S. history.

For five days in December 1952, the Great Smog of London smothered the city, wreaking havoc and killing thousands.

Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef just off the coast of Alaska, dumping more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine environment.

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Everyone knows the Titanic was big, and we have the hard numbers to prove it. Discover what made it a supersized ship.

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What was the true purpose of Stonehenge? Bones excavated from the site suggest it may have been used as a temple for the dead.

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Tsunamis are often called tidal waves, but they have nothing to do with tides. Find out what causes tsunamis and why they can be so dangerous.

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Find out where lava comes from and what happens when a volcano erupts underwater.

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This clip from "History Uncut" provides aerial video of New Orleans, taken from a news helicopter, shortly after Hurricane Katrina. This provides a unique perspective of the devastation that Katrina wreaked on the city.

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Viewing a solar eclipse is one of the most magnificent of natural phenomenons. Throughout history solar eclipses have almost always accompanied events of great magnitude. Were these events divine omens that were to signal the end of the world? What is this phenomenon that we call a solar eclipse and why does it happen? There are three types of eclipses, full, annular, partial. Total solar eclipses last for hours, but totality only spans a few minutes. Solar eclipses are one of the greatest events that the backyard astronomer can witness. Learn more about this natural phenomenon at History.com.

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Will solar eclipses eventually become a thing of the past? If so, when?

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Find out how a hurricane forms--and what makes it so dangerous.

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A look at how a period of climate change millions of years ago impacted evolution.

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Realistic 3D Sun Surface

In 1859 a massive solar flare spewed electrified gas and subatomic particles toward Earth, wreaking havoc on telegraph networks.

Why do we bestow people’s names on volatile storms in the first place?

The Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

Lethal air, contaminated land, cancer epidemics—and coverups. These nuclear accidents were catastrophic.

The concept of green living may be new, but humans have been reducing, reusing and recycling throughout history.

Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake October 17, 1989, Structures Damaged In The Marina District Of San Francisco, The First Story Of This Three-Story Building Was Damaged Because Of Liquefaction; The Second Story Collapsed, What Is Seen Is The Third Story.

On October 17, 1989, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area, killing 67 people and causing more than $5 billion in damages.

Northridge Earthquake: January 17, 1994 Damage was widespread, as buildings, shopping centers, parking lots and portions of major freeways all collapsed. At least 57 people perished, while thousands more were injured. At the Northridge Meadows apartment...

In October 1780, a powerful storm slammed the islands of the Caribbean, killing more than 20,000 people. Known as the Great Hurricane of 1780, it is among the deadliest storms ever recorded. Specifics about the hurricane, such as its exact point of orig...

CHITTAGONG, BANGLADESH: Photo taken 30 April 1991 shows part of the city of Chittagong after it was flooded following the worst cyclone to hit the nation in over 20 years. A strong cyclone with a packing winds of up to 230 kms (143 mile) per hour, began battering the southeastern Bangladesh coast 19 May, destroying houses and uprooting trees and electric poles. AFP PHOTO/FILES (Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images)

1991 Bangladesh Cyclone: April 29, 1991 Cyclone is the name given to hurricane-type storms that arise in the Indian Ocean, while typhoons are those that start in the Pacific Ocean and hurricanes are those found in the Atlantic. Cyclone 2B, as April 1991...

On September 21, 1999, an earthquake in Taiwan killed more than 2,400 people, destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings and left an estimated 100,000 people homeless. It was the worst earthquake to hit Taiwan–where quakes are common due to its locatio...

San Francisco earthquake, April 18 1906

San Francisco Earthquake: April 18, 1906 The earthquake occurred at 5:13 a.m. local time, with its epicenter offshore of San Francisco, which then had a population of approximately 400,000 people. The greatest devastation resulted from the fires that qu...

Hurricane Mitch satellite image, 1998.

Hurricane Mitch struck Central America in late October 1998, leaving more than 11,000 people dead, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes and causing more than $5 billion in damages.

Mexico City Earthquake: September 19, 1985 More than 10,000 people died as a result of the quake, some 30,000 others were injured and an estimated 250,000 people were left homeless. More than 400 buildings collapsed and thousands more were damaged. (The...

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 storm that made landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast in August 2005. The storm triggered catastrophic flooding, particularly in the city of New Orleans, and caused more than 1,800 deaths.

On October 8, 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook the Kashmir region (a disputed territory controlled in part by Pakistan and India), along with sections of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. More than 80,000 people perished as a result of the quake, w...

1900 Galveston Hurricane

On September 8, 1900, a Category 4 hurricane ripped through Galveston, Texas, killing an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people. The hurricane remains the worst weather-related disaster in U.S. history in terms of loss of life.

Plastic bottles and other trash piled up along the bank of the San Gabriel River just a few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean in Seal Beach, California.

The Industrial Revolution In the latter part of the 13th century, in an effort to reduce air pollution, England’s King Edward I threatened Londoners with harsh penalties if they didn’t stop burning sea-coal. However, the king’s regulations–and those of ...