Natural Disasters

Sarasota, Florida, experienced wind and rain on Wednesday morning as Hurrican Ian approached. 

Hurricane Ian Slams Cuba, Heads for Florida’s West Coast

The storm approached Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, with top winds reaching 155 miles per hour

A NASA Earth Observatory satellite captured an image of the eruption on September 14. The greener, discolored water near the eruption site likely contains particulate matter, rock fragments and sulfur from the volcano. 

Volcanic Eruption Creates a New Island in the South Pacific

The growing land mass is larger than 8 acres and visible from space

Climate disasters, like flooding in Pakistan, have led to climate justice advocates pushing for "loss and damage" to be paid to developing countries.

Denmark Will Pay ‘Loss and Damage’ to Developing Countries for Climate Change Impacts

The country has pledged $13 million, which will go to the Sahel region in northwestern Africa and other impacted areas

Bad Bunny, a global reggaeton sensation whose latest album just topped the Billboard 200 for the 11th week, released a short documentary on Puerto Rico’s infrastructure failures and gentrification.

Bad Bunny's Latest Music Video Doubles as a Documentary on Gentrification in Puerto Rico

Amid Hurricane Fiona, the artist combines his music with an 18-minute film by reporter Bianca Graulau

A flooded road in Villa Blanca, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 18, 2022 due to Hurricane Fiona. 

Hurricane Fiona Causes 'Catastrophic' Damage in Puerto Rico

The island faces major blackouts, and it could be several days before all the lights are back on

Flooding in Livingston, Montana, in June

Federal Flood Maps Are Outdated Because of Climate Change, FEMA Director Says

The maps don't take into account intense rainfall events, like those plaguing many parts of the country this summer

The lava lake that sits atop Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the largest in the world. 

How a Volcanic Eruption Caught Seismologists by Surprise

Scientists reveal why Africa's Mount Nyiragongo erupted without any perceived warning signs in May last year

Many of the children who survived Hurricane Katrina are still healing from the trauma of their experiences.

The Black Children of Hurricane Katrina Finally Tell Their Stories

A new documentary, 'Katrina Babies,' spotlights the disaster's youngest survivors

An inmate firefighter monitors flames as a house burns in the Napa wine region of California on October 9, 2017.

The History of California's Inmate Firefighter Program

The initiative, which finds prisoners working as first responders and rescuers, dates back to the 1940s

A small accent table found in a Pompeii bedroom

Excavations Shed Light on the Everyday Life of Pompeii's Middle Class

An ornate courtyard found in an otherwise humble home may have reflected the owners' aspirational vision of the future

The Appalshop building during the floods

Kentucky Floods Damage Irreplaceable Appalachian Archives

Appalshop, a cultural center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, is still assessing damage from the historic floods

A firefighting aircraft drops retardant to stop the spread of the Oak Fire in California

A Fast-Moving Wildfire Is Spreading Near Yosemite National Park

The Oak Fire has forced thousands of Mariposa County residents to evacuate

Park visitors walk along a section of the Great Salt Lake that used to be underwater at the Great Salt Lake State Park near Magna, Utah. 

Utah's Great Salt Lake Is Drying Out

Water levels, the lowest ever measured, are placing migrating birds, local communities and economic development at high risk

Helicopters fly above the collapsed section of the Marmolada glacier in Italy.

Glacier Collapse Kills Seven Hikers Amid Record Heat in Italy's Dolomites

Rescuers are still searching for missing people after the deadly avalanche on Marmolada on Sunday

Aerial view of flooding in Livingston, Montana—a gateway town near Yellowstone National Park—on June 14, 2022

What Extreme Flooding in Yellowstone Means for the National Park's Gateway Towns

These communities rely almost entirely on tourism for their existence—yet too much tourism, not to mention climate change, can destroy them

Blue holes, like the Great Blue Hole in Belize, are vast caverns that descend into the seafloor. Sediment accumulates at the bottom of a blue hole, giving researchers a way to gauge historical hurricane activity.

Blue Holes Show Hurricane Activity in the Bahamas Is at a Centuries-Long Low

Many more powerful storms battered the region in the past

The MarineLabs sensor buoy that detected the record-breaking wave near Ucluelet, British Columbia.

Record-Breaking Rogue Wave Detected Off Vancouver Island

A 58-foot-tall wall of water was measured by a sensor buoy off the coast

The tragedy marked Washington, D.C.’s deadliest single-day disaster. Pictured: an overhead view of the Knickerbocker Theatre following the roof’s collapse

When a Winter Storm Triggered One of the Deadliest Disasters in D.C. History

On January 28, 1922, the Knickerbocker Theatre's snow-covered roof collapsed, killing 98 people and injuring another 133

A popular tourist site, Turkmenistan's Darvasa crater pit has been burning gas for over 50 years. The country's attempts to put out its flames have been unsuccessful. 

The Quest to Extinguish the Flames of Turkmenistan's Terrifying 'Gates of Hell' Firepit

The country's president says it’s time to quash the ongoing 50-year blaze at the 230-foot-wide Darvaza gas crater

Researchers found the skeleton of a human (pictured) and dog left behind by a tsunami that destroyed coastal communities along the Mediterranean Sea some 3,600 years ago.

First Human Skeleton From Bronze Age Tsunami Discovered in Turkey

Archaeologists find remains of a young man and dog left behind by a natural disaster some 3,600 years ago in the Mediterranean

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