Natural Disasters

A satellite image of North America taken on August 25, 2020. Smoke from wildfires can be seen rising from California and Hurricane Laura can be seen heading toward Louisiana and eastern Texas as the remnants of Marco swirl over the Southeast.

NOAA's Weather Forecasting System Just Got a Major Update

The new version of the Global Forecast System could give Americans in the path of a hurricane an additional 36 hours to prepare compared to the old model

Researchers propose storing genetic material from each of Earth's 6.7 million species of known organisms to safeguard life on our planet from annihilation.

Sending DNA From Earth's 6.7 Million Species to the Moon to Safeguard Life

Researchers propose constructing a 'lunar ark' to provide our planet with a 'reset button' in the event of a world-ending catastrophe

By Monday evening, nearly 2,000 cold-stunned turtles were rescued from the Lower Laguna Madre Lagoon along the Texas Coast, where endangered green sea turtles call home.

Volunteers Scramble to Save Thousands of Sea Turtles Following Polar Vortex in Texas

As of last Wednesday, at least 3,500 sea turtles have been rescued from freezing waters in the midst record-breaking winter storm

Rescuers found the Dyatlov group's abandoned tent on February 26, 1959.

Have Scientists Finally Unraveled the 60-Year Mystery Surrounding Nine Russian Hikers' Deaths?

New research identifies an unusual avalanche as the culprit behind the 1959 Dyatlov Pass Incident

Trove of amulets unearthed in Pompeii

Pompeii's Museum Reopens With Dazzling Display of Archaeological Treasures

Artifacts on view at the Antiquarium include ancient frescoes, protective amulets and casts of Mount Vesuvius victims' bodies

Category-4 Hurricane Laura hit Cameron, Louisiana on August 27, 2020 with winds up to 150 mph and storm surge in excess of 15 feet. The storm caused costly destruction along the coast and inland to the city of Lake Charles and was one of seven storms that caused more than $1 billion in damages.

U.S. Breaks Record for Billion-Dollar Climate Disasters in 2020

A total of 22 disasters caused $95 billion in total damage, reflecting climate change’s growing cost

Los Angeles County is the most at risk for climate-related disasters out of 3,000 counties analyzed in the United States.

Los Angeles Rated Most Susceptible to Natural Disasters, According to FEMA Data

The report explains how damaging hypothetical, extreme weather scenarios would be and does not represent how frequently devastation actually occurs

As the fastest sinking city in the world, Jakarta, Indonesia is already experiencing the devastating outcomes of subsidence.

In Many Parts of the World, the Ground Is Literally Sinking

Extracting underground natural resources is causing land to sink in on itself, which will put 635 million people at risk by 2040

An abandoned building near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Ukraine Seeks to Designate Chernobyl as a Unesco World Heritage Site

"People should leave with an awareness of the historic significance of the place," says the country's culture minister

An aerial oblique photo of the volcanoes of the Islands of Four Mountains in Alaska's Aleutian Island chain. In the center is the summit of Mount Tana. Behind Tana are (left to right) Herbert, Cleveland and Carlisle Volcanoes.

A Massive Supervolcano May Lurk Beneath Alaska's Aleutian Islands

Multiple lines of evidence led scientists to the idea that a group of six volcanoes in the islands are actually part of a 12-mile-wide caldera

In the U.S., affordable housing units along the coast tend to be built in flood-prone areas where the land is cheaper and developers cannot build.

Affordable Housing Units Prone to Floods Could Triple by 2050

Without swift action to reduce carbon emissions, nearly 25,000 low-income houses will face annual flooding in the next 30 years

Italy's Stromboli volcano erupting on January 13, 2011.

Watch This Recent Giant Eruption at Italy's Stromboli Volcano

Stromboli is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, but this latest eruption was exceptionally intense

The Philippines is naturally exposed to natural disasters like typhoons and experiences around 20 typhoons each year.

The World's Most Powerful Storm in Four Years Strikes the Philippines

The Philippines is naturally at risk for natural disasters, but storms like Goni are expected to strengthen and occur more frequently with climate change

Colorado's two largest fires in state history seen from space via Landsat 8. The Cameron Peak fire is on the upper right and the East Troublesome fire is on the lower left; the fires have burned more than 190,000 and 200,000 acres, respectively.

Colorado's Record-Breaking Blazes Illustrate the West's Lengthening Fire Season

Fire season is usually over by this time in October, but, in a trend experts expect climate change to exacerbate, that's not the case this year

Satellite imagery of Tropical Storm Zeta as it passes over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Zeta, 2020's 27th Named Storm, Bears Down on Louisiana

Downgraded to a tropical storm after striking Mexico, Zeta is expected to regain strength and make landfall in the U.S. as a Category 1 hurricane

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's U.S. Drought Outlook map for November 2020 through January 2021. Brown represents the areas where drought is expected to continue or worsen.

NOAA Predicts Droughts Gripping Nearly Half of Continental U.S. Will Intensify This Winter

The agency expects the South and Southwest will be warmer and drier than usual in the coming months, offering no relief to the already parched regions

This image shows the stratification of Lake Kivu, with its lower, warmer waters separated from its higher, cooler waters.

The Explosive Hazard Hiding in an African Lake

Rwanda's Lake Kivu has dense depths packed with methane and carbon dioxide gas

Old Faithful erupts before a crowd of onlookers in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park in 1966.

Climate Change Could Make Yellowstone's Famous Geyser Less Faithful

Old Faithful stopped erupting for decades following severe drought 800 years ago and global warming could put it back on hiatus

More than 580 species of bird, 271 types of fish, 174 mammal species, 131 different reptiles and 57 amphibian species known to inhabit the Pantanal.

Wildlife Suffers as Brazil’s Pantanal Wetland Burns

Fires in the world’s largest tropical wetland have burned an area double that of California’s unprecedented 2020 blazes

Researchers identified a "trench" previously dated to modern times as a 3,700-year-old fissure.

Did an Earthquake Topple This Ancient Canaanite Palace?

Excavations at Tel Kabri in Israel revealed physical evidence of a natural disaster

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