Avalanches

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Earthquakes

Chasms open and buildings collapse: earthquakes wreak havoc around the world

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Hurricanes

One storm can unleash the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs in a day, and coastal building raises the risk.

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Tornadoes

Winds of up to 250 mph can flatten one house and spare the next, and in 2011 they ravage the town of Joplin.

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Tsunamis

Quake-driven waves strike Sumatra and Japan in two of the deadliest disasters of modern times.

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Blizzards

Historic storms in the eastern US and central Europe show how ice, cold and fierce winds turn deadly.

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Landslides

Mud engulfs a school, killing a generation of children, and an estimated 30,000 people are lost in Venezuela.

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Volcanoes

Hot gas, ash and lava bombs can reach 700 km/h, and experts probe what makes some eruptions so lethal.

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Heatwaves

Weeks of scorching heat strain power grids, destroy crops and kill people in countries unready to cope.

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Pandemics

In an ever more mobile world, experts warn that a global disease outbreak is more likely now than ever.

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Floods

When levees along the Mississippi break, a torrent of water brings death and destruction to a vast area.

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Wildfires

Flames as tall as buildings and miles of destruction: see why these fires are more catastrophic than ever.

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Drought

When the water runs out, crops die, people starve and economies fail in the deadliest natural disaster.

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Mosquitoes

The deadliest animal in the world isn't the Bengal tiger or the Great White Shark: it's the mosquito

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Earthquakes

Buildings collapse and the ground splits open as experts explain why these disasters can't be predicted.

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Floods

Deadlier each year than hurricanes, tornadoes and lightning, water wipes out towns and spreads disease.

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Volcanoes

Volcanic blasts can be so powerful, they are capable of altering the Earth's environment and atmosphere

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Avalanches

Catastrophic and mesmerizing killers, avalanches are incredible forces of power and speed

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El Niño

UK floods, African droughts, Canadian wildfires and Pacific cyclones share one devastating climate pattern.

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Cyclones

Pounding rain, fierce winds and surging waves cost billions, and experts explain how these storms form.

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Famine

Mass hunger killed almost 75 million people in the 20th century, leaving disease, chaos and civil war behind.