The Earth's Furies

Cyclones are the most powerful natural disasters on Earth. Many coastal regions live under constant threat of these incredibly powerful surges of energy.

Blizzards affect mankind every winter, across every continent. Combining ice cold temperatures, snow and extreme wind, this mother of all storms is a living hell that has the power to paralyse entire countries.

Over the past 20 years, floods have caused more than 150,000 deaths globally. Global warming has made flooding one of the foremost challenges of the 21st century, leaving huge swathes of coastal areas vulnerable to devastation.

Every year we lose 12 million hectares due to desertification, causing millions of people to abandon their homes.

Scientists have been examining tsunamis to see how they come about, and what explains their power. With a specific focus on Indonesia and Japan, scientists try to fully understand these deadly waves, in order to limit their impact.

Mudslides produced fatal catastrophes in Sierra Leone, Switzerland and Colombia in 2017 alone. Scientists blame their rising severity on global warming combined with heavy rainfall.