Mega Disasters

The cause of the Biblical Great Flood may have been a massive three-mile wide comet that crashed in the Indian Ocean, 4,800 years ago. It is believed to have decimated over 60% of Earth's population. A similar comet, crashing into the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco, could cause millions of casualties followed by a lethal mega tsunami, earthquake, torrential rains and a nuclear winter.

Scientists at the University of Kansas believe gamma ray bursts were responsible for a great mass extinction on Earth 450 million years ago. The gamma rays strip away the ozone layer and generate chemical smog, producing a widespread chill that grips the Earth.

In 1883, Krakatoa, the most famous and feared volcano on Earth, erupted. Gigantic explosions blew the volcano to bits, which triggered massive lava flows that generated huge tsunamis. Nearly 37,000 died, the greatest death toll caused by a volcanic eruption. It could happen again.

Mauna Loa, Hawaii, 1868, in its most spectacular eruption, spewed out enough lava to cover 40 percent of the Big Island. A similar eruption occurred in 1950. Now that the island has become developed, the potential for damage and loss from a major eruption is astronomical.

Scientific theory states that gigantic eruptions of methane gas from deep in the ocean have occurred regularly throughout history. Although a global-scale methane eruption today is highly unlikely, there are stagnant, oxygen-poor basins in the ocean where methane might accumulate.

With scientists in complete agreement that the climate is warming, many climatologists are warning that intense and prolonged droughts could ravage the interior of the Western United States, leading to catastrophic water shortages. Could we be facing a replay of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s on an even bigger scale?

Could an alien infection cause an epidemic on earth? Some experts believe that spacecraft returning from Mars could bring back a harmful sample or comet dust falling into our atmosphere could cause pandemics. One astronomer believes that the Influenza of 1918, which killed between 50-100 million people, was one such outbreak and that another "infection" could decimate the world's population.

Most people don't think of New York City as earthquake country, but it has been shaken by significant quakes in 1737 and 1884. Picture a busy midweek morning in the heart of Manhattan and hundreds of thousands of commuters are on their way to work.

Recent warming trends in seawater and air temperature point to a possible mega drought in the next thirty to fifty years. Could we be facing a replay of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s on an even bigger scale? Scientists working with government authorities are highly cognizant of the need to conserve. Is it too late?

The Locust is one of the most destructive and dreaded life forms on Earth. The very name evokes a primordial shudder in human kind that originated with Moses and the plagues of Egypt. The American Pioneers too faced catastrophes created by swarms of locust. They endured the largest swarm ever recorded. It was 1,800 miles long and 110 miles wide.

It has been a century since the infamous 1906 San Francisco earthquake and Californians live with the knowledge that it's only a matter of time before they're hit again. Los Angeles is the second most populous city in America. If an earthquake hit directly beneath downtown LA, scientists believe that tens of thousands would be killed. Just how would the city respond to a 7.5 magnitude quake?

The world we've created runs on oil, but the oil won't last forever. Many experts predict that it will begin to run out sometime this century. We are now living in a world in which the gap between supply and demand is ever increasing.

Vesuvius in Italy is perhaps the world's most famous -- and dangerous -- volcano. In 79AD, it destroyed the metropolis of Pompeii. Today, experts fear that Vesuvius could erupt again and wipe the city of Naples from the map.