Man has long considered himself the "crown of nature", vainly believing in his superiority and treating the environment in accordance with his status, which he himself appropriated. However, nature proves every time that human judgments are wrong, and thousands of victims of natural disasters make us think about the real place of homo sapiens on planet Earth.
1 place. Earthquake

Earthquakes are tremors and vibrations of the earth's surface that occur when tectonic plates shift. Dozens of earthquakes occur every day in the world, but, fortunately, only a few of them cause large-scale destruction. The most destructive earthquake in history occurred in 1556 in the Chinese province of Xi'an. Then 830 thousand people died. For comparison: 12.5 thousand people became victims of an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 in Japan in 2011.

2nd place. Tsunami

Tsunami is a Japanese term for an unusually high ocean wave. Tsunamis most often occur in areas of high seismic activity. According to statistics, it is the tsunami that leads to the greatest number of human casualties. The highest wave was recorded in 1971 in Japan near the island of Ishigaki: it reached 85 meters at a speed of 700 km / h. And the tsunami caused by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia claimed the lives of 250 thousand people.

3rd place. Drought

Drought is a prolonged absence of precipitation, most often at elevated temperatures and low humidity. One of the most destructive was the drought in the Sahel (Africa) - a semi-desert that separates the Sahara from fertile lands. The drought there lasted from 1968 to 1973 and claimed the lives of about 250 thousand people.

4th place. Flood

Flooding - a significant rise in the water level in rivers or lakes as a result of heavy rains, melting ice, etc. One of the most devastating floods occurred in Pakistan in 2010. Then more than 800 people died, more than 20 million inhabitants of the country, who were left without shelter and food, suffered from the elements.

5th place. Landslides

A landslide is a stream of water, mud, stones, trees and other debris that occurs mainly in mountainous areas due to prolonged rains. The largest number of victims was recorded during a landslide in China in 1920, which claimed the lives of 180 thousand people.

6th place. Eruption

Volcanism is a set of processes associated with the movement of magma in the mantle, upper layers of the earth's crust and on the surface of the earth. Currently, there are about 500 active volcanoes, and about 1000 dormant ones. The largest eruption occurred in 1815. Then the awakened volcano Tambora was heard at a distance of 1250 km. Directly from the eruption, and then from starvation, 92 thousand people died. Two days at a distance of 600 km. because of the volcanic dust there was pitch darkness, and 1816 was called by Europe and America "the year without summer."

7th place. Avalanche

Avalanche - the overthrow of the snow mass from the mountain slopes, most often caused by prolonged snowfalls and the growth of a snow cap. Most people died from avalanches during the First World War. Then about 80 thousand people died from volleys of artillery pieces, causing avalanches.

8th place. Hurricane

A hurricane (tropical cyclone, typhoon) is an atmospheric phenomenon characterized by low pressure and strong winds. Hurricane Katrina, which hit the US coast in August 2005, is considered the most destructive. The states of New Orleans and Louisiana were the most affected, where 80% of the territory was flooded. 1836 people died, the damage amounted to 125 billion dollars.

9th place. Tornado

A tornado is an atmospheric vortex that stretches from the parent thundercloud to the ground itself in the form of a long sleeve. The speed inside it can reach up to 1300 km / h. Basically, tornadoes threaten the central part of North America. So, in the spring of 2011, a series of devastating tornadoes passed through this country, which were called one of the most catastrophic in US history. The largest death toll was recorded in the state of Alabama - 238 people. In total, the elements claimed the lives of 329 people.

10th place. Sandstorm

A sandstorm is a strong wind capable of lifting the top layer of earth and sand (up to 25 cm) into the air and transporting it over long distances in the form of dust particles. There are known cases of people dying from this scourge: in 525 BC. in the Sahara, due to a sandstorm, the 50,000th army of the Persian king Cambyses died.

Man is accustomed to consider himself the ruler of the earth, the king of the universe and the duke of the solar system. And if in ancient times someone could experience superstitious fear at the sight of lightning or start burning redheads at the stake because of another solar eclipse, then modern man is sure that he is above such remnants of the past. But such confidence remains only until the first meeting with some truly formidable natural phenomenon.

If you think that only a hurricane, a tsunami or a volcanic eruption can be classified as such, you are greatly mistaken. There are more rare, refined and unusual phenomena that may not kill, but will make you roll on the ground in superstitious horror, pretending to be a primitive monitor lizard. In order to save readers from having to re-read banal things, such as: “a lightning strike and an avalanche are dangerous to health”, we will place various natural phenomena in this rating not by the number of people killed, but by how frightening they look. Even if they are relatively safe... After all, what kind of safety can we talk about if nerve cells are not restored?

Terrible natural phenomena that can scare anyone

It's nice to be able to add to the rating something familiar and native in its own way, like Odessa. Moreover, there is a reason: in February 2012, severe frosts hit and the Black Sea off the coast of Odessa successfully froze. The news was full of messages like: “Well, wow! For the first time in 30 years! Sensation! Watch everyone!!!" - and although the Odessans themselves kept their poker face and assured that such nonsense happens regularly every 5 years, no one listened to them ... They did not listen to the Odessans, but they heard the sea - the undercurrent made the ice make incredible sounds.

From a discussion at the Odessa forum of those times

• Why should you be afraid. There are many reasons. Here are just some of the plausible versions that can be found in the comments under the video: it is quite possible that a UFO fell into the sea. Or Optimus Prime is underwater. Or someone is trying to call Cthulhu (maybe already called?). Be that as it may, this sea will not interfere with WD-40 (a contraption for lubricating squeaky parts) ... But jokes aside - this phenomenon is completely unsafe. Most likely, this is how dub step appeared. And music lovers even noticed the similarity between the creak of the Black Sea and the Darude track "Sandstorm".

9. Asperatus

Meet asperatus clouds (Undulatus asperatus), which means "wavy-hilly clouds", which in 2009 was identified as a separate species. This is a rather rare phenomenon, and therefore little studied. Wikipedia, as usual, pleases with information content and logic:

S - sequence

It is believed that in recent decades they began to appear more often than before. But what it is connected with is unknown. By the way, this is the first new type of cloud that has been discovered since 1951.

• Why should you be afraid. To begin with, no one really knows what asperatus is. Yes, it is insanely beautiful and exciting - as if a sea storm broke out overhead. At the same time, films about the Avengers have taught us one thing: such things always mark the appearance of Thor, the opening of a portal to other worlds and other phenomena associated with the destruction of New York. Or at least with a tropical downpour in Khabarovsk, which is also unpleasant.

8. Fires of St. Elmo

St. Elmo's fire is a corona discharge that occurs when there is a large voltage of the electric field in the atmosphere. I understand that this does not mean anything, so let's do it again: under certain conditions, for example, during a thunderstorm or storm, a small electrical discharge occurs on the tops of tall objects (matches of ships, on the tops of trees and rocks) in the air. The sailors took this phenomenon as a good sign and were not far from the truth. After all, such lights are really not dangerous - at most, some kind of electrical appliance will be disabled (and there is nothing to leave electrical appliances at matches). But here's what happened in 1982.

I flew myself a Boeing 747 one evening over Java, did not touch anyone. Suddenly, the crew noticed the lights of St. Elmo on the windshield, although there was no thunderstorm. The pilots were so happy with such a good sign that they ordered the passengers to fasten their seat belts and turned on the de-icers. A few minutes later, the plane smelled of smoke and sulfur - it turned out that the plane had flown into a cloud of volcanic ash. 4 engines, one after another, stalled and the plane began to rapidly decline. Despite the almost zero visibility and the failure of some instruments, the crew was able to successfully land the plane in Jakarta and none of the passengers were injured.

• Why should you be afraid. If you are on a plane and notice the fires of St. Elmo, there are two options: either you are caught in a thunderstorm, or in a few minutes the plane's engines will stall and it will crash down. But in general, this, of course, is a very good sign.

7. Blood rush

Moses, stop

This phenomenon is actually called a red tide, but "bloody" sounds much more dangerous. Something similar happens to water during the flowering of a certain type of algae. Or during the release of a certain type of slaves from Egypt. Often a red tide is observed where coastal waters are polluted - they say, when there is nothing to lose ... Although in reality there are losses - water pigmentation leads to the death of various marine creatures and organisms (all according to the Bible).

In 2001, in India, this trouble took on a new look - in the state of Kerala, it rained "bloody" for 2 months. As studies have shown, there were spores of red algae in the raindrops. So the red tide may be taking on a more frightening shape - the locals were horrified when the heavens decided to arrange an unexpected "prank".

• Why should you be afraid. One of the pigments that turns water red is toxic - it releases a powerful paralytic poison, saxitoxin. It would seem that what is simpler: just do not drink blood-colored salty water - natural selection in action. But even if a person is smart enough not to drink the Red Sea, he is not immune from poisoning. Shellfish and other marine life, having picked up toxins, successfully poison people - there are real cases of fatal poisoning by such seafood. And one more thing: you can not step on the rake of history. The Egyptians know how the transformation of water into blood ends - beware, firstborn!

6. Whirlpool

As a result of the terrifying tsunami that hit the coast of Japan in 2011, a huge whirlpool appeared near the port of Oarai. A video of a funnel spinning a small yacht has spread around many media outlets - however, no one has been able to provide an ending to this story ... But this did not stop Rossiya 24 from reporting that it was a ship that disappeared during the tsunami, on which there were 100 people.

Searches for full versions of this video in other languages ​​did not give so much - the boat appears in many reports, but it is not shown anywhere whether the funnel is dragging it in or not. We can definitely say that 100 people definitely won’t fit on this yacht, and, apparently, he just drifted with the engine off. That is, most likely, there was no one on board. That's how the story, which was supposed to scare, turned into a myth debunking. But do not rush to mock whirlpools - they are not weaklings at all.

• Why should you be afraid. In addition to temporary funnels on the water after the tsunami, there are permanent whirlpools. One of the most famous is the Malsterm whirlpool in the Norwegian Sea, which was mentioned by Jules Verne in. Strong water eddies regularly occur in the Malsterm Strait, due to which ships are advised to bypass these waters. Although the speed of "pulling" water does not exceed 11 km / h, which is clearly less than the speed of modern ships, the danger is quite real. Whirlwinds on the water appear unpredictably and can throw the ship off course, sending it to the rocks. This, of course, is not as epic as pulling to the bottom, but no less effective.

5. Killer Waves

Among the dangerous and destructive phenomena one could mention the tsunami. But this choice is too obvious, and we are not looking for easy ways. Therefore, instead of a tsunami, our rating will include its close relative - a killer wave. Until 1995, few people suspected its existence - stories about hefty waves walking around the ocean were considered tales and urban legends. Until one such beauty came across the Dropner oil platform on January 1, this New Year will be remembered by the platform workers for a long time!

The height of the Dropner wave was about 25 meters - before that, there was an opinion that waves of more than 20 meters were not found on our planet, and any eyewitnesses who claim the opposite should drink less. Now they believed the eyewitnesses, and the newly-born giants began to be suspected of the death of ships, the cause of the crash of which could not be established before. Despite further study of this phenomenon, the reason for the appearance of such waves is not completely clear. But it is known that such a wave (or a group of waves) has a small width, up to 1 km, and can move regardless of the general disturbance of the sea surface - that is, it can appear from any side.

• Why should you be afraid. If we put together all the mental conclusions of oceanologists, we get a deep, like the Mariana Trench, thought: these waves appear from time to time in different places. Extremely rare, but with a certain pattern. But you can’t predict it ... In general, if you find yourself on a ship in the open ocean, try to stay close to the boats - you never know.

4. Web in Pakistan

After another flood in Pakistan, which turned 1/5 of this country into a swamp, the local spiders decided: “Oh, fuck it!” - abandoned their usual habitats and moved to the trees, capturing all the thickets in the area.

The largest web that has been recorded was 183 meters long - just imagine this nightmare of arachnophobes! Curiously, spiders are loners, seen in cannibalism and prefer not to connect their web with others. In the same case, experts found in the web 12 different types of spiders that lived in harmony with each other - you just won’t do anything to intimidate people.

Tell them that only girls are afraid of insects

That feeling when you choose to walk over a bike ride

• Why should you be afraid. To begin with, the flood version is a weak explanation of what is happening. Floods happen constantly and all over the world, but this is not a reason to capture human settlements. So we do not know the true spider motives. Perhaps they just wanted to do it - and no one could stop them. The photo above evokes persistent associations with the abode of the giant spider Shelob, who hunted Frodo and Sam - I think it’s not worth explaining why such places are dangerous?

3 Volcanic Ash Lake

Puehue - similar sounds are made by my drunk neighbor on payday. And this is also the name of a volcano in southern Chile, which in the summer of 2011 pleased the inhabitants of South America with a fresh eruption. True, not only Chile suffered, but also neighboring Argentina. More specifically, Lake Nahuel Huapi, which is the largest and deepest body of water with clean water in this country. And so, this lake was covered with volcanic ash to the very “do not indulge” ... Unlike ordinary ash, such ash does not dissolve in water.

• Why should you be afraid. If a diver is afraid to go waist-deep into water without an oxygen tank, then there is probably good reason. A volcanic eruption is always unpleasant, and if you imagine that such nonsense can suddenly fly in from abroad and cover a couch while relaxing on your favorite beach, it becomes terribly unpleasant.

2. Firestorm

A fire tornado is a rare and truly dangerous natural phenomenon. It appears as a result of the coincidence of several factors, the most important of which, obviously, is a large-scale fire. High temperatures, several fires and cold air currents can accompany the formation of a fiery whirlwind that sweeps away everything in its path. The fire tornado does not disappear until it burns everything around, because the flames are constantly fanned by a stream of air that acts like giant bellows.

A fiery tornado was observed in 1812, when Moscow burned, and a little earlier in Kyiv (1811, Podolsk fire). Other major cities of the world experienced a similar disaster: Chicago, London, Dresden and others.

• Why should you be afraid. In 1923, after a large-scale earthquake in Tokyo (the great Kanto earthquake), a fiery tornado rose from multiple fires. The flame reached a height of 60m. On one of the squares, surrounded by buildings, a crowd of frightened people were trapped - in just 15 minutes, about 38,000 people died in a fiery whirlwind.

1. Sandstorm

A sandstorm, whatever you say, looks more epic than any other natural phenomenon. Someone might think: there is nothing wrong with it - it will bring sand for free and only. However, the historian Herodotus describes how in 525 BC. A sandstorm in the Sahara buried 50,000 troops alive.

But someone naive will object again: the time was dense then, people died from absolutely everything - in the era of the Internet and video bloggers, sand does not scare us. Nothing like that: in 2008, a sandstorm in Mongolia claimed the lives of 46 people. A year earlier, in 2007, such a phenomenon ended even more tragically - about 200 people died.

Our old, but already a little frightened naive friend will not calm down on this - he will begin to console himself that away from the desert, you can relax and not be afraid of dust. No matter how: in 1928 a dust storm swept through Ukraine, giving 15 million tons of Ukrainian black soil for long-term use to the nearest western neighbors. And on May 9, 2016, the residents of Irkutsk were able to enjoy a festive dust storm - Happy Victory Day, th…

• Why should you be afraid. Sandstorm kills. In addition, it can appear almost anywhere on our planet - the sands of the Sahara regularly travel across the Atlantic to please the inhabitants of the States with an unexpected visit. So no one is immune from this joy.

Natural hazards are extreme climatic or meteorological phenomena that occur naturally at one point or another on the planet. In some regions, such hazards may occur with greater frequency and destructive force than in others. Dangerous natural phenomena develop into natural disasters when the infrastructure created by civilization is destroyed and the people themselves die.

1.Earthquakes

Among all natural hazards, the first place should be given to earthquakes. In places of breaks in the earth's crust, tremors occur, which cause vibrations of the earth's surface with the release of gigantic energy. The resulting seismic waves are transmitted over very long distances, although these waves have the greatest destructive power in the epicenter of the earthquake. Due to strong vibrations of the earth's surface, mass destruction of buildings occurs.
Since there are quite a lot of earthquakes, and the surface of the earth is quite densely built up, the total number of people in history who died precisely as a result of earthquakes exceeds the number of all victims of other natural disasters and amounts to many millions. For example, over the past decade around the world, about 700 thousand people have died from earthquakes. From the most devastating shocks, entire settlements instantly collapsed. Japan is the most earthquake-affected country, and one of the most catastrophic earthquakes occurred there in 2011. The epicenter of this earthquake was in the ocean near the island of Honshu, according to the Richter scale, the magnitude of the shocks reached 9.1 points. Powerful aftershocks and the subsequent devastating tsunami disabled the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, destroying three of the four power units. Radiation covered a large area around the station, rendering densely populated areas so valuable in Japanese conditions uninhabitable. A colossal tsunami wave turned into a mess what the earthquake could not destroy. More than 16 thousand people officially died, among which another 2.5 thousand who are considered missing can be safely added. In this century alone, devastating earthquakes have occurred in the Indian Ocean, Iran, Chile, Haiti, Italy, and Nepal.

2.Tsunami waves

A specific water disaster in the form of tsunami waves often results in numerous casualties and catastrophic destruction. As a result of underwater earthquakes or shifts of tectonic plates in the ocean, very fast, but hardly noticeable waves arise, which grow into huge ones as they approach the coast and enter shallow water. Most often, tsunamis occur in areas with increased seismic activity. A huge mass of water, rapidly moving ashore, blows everything in its path, picks it up and carries it deep into the coast, and then carries it into the ocean with a reverse current. Humans, unable to feel danger like animals, often do not notice the approach of a deadly wave, and when they do, it is too late.
A tsunami usually kills more people than the earthquake that caused it (the latter in Japan). In 1971, the most powerful tsunami ever observed occurred there, the wave of which rose 85 meters at a speed of about 700 km / h. But the most catastrophic was the tsunami observed in the Indian Ocean (the source is an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia), which claimed the lives of about 300 thousand people along a significant part of the coast of the Indian Ocean.

3.Volcanic eruption

Throughout its history, mankind has remembered many catastrophic volcanic eruptions. When the pressure of magma exceeds the strength of the earth's crust in the weakest places, which are volcanoes, this ends with an explosion and outpourings of lava. But the lava itself is not so dangerous, from which you can simply get away, as hot pyroclastic gases rushing from the mountain, pierced here and there by lightning, as well as a noticeable effect on the climate of the strongest eruptions.
Volcanologists count about half a thousand dangerous active volcanoes, several dormant supervolcanoes, not counting thousands of extinct ones. So, during the eruption of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia, the surrounding lands were plunged into darkness for two days, 92 thousand inhabitants died, and a cold snap was felt even in Europe and America.
List of some strong volcanic eruptions:

• Volcano Laki (Iceland, 1783). As a result of that eruption, a third of the population of the island died - 20 thousand inhabitants. The eruption lasted for 8 months, during which flows of lava and liquid mud erupted from volcanic cracks. The geysers have never been more active. Living on the island at that time was almost impossible. The crops were destroyed, and even the fish disappeared, so the survivors experienced hunger and suffered from unbearable living conditions. This may be the longest eruption in human history.
• Volcano Tambora (Indonesia, Sumbawa Island, 1815). When the volcano exploded, the sound of this explosion spread over 2,000 kilometers. Ash covered even the remote islands of the archipelago, 70 thousand people died from the eruption. But even today, Tambora is one of the highest mountains in Indonesia that retains volcanic activity.
• Volcano Krakatoa (Indonesia, 1883). 100 years after Tambora, another catastrophic eruption occurred in Indonesia, this time "blowing the roof off" (literally) the Krakatoa volcano. After the catastrophic explosion that destroyed the volcano itself, frightening peals were heard for another two months. A huge amount of rocks, ash and hot gases were thrown into the atmosphere. The eruption was followed by a powerful tsunami with a wave height of up to 40 meters. These two natural disasters together destroyed 34,000 islanders along with the island itself.
• Volcano Santa Maria (Guatemala, 1902). After a 500-year hibernation in 1902, this volcano woke up again, starting the 20th century with the most catastrophic eruption, which resulted in the formation of a one and a half kilometer crater. In 1922, Santa Maria again reminded of itself - this time the eruption itself was not too strong, but a cloud of hot gases and ash brought death to 5 thousand people.

4. Tornadoes

A tornado is a very impressive natural phenomenon, especially in the USA, where it is called a tornado. This is an air stream twisted in a spiral into a funnel. Small tornadoes resemble slender narrow pillars, and giant tornadoes can resemble a mighty carousel directed to the sky. The closer to the funnel, the stronger the wind speed, it begins to drag along ever larger objects, up to cars, wagons and light buildings. In the "tornado alley" of the United States, entire city blocks are often destroyed, people die. The most powerful vortices of category F5 reach a speed of about 500 km/h in the center. The state of Alabama suffers the most every year from tornadoes.

There is a kind of fire tornado, which sometimes occurs in the area of ​​massive fires. There, from the heat of the flame, powerful ascending currents are formed, which begin to twist into a spiral, like an ordinary tornado, only this one is filled with flame. As a result, a powerful draft is formed near the surface of the earth, from which the flame grows even stronger and incinerates everything around. When the catastrophic earthquake hit Tokyo in 1923, it caused massive fires that led to the formation of a fiery tornado that rose 60 meters. The column of fire moved towards the square with frightened people and burned 38 thousand people in a few minutes.

5. Sandstorms

This phenomenon occurs in sandy deserts when a strong wind rises. Sand, dust and soil particles rise to a sufficiently high height, forming a cloud that dramatically reduces visibility. If an unprepared traveler gets into such a storm, he can die from grains of sand falling into the lungs. Herodotus described history as 525 BC. e. in the Sahara, a 50,000-strong army was buried alive by a sandstorm. In Mongolia, 46 people died as a result of this natural phenomenon in 2008, and two hundred people suffered the same fate the year before.

6. Avalanches

From the snow-covered mountain peaks, snow avalanches periodically descend. Climbers especially often suffer from them. During World War I, up to 80,000 people died from avalanches in the Tyrolean Alps. In 1679, five thousand people died in Norway from snowmelt. In 1886, there was a major disaster, as a result of which the "white death" claimed 161 lives. The records of the Bulgarian monasteries also mention the human victims of snow avalanches.

7. Hurricanes

They are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific. These are huge atmospheric vortices, in the center of which the strongest winds and sharply reduced pressure are observed. A few years ago, the devastating Hurricane Katrin swept over the United States, which especially affected the state of Louisiana and the densely populated New Orleans located at the mouth of the Mississippi. 80% of the city was flooded, killing 1836 people. Notable destructive hurricanes have also become:

• Hurricane Ike (2008). The diameter of the eddy was over 900 km, and in its center the wind was blowing at a speed of 135 km/h. In the 14 hours that the cyclone moved across the United States, it managed to cause $30 billion worth of damage.
• Hurricane Wilma (2005). This is the largest Atlantic cyclone in the history of meteorological observations. A cyclone that originated in the Atlantic made landfall several times. The amount of damage inflicted by him amounted to $ 20 billion, 62 people died.
• Typhoon Nina (1975). This typhoon was able to breach China's Bankiao Dam, causing the dams below to collapse and causing catastrophic flooding. The typhoon killed up to 230,000 Chinese.

8. Tropical cyclones

These are the same hurricanes, but in tropical and subtropical waters, which are huge low-pressure atmospheric systems with winds and thunderstorms, often exceeding a thousand kilometers in diameter. Near the surface of the earth, winds in the center of the cyclone can reach speeds of over 200 km/h. Low pressure and wind cause the formation of a coastal storm surge - when huge masses of water are thrown ashore at high speed, washing away everything in their path.

9. Landslide

Prolonged rains can cause landslides. The soil swells, loses its stability and slides down, taking with it everything that is on the surface of the earth. Most often, landslides occur in the mountains. In 1920, the most devastating landslide occurred in China, under which 180 thousand people were buried. Other examples:

• Bududa (Uganda, 2010). Due to mudflows, 400 people died, and 200 thousand had to be evacuated.
• Sichuan (China, 2008). Avalanches, landslides and mudflows caused by an 8-magnitude earthquake claimed 20,000 lives.
• Leyte (Philippines, 2006). The downpour caused a mudflow and a landslide that killed 1,100 people.
• Vargas (Venezuela, 1999). Mudflows and landslides after heavy rains (almost 1000 mm of precipitation fell in 3 days) on the northern coast led to the death of almost 30 thousand people.

10. Ball lightning

We are accustomed to ordinary linear lightning accompanied by thunder, but ball lightning is much rarer and more mysterious. The nature of this phenomenon is electrical, but scientists cannot yet give a more accurate description of ball lightning. It is known that it can have different sizes and shapes, most often these are yellowish or reddish luminous spheres. For unknown reasons, ball lightning often ignores the laws of mechanics. Most often they occur before a thunderstorm, although they can appear in absolutely clear weather, as well as indoors or in the cockpit. The luminous ball hangs in the air with a slight hiss, then it can start moving in an arbitrary direction. Over time, it seems to shrink until it disappears altogether or explodes with a roar. But the damage ball lightning can bring is very limited.

Nature is truly perfect and harmonious, but harmony does not always lie in peace. All over the globe, from time to time, natural phenomena occur that cannot be called habitual.

Fireball

Ball lightning most often looks like red or yellow fireballs. They defy the laws of physics, appearing quite unexpectedly in the cabin of a flying plane or inside a house. Lightnings hover in the air for several seconds, after which they disappear without a trace.

Brinicle or "Finger of Death"

In the Arctic, very unusual icicles hang under water, which pose a danger to the inhabitants of the ocean floor. Science has already unraveled the formation of such icicles. Salt from glaciers rushes to the bottom in narrow streams, freezing the sea water around it. A few hours later, such a stream, covered with a thin ice crust, begins to resemble a stalactite.
Everything a brinicle touches dies in minutes.

"Bloody rain"

The terrible name of a natural phenomenon is fully justified. It was observed in the Indian state of Kerala for a month. The bloody rains horrified all the locals.
But the truth turned out to be almost ridiculous. It's all about the red algae that the hurricane pulled out of the ocean.

"Black Day"

In September 1938, an inexplicable natural phenomenon occurred on Yamal, which has remained unsolved to this day. Suddenly, the day became as dark as the night. Geologists who have witnessed such a phenomenon have described it as a sudden darkness with simultaneous radio silence. Having launched several signal rockets, they saw that very dense clouds were hanging close to the ground, not letting in sunlight. This eclipse lasted no more than an hour.

"Black mist"

A mist with this name shrouds London from time to time. At that time, almost nothing was visible on the streets, people could only move by holding on to the walls of houses.

fire tornadoes

These phenomena occur in places of fires, when scattered foci are combined into a single large bonfire. The air above it heats up, its density decreases, because of this, the fire rises. This pressure of hot air sometimes reaches hurricane speed.

Sandstorm

A sandstorm occurs due to the strongest air current. No less than forty million tons of sand and dust are transported from the Sahara desert to the Nile basin every year.

Tsunami

Such a natural phenomenon as a tsunami is a consequence of an earthquake. Having formed in some place, a large wave moves at a tremendous speed, sometimes reaching thousands of kilometers per hour. Once in shallow water, such a wave grows by ten to fifteen meters. Rushing ashore at great speed, the tsunami takes thousands of human lives and causes a lot of destruction.

Tornado

A funnel-shaped stream of air is called a tornado. Tornadoes are more common in the United States, both over water and over land. An article on tsunamis and other large and destructive waves From the side, a tornado resembles a cone-shaped cloud column. The diameter can be tens of meters. The air moves inside it in a circle. Objects that get inside also begin to move. Sometimes the speed of such movement reaches a hundred kilometers per hour.
Earthquake


Earthquakes have killed 780,000 people in the past decade. Shocks occurring inside the earth lead to vibrations of the earth's crust. They can spread over vast areas. As a result of the most powerful earthquakes, entire cities are wiped off the face of the earth, millions of people die.

Today, the attention of the whole world is drawn to Chile, where a large-scale eruption of the Calbuco volcano began. The time has come to remember 7 biggest natural disasters recent years to know what the future might hold. Nature steps on people, as people used to step on nature.

Calbuco volcano eruption. Chile

Mount Calbuco in Chile is a fairly active volcano. However, its last eruption took place more than forty years ago - in 1972, and even then it lasted only one hour. But on April 22, 2015, everything changed for the worse. Calbuco literally exploded, starting the ejection of volcanic ash to a height of several kilometers.

On the Internet you can find a huge number of videos about this amazingly beautiful sight. However, it is pleasant to enjoy the view only through a computer, being thousands of kilometers from the scene. In reality, being near Calbuco is scary and deadly.

The Chilean government decided to resettle all people within a radius of 20 kilometers from the volcano. And this is only the first step. It is not yet known how long the eruption will last and what real damage it will bring. But it will definitely be a sum of several billion dollars.

Earthquake in Haiti

On January 12, 2010, Haiti suffered a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. There were several tremors, the main of which had a magnitude of 7. As a result, almost the entire country was in ruins. Even the presidential palace, one of the most majestic and capital buildings in Haiti, was destroyed.

According to official figures, more than 222,000 people died during and after the earthquake, and 311,000 were injured to varying degrees. At the same time, millions of Haitians were left homeless.

This is not to say that magnitude 7 is something unprecedented in the history of seismic observations. The scale of destruction turned out to be so huge due to the high deterioration of the infrastructure in Haiti, and also because of the extremely low quality of absolutely all buildings. In addition, the local population itself was in no hurry to provide first aid to the victims, as well as to participate in the removal of rubble and the restoration of the country.

As a result, an international military contingent was sent to Haiti, which took over the government in the first period after the earthquake, when the traditional authorities were paralyzed and extremely corrupt.

Tsunami in the Pacific Ocean

Until December 26, 2004, the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Earth knew about the tsunami exclusively from textbooks and disaster films. However, that day will forever remain in the memory of Mankind because of the huge wave that covered the coast of dozens of states in the Indian Ocean.

It all started with a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1-9.3 that occurred just north of the island of Sumatra. It caused a giant wave up to 15 meters high, which spread in all directions of the ocean and meaning from the face of the Earth hundreds of settlements, as well as world-famous seaside resorts.

The tsunami covered coastal areas in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Maldives, Seychelles, Oman and other states on the Indian Ocean. Statisticians counted more than 300 thousand dead in this disaster. At the same time, the bodies of many could not be found - the wave carried them into the open ocean.

The consequences of this disaster are enormous. In many places infrastructure was never fully restored after the 2004 tsunami.

Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption

The hard-to-pronounce Icelandic name Eyjafjallajokull became one of the most popular words in 2010. And all thanks to the volcanic eruption in the mountain range with this name.

Paradoxically, not a single person died during this eruption. But this natural disaster seriously disrupted business life throughout the world, primarily in Europe. After all, a huge amount of volcanic ash thrown into the sky from the Eyjafjallajökull vent completely paralyzed air traffic in the Old World. The natural disaster destabilized the lives of millions of people in Europe itself, as well as in North America.

Thousands of flights, both passenger and cargo, were cancelled. The daily losses of airlines during that period amounted to more than $200 million.

Earthquake in China's Sichuan province

As in the case of the earthquake in Haiti, a huge number of victims after a similar disaster in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which occurred there on May 12, 2008, is due to the low level of capital buildings.

As a result of the main quake of magnitude 8, as well as smaller concussions that followed it, more than 69 thousand people died in Sichuan, 18 thousand were missing, and 288 thousand were injured.

At the same time, the government of the People's Republic of China severely limited international assistance in the disaster zone, it tried to solve the problem with its own hands. According to experts, the Chinese thus wanted to hide the real extent of what happened.

For publishing real data about the dead and destruction, as well as for articles about corruption, which led to such huge numbers of losses, the PRC authorities even imprisoned the most famous contemporary Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, for several months.

Hurricane Katrina

However, the scale of the consequences of a natural disaster does not always directly depend on the quality of construction in a particular region, as well as on the presence or absence of corruption there. An example of this is Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Southeast coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico in late August 2005.

The main impact of Hurricane Katrina fell on the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The rising water level in several places broke through the dam protecting New Orleans, and about 80 percent of the city was under water. At that moment, entire areas were destroyed, infrastructure facilities, transport interchanges and communications were destroyed.

The population who refused or did not have time to evacuate fled on the roofs of houses. The famous Superdom stadium became the main gathering place for people. But it turned into a trap at the same time, because it was already impossible to get out of it.

During the hurricane, 1,836 people died and more than a million were made homeless. The damage from this natural disaster is estimated at 125 billion dollars. At the same time, New Orleans has not been able to return to a full-fledged normal life in ten years - the city's population is still about a third less than in 2005.

March 11, 2011 in the Pacific Ocean east of the island of Honshu, shocks with a magnitude of 9-9.1 occurred, which led to the appearance of a huge tsunami wave up to 7 meters high. She hit Japan, washing away many coastal objects and going deep into the tens of kilometers.

In different parts of Japan, after the earthquake and tsunami, fires broke out, infrastructure, including industrial ones, was destroyed. In total, almost 16 thousand people died as a result of this disaster, and economic losses amounted to about 309 billion dollars.

But this turned out to be not the worst. The world knows about the 2011 disaster in Japan, primarily because of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which occurred as a result of the collapse of a tsunami wave on it.

More than four years have passed since this accident, but the operation at the nuclear power plant is still ongoing. And the settlements closest to it were permanently settled. So Japan got its own.

A large-scale natural disaster is one of the options for the death of our Civilization. We have collected .