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Natural Disasters & Environment - Stories

Natural disasters and changes in the environment, such as global warming, the San Francisco Earthquake, Hurricane Katrina, the Galveston Hurricane, the Krakatoa eruption and others, have profoundly shaped human history. Explore both the sudden and long-term impacts of natural and human-made disasters.

2018 California Camp Fire

The 5 Deadliest Wildfires in America

These wildfires wrought extreme devastation as they roared through neighborhoods and lands in the U.S.

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How Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' Galvanized the Environmental Movement

How Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ Awakened the World to Environmental Peril

Carson’s 1962 bestseller first warned the public about the devastating effects of chemical pesticides—and started a revolution.

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5 Moments That Forced Americans to Confront Climate ChangeDraft SharePreviewPublish

4 Key Moments That Forced Americans to Confront Climate Change

Over the course of a few decades, a number of jarring events in the U.S. have highlighted major consequences of climate change.

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7 of the Most Dramatic US Plane Crashes

7 of the Most Devastating US Plane Crashes

Although not the deadliest, these flight disasters are among the most unforgettable in American history.

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Night view on January 16, 2012, of the cruise liner Costa Concordia aground in front of the harbor of Isola del Giglio after hitting underwater rocks on January 13.

The Costa Concordia Disaster: How Human Error Made It Worse

A captain and his crew needlessly endangered the lives of those on board.

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August 3, 2007. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Investigators move cautiously amid the rubble of the 35W bridge that lies in pieces in the Mississippi River.

7 of History’s Most Devastating Bridge Collapses

The disasters had a wide range of causes, from marching soldiers to a circus clown in a barrel.

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5 of the Most Significant Impact Craters in North America

5 of the Most Significant Impact Craters in North America

Meteors, comets and asteroids have slammed into the Earth with a force many times greater than the most powerful nuclear bombs. Sometimes, mass extinction followed.

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5 of History's Deadliest Bear Attacks

5 of History’s Deadliest Bear Attacks

Hungry bears—whether grizzly, black, brown or polar—can be shockingly brutal.

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Fukushima Timeline: How an Earthquake Triggered Japan’s Nuclear Disaster

Fukushima Timeline: How an Earthquake Triggered Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Disaster

An earthquake, a tsunami…and then a devastating power plant failure.

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The Deadliest Events in US History

The Deadliest Events in US History

From pandemics to wars to natural disasters, these events took the highest tolls on American lives.

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7 Fires That Changed History

7 Fires That Changed History

Massive fires have wrought devastation—but they’ve also led to significant reform and rebuilding.

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How Levee Failures Made Hurricane Katrina a Bigger Disaster

How Levee Failures Made Hurricane Katrina a Bigger Disaster

Breaches in the system of levees and floodwalls left 80 percent of the city underwater.

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