Natural Disasters & Environment: Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Floods

How a Camping Trip Created our National Parks

A camping trip in 1903 might be the most influential in history. John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt spent three nights in Yosemite. Muir would convince Roosevelt to protect Yosemite, paving the way for a National Park Service.

Watch now

Krakatoa

Krakatoa is a small volcanic island in Indonesia. In 1883, the eruption of the main island of Krakatoa killed more than 36,000 people, making it one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in human history.

Smoking Horseshoe-Shaped Crater Top Of Mount Saint Helens After A Major Eruption May 18 1980

Mount St. Helens

Ring of Fire Mount St. Helens and the Cascade Range are a small part of the Ring of Fire, a zone of intense volcanic and seismic activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the west coast of South America, northward through Central and North America to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Ring of […]

Alaska Earthquake March 27, 1964, Tsunami Damage Along The Waterfront At Kodiak

1964 Alaska Earthquake

The Earthquake Strikes At 5:36 p.m. on March 27, 1964—Good Friday—the earth trembled just as many Alaskans were sitting down to dinner. Eyewitnesses described hearing a crunching, grinding noise as the earth shook. They recalled seeing asphalt roads rise and fall like waves and the ground opening and closing before them, water shooting up through […]

Local youths and volunteers gather in an open field and wait to support firefighters during a wildfire next in the Greek village of Kamatriades.

Climate Change History

Climate change is the long-term alteration in Earth’s climate and weather patterns. It took nearly a century of research and data to convince the vast majority of the scientific community that human activity could alter the climate of our entire planet.

Winter Solstice

Ancient Solstice Celebrations Roman Holidays: Ancient Romans held several celebrations around the time of the winter solstice. Saturnalia, a holiday in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture, was a weeklong celebration in the days leading up to the winter solstice. Saturnalia was a hedonistic time, when food and drink were plentiful and the normal […]

Fall Equinox

Fall Equinox Definition Equinox comes from the Latin words “aequi,” which means equal, and “nox,” or night. On the equinox, day and night are of nearly equal length across the planet. As the Earth orbits the sun, it is tilted at a fixed angle. For half the year, the North Pole is tilted slightly toward […]

Summer Solstice

Longest Day of the Year The Northern Hemisphere receives more daylight than any other day of the year on the summer solstice. This day marks the start of astronomical summer and the tipping point at which days start to become shorter and nights longer. The word “solstice” comes from the Latin words “sol” (sun) and […]

Eclipses

Types Of Eclipses A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and partially or fully blocks the view of the Sun. When the Moon passes directly behind the Earth, into its shadow, a lunar eclipse occurs. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon totally covers the Sun’s disk. […]

2:45 minTV-PG

1989 San Francisco Earthquake

Find out how our national pastime may have saved lives during the San Francisco Bay Area’s deadly earthquake of 1989.

Watch now

1:59 minTV-PG

Chicago Fire of 1871

Find out what a cow has to do with the Chicago fire of 1871 in this animated tale of disaster and destruction in the windy city.

Watch now

Vernal Equinox

When Is the Vernal Equinox? The vernal equinox occurs on March 20 or March 21 each year and signals the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere (and fall in the Southern Hemisphere). The Earth tilts at an angle of 23.5 degrees on its axis relative to its plane of orbit around the sun. As […]