Many of us were caught off guard by the weather, whether it was a sudden downpour on the way home or to work, or the scorching sun with no beach or shelter. But all this can be experienced. There are places on our planet where Mother Nature truly kills. Deadly storms, volcanic eruptions - it is better not to meddle in such places. But among all the dangerous places on our planet, which will be the most deadly?
Let's divide our planet into four elements and find their most dangerous incarnations on Earth.
Water
Water is an obvious danger for us, because we are very poorly adapted to the aquatic environment (and I still cannot swim at all). Despite our boat handling skills, 1,051 people were killed at sea in 2012, according to the International Maritime Organization, although only a small proportion were affected by direct waves.
Some waters are more dangerous than others due to unique geographic features that increase their strength. The Salstraumen Strait in Norway has earned an intimidating reputation as the strongest currents on Earth. However, this home to the world's most powerful whirlpool is now so well researched that tourists pass it in an inflatable boat with a knowledgeable skipper.
Probably, water is more to be reckoned with on land. For those living on the coast, seawater flooding is especially dangerous. The Maldives, a group of low-lying islands and atolls in the Indian Ocean, are also referred to as “ephemeral islands” due to their vulnerability to rising sea levels. The risk increases every year as our climate continues to change.
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The peak of danger occurs at times when the water level suddenly rises, during a tsunami or storm surge.
A tsunami is a sudden movement of water causing a colossal wave or series of waves that can be devastating. Most tsunamis - 71% according to the US National Weather Service - occur in the Pacific Ocean. However, earthquake-triggered tsunamis can occur in any subduction zone, says Thorkild Aarup, head of the tsunami team at the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
Tsunami mitigation and warning systems exist around the world to protect people from these life-threatening events. But in some places, the warning time is reduced to 20 minutes, so tsunamis can take many lives. In 2004, the deadliest tsunami in recent history occurred, claiming 280,000 lives in 15 countries, following the earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. This sacrifice to the sea is difficult to comprehend. However, river floods claimed even more lives.
The summer flood of the Yangtze River in China in 1931 was estimated to have claimed the lives of millions, although the toll is heavily underreported in official records. Heavy snowfall that year was followed by heavy thawing and abnormally heavy rainfall, resulting in perhaps the worst natural disaster in the history of civilization.
Today, literally, billions of people live on the banks of China's largest rivers, and the flooding associated with possible climate change does not allow them to sleep peacefully at night.
Air
There are several killer lakes in Africa, but water has nothing to do with it.
Lake Nyos in Cameroon and Lake Kivu on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda pose an invisible threat. These lakes are located in areas of volcanic activity, where carbon dioxide seeps from the bowels of the earth.
During "lacustrine eruptions" carbon dioxide breaks out from the bottom of the lake, forming a cloud. Because this gas is heavier than air, it sinks, pushing oxygen and suffocating any life in the area. After two eruptions in the 1980s that killed 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in Cameroon, methods have been developed to safely drain lakes using pipes and siphons.
A possible catastrophe was also turned in favor on Lake Kivu, where methane gas leaks from the ground. A project was created to pump gas to generate energy and provide electricity to millions of people.
However, not only gases can kill. The air itself also becomes lethal when the winds become unstoppable.
Cape Denison in Antarctica is considered the windiest place on Earth. No wonder no one lives there. However, seasonal storms are causing devastation in populated areas around the world.
The strongest storms form over the warm oceans north and south of the equator. There, predominant (or trade) winds are amplified by pressure changes and rotate under the Coriolis effect, creating rotating weather systems known as hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons.
When it comes to such storms, Haiti is considered the most vulnerable island in the Caribbean. It not only lies in the path of hurricanes, but the impoverished country itself lacks protection from them. Settlements are being built on floodplains, natural protective forests have been destroyed, and the economy is not stable enough to provide Haiti with flood protection or warning systems.
This explains why the strongest curtains won't always be the deadliest.
John Birkman is a disaster risk expert at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He says cyclones are dangerous because they are difficult to predict.
“It is important to note that cyclone paths change frequently. This means that they appear in regions where they have not seen cyclones at all or seen very little. These regions are at a particular risk because people and local communities do not know what to do and how to prepare for cyclones."
Birkman is part of the team that compiles the annual Global Risk Report prepared by the United Nations University. It highlights the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters, takes into account their resilience and situation, and takes global initiatives to protect them.
In 2016, Vanuatu topped the list. More than a third of the island's population of this country suffers from natural disasters every year. In 2015, an earthquake, a volcanic eruption and a severe cyclone Pam hit the island at intervals of several weeks. 11 people died, according to official reports.
This relatively low death toll indicates that global efforts to protect people from natural disasters are working. By comparison, the worst cyclone-related life loss occurred in November 1970, when cyclone Bol struck Bangladesh. 500,000 people died.
Earth
Of all the possible natural disasters, tectonic activity is the most serious cause. The earth's crust is made up of moving plates, and when they move against each other, potential energy builds up. When it is released, the earth cracks and a seismic wave is emitted, striking the Earth's surface with violent shocks.
The deadliest earthquake happened in 1556 in Shaanxi, China, and claimed 800,000 lives. Since earthquakes also give rise to tsunamis, it is fair to say that they are a serious competitor to floods in terms of fatality in a natural disaster world.
The San Andreas Fault, where the Pacific Plate slides along the North American Plate, runs through California and represents one of the most famous plate boundaries. It is not surprising that Hollywood (aka Californian) directors even made a film of the same name. A serious earthquake could have had dire consequences.
But, again, the less affluent parts of our planet are most vulnerable to earthquakes. Earthquake-prone cities like Los Angeles and Tokyo are using the latest architectural advances to make their homes earthquake-proof and protect their residents. But not all countries along the Pacific Ring of Fire - where 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur - are capable of this.
In 2015, it was determined that eight of the ten most vulnerable cities in the world to a natural disaster are in the Philippines, which lie not only on the ring of fire, but also inside the typhoon belt.
the fire
The other end of the double-edged sword - tectonic activity - is volcanic activity. Where plates move away from one another, hot magma erupts from under the surface of the Earth, filling this void.
The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is often described as "the most violent place on earth." This is the meeting point of the three plates. It is possibly also the most volcanically active place in the world.
The average annual temperature here is 34.4 degrees Celsius, making it one of the hottest places on Earth. With little rainfall and a landscape of volcanic rifts, hydrothermal fields and salt flats, at first glance, hardly anyone could survive in this depression. But the Afar people call this place home.
In general, humans have a bad habit of settling near dangerous geographic features, including exploding mountains that spew rivers of fire. The most famous example is Pompeii, an ancient Italian city that was buried under the lava of the Vesuvius volcano. However, several modern cities also have views of active volcanoes. Naples is less than 10 kilometers from Vesuvius, and Mexico City is 70 kilometers from Popocatepetl.
More than 200,000 people have died directly from volcanic eruptions over the past 400 years, according to a study published in 2015. The international expert group also listed the places most at risk of volcanic activity. Indonesia was at the very top.
Mount Tambora on Sumbawa Island directly killed 70,000 people in 1815, leading to a “year without summer” in the northern hemisphere. The eruption temporarily changed the climate, which means the volcano ultimately killed more people.
Not so long ago, Mount Merapi killed more than 350 people in 2010. Tens of thousands more were temporarily evacuated.
ILYA KHEL