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Image that says Rogue's Gallery of Natural Disasters.
Button that takes you to the Drought Gallery page.
Button that takes you to the Fire Gallery page.
Button that takes you to the Flood Gallery page.
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 Image divided three ways showing: Drought, Flood, and Fire.Rogue's Gallery of Natural Disasters
"Droughts! Floods! Fires!" Headlines shout the news of one natural disaster after another as thousands of lives are lost, buildings and homes are destroyed, and Earth's surface is drastically altered. Experts claim that the number of natural disasters each year is on the rise. According to Reliefweb, a United Nations project, over 70 natural disasters occurred worldwide during 1997. How does that number compare to past years? How does that number compare to data for the current year? Photos: Courtesy of www.arttoday.com (Drought & Flood) and Dr. David L. Adams, Professor of Forest Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho (Fire).

At left is a gallery of natural disasters that appear to be on the increase and are thought to be caused by a general rise in atmospheric temperature. As you look at the exhibits in the gallery, consider whether current data support the notion of

  • a real increase in disaster-causing events created by a pollution-driven rise in global temperature
  • a real increase in disaster-causing events created by a rise in temperature related to a long-term, but undetermined natural climatic cycle
  • an apparent increase of events because as the world's human population grows, more and more people choose or are forced to live in disaster-prone areas.

What constitutes a natural disaster? If a hurricane hits a city, we consider it a natural disaster, but is it a disaster if a hurricane hits an uninhabited island?

[Rogue's Gallery of Natural Disasters] [Drought Gallery] [Fire Gallery]
[Flood Gallery] [Hurricane Gallery] [Ice Gallery] [El Niño Gallery]
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