World disasters

Describes some of the world's great flood disasters, why floods occur, and how people have learned to live with floods.

An account of the series of smallpox epidemics that decimated the native American population in the 1800s.

Examines the causes and effects of droughts and ways to prevent future disasters involving drought, particularly in the developing countries of the world.

Examines the chemical leak at Bhopal in its historical, cultural, and human contexts.

Discusses the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s within its historical, geographical, and political contexts and examines the possibility of future famines there.

Examines the historical, economic, scientific, and human factors involved in the great famine in Ireland in the nineteenth century.

Describes the destruction of the city of Pompeii during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, and how its rediscovery nearly 1700 years later provided information about life in the Roman Empire.

Describes the Armenian earthquake of 1988 and its historical, political, and cultural aspects.

Examines the Chernobyl nuclear accident in its historical, cultural, political, and human contexts.

Describes the natural phenomena that cause earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis. Discusses why people die in such catastrophes and what they can do to protect themselves and their property.