No matter how far scientific and technological progress goes, disasters have happened, are happening and will probably continue to happen for a long time. Some of them could have been avoided, but most of the worst events in the world were inevitable because they happened at the behest of Mother Nature.

The worst plane crash

Collision of two Boeing 747s

Humanity does not know of a more terrible plane crash than the one that occurred on March 27, 1977 on the island of Tenerife, which belongs to the Canary group. On this day, at Los Rodeo airport, a collision occurred between two Boeing 747s, one of which belonged to KLM, the other to Pan American. This terrible tragedy claimed 583 lives. The reasons that led to this disaster are a fatal and paradoxical combination of circumstances.

Los Rodeos airport was seriously overloaded on this ill-fated Sunday. The dispatcher spoke with a strong Spanish accent, and the radio communications suffered from serious interference. Because of this, the Boeing commander, KLM, misinterpreted the command to abort the flight, which became the fatal cause of the collision of two maneuvering aircraft.

Only a few passengers managed to escape through the holes created in the Pan American plane. The wings and tail of another Boeing fell off, which led to a fall one hundred and fifty meters from the accident site, after which it was dragged for another three hundred meters. Both flying cars caught fire.

There were 248 passengers on board the Boeing KLM, none of whom survived. The Pan American plane became the site of the death of 335 people, including the entire crew, as well as the famous model and actress Eve Meyer.

The worst man-made disaster

On July 6, 1988, the worst of all disasters occurred in the North Sea, famous history oil production. It happened on the Piper Alpha oil platform, which was built in 1976. The number of victims was 167 people, the company suffered a loss of about three and a half billion dollars.

The most offensive thing is that the number of victims could have been much lower if not for ordinary human stupidity. There was a large gas leak, followed by an explosion. But instead of stopping the oil supply immediately after the accident began, the maintenance personnel waited for management's command.

The countdown went on for minutes, and soon the entire platform of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation was engulfed in fire, even the living quarters caught fire. Those who could have survived the blast were burned alive. Only those who managed to jump into the water survived.

Worst water accident ever

When the topic of tragedies on the water is raised, one involuntarily recalls the film “Titanic”. Moreover, such a catastrophe really happened. But this shipwreck is not the worst thing in human history.

Wilhelm Gustloff

The sinking of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff is rightfully considered the biggest disaster that occurred on the water. The tragedy occurred on January 30, 1945. The culprit was a submarine Soviet Union, which hit a ship that could accommodate almost 9,000 passengers.

This, at that time, a perfect product of shipbuilding, was made in 1938. It seemed unsinkable and housed 9 decks, restaurants, a winter garden, climate control, gyms, theaters, dance floors, swimming pools, a church and even Hitler’s rooms.

Its length was more than two hundred meters, it could sail half the planet without refueling. The ingenious creation could not sink without outside intervention. And it happened in the person of the crew of the submarine S-13, commanded by A. I. Marinesko. IN legendary ship three torpedoes were fired. In a matter of minutes he found himself in the abyss of the Baltic Sea. All crew members were killed, including about 8,000 representatives of the German military elite who were evacuated from Danzig.

Wreck of the Wilhelm Gustloff (video)

The greatest environmental tragedy

Shrunken Aral Sea

Among all environmental disasters, the leading place is occupied by the drying out of the Aral Sea. In their better times it was the fourth largest among all the lakes in the world.

The disaster occurred due to the unreasonable use of water used to water gardens and fields. The drying out was due to the ill-considered political ambitions and actions of the leaders of those times.

Gradually, the coastline moved far into the sea, which led to the extinction of most species of flora and fauna. In addition, droughts began to become more frequent, the climate changed significantly, shipping became impossible, and more than sixty people were left without work.

Where did the Aral Sea disappear: strange symbols on the dry bottom (VIDEO)

Nuclear disaster

What could be worse than a nuclear disaster? The lifeless kilometers of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl region are the embodiment of these fears. The accident occurred in 1986, when one of the power units of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded early on an April morning.

Chernobyl 1986

This tragedy claimed the lives of several hundred tow truck workers, and thousands died over the next ten years. And only God knows how many people were forced to leave their homes...

The children of these people are still born with developmental anomalies. The atmosphere, land and water around the nuclear power plant are contaminated with radioactive substances.

Radiation levels in this region are still thousands of times higher than normal. No one knows how long it will take for people to settle in these places. The scale of this disaster is still not fully known.

Chernobyl accident 1986: Chernobyl, Pripyat - liquidation (VIDEO)

Disaster over the Black Sea: Tu-154 of the Russian Ministry of Defense crashed

Crash of Tu-154 of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Not long ago there was a crash of a Tu-154 aircraft of the Russian Ministry of Defense en route to Syria. It claimed the lives of 64 talented artists of the Alexandrov ensemble, nine famous leading TV channels, the head of a charitable organization - the famous Doctor Lisa, eight military personnel, two civil servants, and all crew members. A total of 92 people died in this terrible plane crash.

On this tragic morning in December 2016, the plane refueled in Adler, but unexpectedly crashed just after takeoff. The investigation took a long time, because it was necessary to know what the cause of the Tu-154 crash was.

The commission that investigated the causes of the accident, among the circumstances leading to the disaster, named the overload of the aircraft, crew fatigue and low professional level preparation and organization of the flight.

Results of the investigation into the Tu-154 crash of the Russian Ministry of Defense (VIDEO)

Submarine "Kursk"

Submarine "Kursk"

The sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, in which 118 people on board were killed, occurred in 2000 in the Barents Sea. This is the second largest accident in the history of the Russian submarine fleet after the disaster on the B-37.

On August 12, as planned, preparations for training attacks began. The last written confirmed actions on the boat were recorded at 11.15.

A few hours before the tragedy, the crew commander was informed about the cotton, which he did not pay attention to. Then the boat shook violently, which was attributed to the activation of the radar station antenna. After that, the boat captain no longer contacted us. At 23.00 the situation on the submarine was declared as an emergency, which was reported to the leadership of the fleet and the country. The next morning, as a result of search operations, the Kursk was found at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 108 m.

The official version of the cause of the tragedy is the explosion of a training torpedo, which occurred as a result of a fuel leak.

Submarine Kursk: what really happened? (VIDEO)

Wreck of the ship "Admiral Nakhimov"

The wreck of the passenger ship "Admiral Nakhimov" occurred in August 1981 near Novorossiysk. There were 1,234 people on board the ship, 423 of whom lost their lives on that fateful day. It is known that Vladimir Vinokur and Lev Leshchenko were late for this flight.

At 23:12, the ship collided with the dry cargo ship "Petr Vasev", as a result of which the electric generator was flooded and the light went out on the "Nakhimov". The ship became uncontrollable and continued to move forward by inertia. As a result of the collision, a hole of up to eighty square meters was formed in the starboard side. Panic began among the passengers; many climbed onto the left side and thus descended into the water.

Almost a thousand people ended up in the water, and they were also dirty with fuel oil and paint. Eight minutes after the collision, the ship sank.

Steamship Admiral Nakhimov: shipwreck - Russian Titanic (VIDEO)

Oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico

The worst environmental disasters in the world in 2010 were joined by another one that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, eighty kilometers from Louisiana. This is one of the most dangerous man-made accidents for the environment. It happened on April 20 on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.

As a result of pipe rupture, about five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.

A spot measuring 75,000 square meters formed in the bay. km, which amounted to five percent of its total area. The disaster took the lives of 11 people and injured 17.

Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (VIDEO)

Concordia crash

On January 14, 2012, the list of the worst incidents in the world was supplemented with one more. Near Italian Tuscany, the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran into a rock outcropping, leaving a hole seventy meters in size. At this time, most of the passengers were in the restaurant.

The right side of the liner began to submerge in the water, then it was thrown onto a sandbank 1 km from the crash site. There were more than 4,000 people on the ship who were evacuated throughout the night, but not everyone was saved: 32 people were still killed and a hundred were injured.

Costa Concordia – the crash through the eyes of eyewitnesses (VIDEO)

Eruption of Krakatoa in 1883

Natural disasters show how insignificant and helpless we are in the face of natural phenomena. But all the most terrible disasters in the world - nothing compared to the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano, which occurred in 1883.

On May 20, a large smoke column could be seen above the Krakatoa volcano. At that moment, even at a distance of 160 kilometers from him, the windows of houses began to tremble. All the nearby islands were covered with a thick layer of dust and pumice.

Eruptions continued until August 27. The last explosion became the culmination, as a result of which sound waves passed that circled the entire planet several times. At that moment, the compasses on the ships sailing in the Sunda Strait stopped showing correctly.

These explosions led to the submersion of the entire northern part of the island. The seabed rose as a result of the eruptions. Much ash from the volcano remained in the atmosphere for another two to three years.

The tsunami, which was thirty meters high, washed away about three hundred settlements and killed 36,000 people.

The most powerful eruption of Krakatoa Volcano (VIDEO)

Earthquake in Spitak in 1988

On December 7, 1988, the list of “Best Disasters in the World” was replenished with another one that occurred in the Armenian Spitak. On this tragic day, tremors literally “wiped” this city from the face of the earth in just half a minute, destroying Leninakan, Stepanavan and Kirovakan beyond recognition. In total, twenty-one cities and three hundred and fifty villages were affected.

In Spitak itself, the earthquake had a force of ten, Leninakan was struck by a force of nine, and Kirovakan was struck by a force of eight, and almost the rest of Armenia was hit by a force of six. Seismologists have calculated that during this earthquake the energy released corresponded to the force of ten exploded atomic bombs. The wave that this tragedy caused was recorded scientific laboratories almost the whole world.

This natural disaster deprived 25,000 people of their lives, 140,000 of their health, and 514,000 of their homes. Forty percent of the republic's industry was out of order, schools, hospitals, theaters, museums, cultural centers, roads and railways were destroyed.

The military, doctors, public figures throughout the country and abroad, both near and far. Humanitarian aid was actively collected around the world. Tents, field kitchens and first aid stations were set up throughout the area affected by the tragedy.

The saddest and most instructive thing about this situation is that the scale and casualties of this terrible disaster could have been many times smaller if the seismic activity of the region had been taken into account and all buildings had been built taking these features into account. The lack of preparedness of the rescue services also contributed.

Tragic days: earthquake in Spitak (VIDEO)

2004 Tsunami Indian Ocean - Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka

In December 2004, a devastating tsunami of terrible force caused by an underwater earthquake hit the coasts of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and other countries. Huge waves devastated the area and killed 200,000 people. The most annoying thing is that most of the dead are children, since in this region there is a high proportion of children to the population, moreover, children are physically weaker and less able to resist water than an adult.

Aceh province in Indonesia suffered the greatest losses. Almost all buildings there were destroyed, 168,000 people died.

Geographically, this earthquake was simply huge. Up to 1200 kilometers of rock have moved. The shift occurred in two phases with an interval of two to three minutes.

The number of victims turned out to be so high because there was no common system alerts.

There is nothing worse than disasters and tragedies that deprive people of life, shelter, health, destroy industry and everything that a person worked on long years. But it often turns out that the number of casualties and destruction in such situations could have been much less if everyone had been conscientious about their professional responsibilities; in some cases, it was necessary to provide in advance an evacuation plan and a warning system for local residents. Let's hope that in the future humanity will find a way to avoid such terrible tragedies or reduce the damage from them.

Tsunami in Indonesia 2004 (VIDEO)

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For centuries, natural disasters have haunted humanity. Some happened so long ago that scientists cannot estimate the scale of the destruction. For example, the Mediterranean island of Stroggli is believed to have been wiped off the map by a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. The tsunami caused destroyed the entire Minoan civilization, but no one knows even the approximate number of deaths. However, the 10 worst known disasters, mostly earthquakes and floods, killed an estimated 10 million people.

10. Aleppo earthquake - 1138, Syria (Victims: 230,000)

One of the most powerful earthquakes known to mankind, and the fourth largest in the number of victims (estimated at over 230 thousand dead). The city of Aleppo, a large and populous urban center since antiquity, is geologically located along the northern part of a system of major geological faults, which also includes the Dead Sea Trench, and which separate the Arabian and African tectonic plates, which are in constant interaction. The Damascus chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi recorded the date of the earthquake - Wednesday, October 11, 1138, and also indicated the number of victims - over 230 thousand people. Such a number of casualties and destruction shocked contemporaries, especially the Western crusader knights, since at that time in northwestern Europe, where most of them were from, there was a rare city with a population of 10 thousand inhabitants. After the earthquake, the population of Aleppo recovered only to early XIX century, when the city again recorded a population of 200 thousand inhabitants.

9. Indian Ocean Earthquake - 2004, Indian Ocean (Victims: 230,000+)

The third, and according to some estimates the second most powerful, is the underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean that took place on December 26, 2004. It caused a tsunami, which caused most of the damage. Scientists estimate the earthquake's magnitude to be between 9.1 and 9.3. The epicenter was underwater, north of the island of Simeulue, northwest of Indonesian Sumatra. Huge waves reached the shores of Thailand, southern India and Indonesia. Then the wave height reached 15 meters. Many areas suffered enormous destruction and casualties, including Port Elizabeth, South Africa, which is 6,900 km from the epicenter. The exact number of victims is unknown, but it is estimated from 225 to 300 thousand people. The true figure can no longer be calculated, since many bodies were simply carried away into the sea. It is curious, but several hours before the arrival of the tsunami, many animals reacted sensitively to the impending disaster - they left the coastal zones, moving to higher ground.

8. Banqiao Dam Failure - 1975, China (Victims: 231,000)

There are different estimates of the number of victims of the disaster. The official figure, about 26,000 people, only takes into account those directly drowned in the flood itself; Taking into account those who died from epidemics and famine that spread as a result of the disaster, the total number of victims is, according to various estimates, 171,000 or even 230,000. The dam was designed in such a way as to survive the largest floods that occur once every thousand years (306 mm of precipitation per day). However, in August 1975, the largest flooding in 2,000 years occurred as a consequence of the powerful Typhoon Nina and several days of record storms. The flood caused a huge wave of water 10 kilometers wide, 3-7 meters high. The tide moved 50 kilometers from the coast in an hour and reached the plains, creating artificial lakes there with a total area of ​​12,000 sq. km. Seven provinces were flooded, including thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communications lines.

7. Tangshan earthquake - 1976, China (Victims: 242,000)

The second most powerful earthquake also occurred in China. On July 28, 1976, the Tangshan earthquake occurred in Hebei province. Its magnitude was 8.2, which allows us to consider the event the largest natural disaster of the century. The official death toll was 242,419. However, most likely the figure was underestimated by the PRC authorities by 3-4 times. This suspicion is based on the fact that according to Chinese documents, the strength of the earthquake is indicated as only 7.8 points. Tangshan was almost immediately destroyed by powerful tremors, the epicenter of which was located at a depth of 22 km below the city. Even Tianjin and Beijing, which are located 140 kilometers from the epicenter, were destroyed. The consequences of the disaster were terrible - 5.3 million houses were destroyed and damaged to such an extent that they were uninhabitable. The number of victims increased due to the subsequent series of tremors to 7.1. Today in the center of Tangshan there is a stele that reminds of the terrible disaster, and there is an information center dedicated to those events. It is a unique museum on this topic, the only one in China.

6. Kaifeng Flood - 1642, China (Victims: 300,000)

Long-suffering China again. Formally, this disaster can be considered natural, but it was caused by human hands. In 1642 in China there was peasant revolt, whose leader was Li Zicheng. The rebels approached the city of Kaifeng. In order to prevent the rebels from capturing the city, the command of the Ming Dynasty troops gave the order to flood the city and surrounding area with the waters of the Yellow River. When the water receded and the famine caused by the artificial flood ended, it turned out that of the 600,000 people in the city and surrounding area, only half survived. At that time it was one of the bloodiest punitive actions in history.

5. Indian Cyclone - 1839, India (Victims: 300,000+)

Although the photograph of the cyclone does not date back to 1839, it can be used to appreciate the full power of this natural phenomenon. The Indian cyclone of 1839 was not destructive in itself, but it produced powerful tidal waves that killed 300,000 people. Tidal waves completely destroyed the city of Coringa and sank 20,000 ships that were in the city's bay.

4. Great Chinese Earthquake - 1556 (Victims: 830,000)

In 1556, the most destructive earthquake in human history took place, called the Great Chinese Earthquake. It happened on January 23, 1556 in Shaanxi province. Historians believe the disaster killed about 830,000 people, more than any other similar event. Some areas of Shaanxi were completely depopulated, and in the rest more than half the people died. Such a huge number of victims was explained by the fact that most of the inhabitants lived in loess caves, which immediately collapsed during the first shocks or were subsequently flooded by mudflows. According to modern estimates, this earthquake was assigned a category of 11 points. One of the eyewitnesses warned his descendants that when a disaster begins, they should not rush headlong into the street: “When a bird’s nest falls from a tree, the eggs often remain unharmed.” Such words are evidence that many people died while trying to leave their homes. The destructiveness of the earthquake is evidenced by the ancient steles of Xi'an, collected in the local Beilin Museum. Many of them were crumbling or cracked. During the cataclysm, the Wild Goose Pagoda located here survived, but its foundation sank by 1.6 meters.

3. Bhola Cyclone - 1970 (Casualties: 500,000 - 1,000,000)

A destructive tropical cyclone that struck the territories of East Pakistan and Indian West Bengal on November 12, 1970. The deadliest tropical cyclone and one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history. About half a million people lost their lives when the storm surge flooded many of the low-lying islands of the Ganges delta. It was the sixth storm cyclone of the 1970 North Indian Ocean hurricane season and the strongest of the year.
A cyclone formed over central part Bay of Bengal on November 8, after which it began to move north, gaining strength. It reached its peak power on the evening of November 12, and made contact with the East Pakistan coastline that same night. The storm surge devastated numerous offshore islands, sweeping away entire villages and destroying the region's farmland in its wake. In the worst-affected area of ​​the country, Tazumuddin upazila, more than 45% of the 167,000 population died.
Political consequences
The unwieldy pace of rescue efforts only increased anger and resentment in East Pakistan and contributed to the local resistance movement. Subsidies were slow to arrive, and transport was slow to deliver desperately needed supplies to storm-ravaged areas. In March 1971, tensions steadily increased; foreign specialists began to leave the province, fearing outbreaks of violence. Subsequently, the situation continued to deteriorate and escalated into the War of Independence, which began on March 26. Later, in December of the same year, this conflict expanded into the Third Indo-Pakistani War, which culminated in the creation of the state of Bangladesh. The events that took place can be considered one of the first cases when a natural phenomenon provoked a civil war, subsequent external intervention by a third power and the disintegration of one country into two independent states.

2. Yellow River Valley Flood - 1887, China (Victims: 900,000 - 2,000,000)

One of the worst floods in modern human history, which, according to various sources, claimed from 1.5 to 7 million human lives, happened in the late spring of 1887 in the northern provinces of China, in the Yellow River Valley. Heavy rains throughout almost all of Hunan that spring caused the river to flood. The first flood occurred at a sharp bend, in the vicinity of the city of Zhangzhou.
Day after day, bubbling waters invaded the cities, destroying and devastating them. In total, 600 cities along the river's banks were affected by the flood, including the walled city of Hunan. The rapid flow continued to wash away fields, animals, cities and people, flooding an area 70 km wide with water that reached a depth of 15 meters.
The water, often against the wind and tide, slowly flooded terrace after terrace, on each of which 12 to 100 families accumulated. Of the 10 houses, only one or two survived. Half of the buildings were hidden under water. People lay on the roofs of houses, and old people who did not die of hunger died of cold.
The tops of the poplars that once stood along the roads stuck out of the water like algae. Here and there, strong men held onto old trees with thick branches and called for help. In one place, a box containing a dead child, whom his parents had placed there for safety, was nailed to a tree. The box contained food and a note with a name. In another place a family was discovered, all the members of which had died, the child was placed on the highest place ... well covered with clothes."
The destruction and devastation left after the waters subsided was simply terrible. Statistics have never been able to cope with the task of counting. By 1889, when the Yellow River finally returned to its course, disease was added to the misfortunes of the flood. It is estimated that half a million people died from cholera.

1. Great Flood - 1931, China (Victims: 1,000,000 - 4,000,000)

The summer monsoon period of 1931 was unusually stormy. Heavy rains and tropical cyclones raged across river basins. The dams withstood intense rain and storms for weeks, but they eventually gave way and collapsed in hundreds of places. Approximately 333,000 hectares of land were flooded, at least 40,000,000 people lost their homes, and crop losses were enormous. Over large areas, the water did not recede for three to six months. Diseases, food shortages, and lack of shelter led to the death of a total of 3.7 million people.
One of the epicenters of the tragedy was the city of Gaoyou in the northern province of Jiangsu. A powerful typhoon hit China's fifth largest lake, Gaoyu, on August 26, 1931. Its water level has already risen to record heights as a result of heavy rains in previous weeks. A squally wind raised high waves that crashed against the dams. After midnight the battle was lost. The dams were broken in six places, and the largest gap reached almost 700 m. A stormy stream swept through the city and the province. In one morning alone, about 10,000 people died in Gaoyu.

Majority explanatory dictionaries interprets the basic meaning of the word “catastrophe” as an event with tragic consequences. It is precisely such events that still horrify our contemporaries with their scale and quantity. dead people and animals, the history of our planet has quite a few. The most terrible disasters sometimes influenced the further development of the affected countries or even the entire civilization.

With the development of technology, people began to explore ocean spaces that were unsuitable for their existence, and then turned their dreams and aspirations to the sky. With the advent of huge ocean cruisers and multi-seat passenger airliners, the number of deaths and injuries in disasters has increased significantly. In the last century, there have been more man-made disasters, which can also be called one of the largest.

Worst civil aviation accident

The worst plane crashes include the Tenerife plane crash, which resulted in the death of 583 people. It all happened on March 27, 1977 directly on the runway of Los Rodeos airport, located near the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands). All passengers on the KLM Boeing were killed, including 14 crew members, with the exception of one passenger, Robina Van Lanskot, who decided to interrupt the flight to meet a friend and disembarked in Tenerife. But there were survivors on board the Pan American Boeing after the crash. 61 people managed to escape - 54 passengers and 7 crew members.

Due to the terrorist attack that occurred the day before at the largest airport in the Canary Islands, Las Palmas, it was closed, and Los Rodeos airport was heavily overloaded due to these events. It was a day off; many planes, rejected by Las Palmas, filled all the parking lots. Some of them were standing on taxiways. The reasons that led to the terrible disaster are known:

• fog, due to which visibility was initially limited to 300 meters, and a little later became even less;
• lack of lights on the boundaries of the runway and taxiway;
• the dispatcher’s strong Spanish accent, which the pilots did not understand well, asked again and clarified his orders;
• lack of coordinated actions on the part of the pilots during negotiations with the dispatcher; they entered into a conversation and interrupted each other.

KLM subsequently accepted responsibility for the tragedy and paid significant compensation to the victims' families and victims.

On May 5, 1937, a German cruise liner was launched, named after Wilhelm Gustloff, one of the leaders of the National Socialists of Switzerland, who died a year earlier.

The passenger liner had ten decks, was designed for 1.5 thousand people, and was served by 417 crew members. The ship was built using the most advanced technologies, and it was very comfortable. The liner was intended primarily for long and leisurely cruises. In 1939, the Wilhelm Gustloff was transferred to the German Navy. It soon became a floating hospital, and then after 1940 it was assigned to the submarine school in Gotenhafen. Its color became camouflage again and it lost the protection of the Hague Convention.

After a torpedo attack carried out by a Soviet submarine under the command of A.I. Marinescu, "Wilhelm Gustloff" sank off the coast of Poland on January 30, 1945. According to official data, 5,348 people died, however, the exact number of passengers remained unknown.

Near the coast of Crimea, on November 7, 1941, Nazi aircraft sunk the Soviet motor ship Armenia, which allegedly carried more than 3,000 people.

From an environmental point of view, one of the largest catastrophes is currently happening on the planet - a decrease in the level of the Aral Sea and its drying out. The so-called Aral Sea was the fourth largest lake on the planet after the Caspian Sea (which, due to its isolation, can be qualified as a lake), Lake Superior in North America and Lake Victoria in Africa.

But after the runoff of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, which fed the Aral, began to be drawn through the constructed irrigation systems, the lake became shallow. In the summer of 2014, its eastern part almost dried out, the volume of water decreased to 10%.

All this resulted in climate change, which became continental. The Aralkum sand and salt desert appeared on the protruding bottom of the former sea. Dust storms carry tiny particles of salt interspersed with pesticides and agricultural fertilizers, which once entered the Aral Sea from fields through rivers and can negatively affect the health of people and animals. Due to salinity, most species of marine life disappeared, ports were closed, and people lost their jobs.

Among such disasters, which affect the population of the entire planet with their disastrous consequences, we must first of all include the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. During the explosion of the fourth nuclear reactor, it was completely destroyed. Work to eliminate the consequences has not yet been completed. After April 26, 1986, all people were evacuated from the disaster site within a radius of 30 km - 135,000 people and 35,000 heads of livestock. A protected exclusion zone was created. Ukraine, Belarus, and western Russia suffered the most from radioactive substances released into the air. In other countries, an increase in radioactive background levels was also noted. More than 600,000 people participated in the aftermath of this disaster.

The largest earthquake in Japan, which occurred on March 11, 2011, and then the tsunami, caused a radiation accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, which has the highest, seventh level. External power supplies and backup diesel generators were disabled, which resulted in a failure in the cooling system, and then a meltdown of the reactor core at power units 1, 2, and 3. The entire financial damage, which includes decontamination work, compensation for victims and internally displaced persons, is approximately $189 billion.

Another disaster that affected the state of the entire biosphere of the Earth is the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, which occurred on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill caused by the accident was the largest. At the moment of the explosion itself and in the subsequent fire on the semi-submersible installation, 11 people died and 17 out of 126 were injured who were on the platform at that moment. Two more died later. Oil flowed into the gulf for 152 days; in total, more than 5 million barrels entered the gulf. This man-made disaster had a devastating impact on the ecology of the entire area. Were injured different kinds sea ​​animals, fish and birds. And in the northern Gulf of Mexico, increased mortality of cetaceans was recorded in the same year. In addition to oil, a large number of underwater oil plumes formed on the surface of the water (the size of the spot reached 75,000 km²), the length of which reached 16 km, and the width and height were 5 km and 90 m, respectively.

These are just a few terrible accidents that can be classified as the worst disasters in the history of mankind. But there were others, sometimes less known, that brought a lot of destruction and misfortune to people. Often these disasters were caused by war or a series of accidents, and in some cases the disaster was caused by the destructive force of nature.

“...In fact, humanity does not have not only 100 years, but not even 50 years! The maximum we have is a few decades, taking into account upcoming events. Over the past two decades, alarming changes in the geophysical parameters of the planet, the emergence of a variety of observed anomalies, an increase in the frequency and scale of extreme events, and a sudden increase in natural disasters on Earth in the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere indicate the emergence of extremely high level additional exogenous (external) and endogenous (internal) energy. As is known, in 2011, this process began to enter a new active phase, as evidenced by noticeable jumps in the released seismic energy recorded during the increasing frequency of strong earthquakes, as well as an increase in the number of powerful destructive typhoons, hurricanes, widespread changes in thunderstorm activity and other anomalous natural phenomena... » from the report

No one knows what humanity expects tomorrow. But the fact that our civilization is already on the verge of self-destruction is no longer a secret to anyone. This is evidenced by daily events around the world to which we simply turn a blind eye. A great deal of material has been accumulated that reflects the reality of our lives and future events. As an example, very impressive videos taking place from September 2015 to the present day.

The following photographs are by no means a method of shock therapy, they are the harsh reality of our life, which is not somewhere THERE, but HERE - on our planet. But for some reason we turn away from this, or we prefer not to notice the reality and seriousness of what is happening.

Hanshin, Japan

Tohoku, Japan

Agree, an indisputable fact is that a huge number of people, as well as each individual individually, do not fully understand the complexity and seriousness of the current situation on Earth today. For some reason, we turn a blind eye to this, adhering to the principle: “the less you know, the better you sleep, I have enough worries of my own, my house is on the edge.” But the fact that every day throughout planet Earth, on different continents, floods, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes occur is reported by scientists, newspapers, television, and the Internet. But, nevertheless, the media, for certain reasons, do not reveal the whole truth, carefully hiding the true climate situation in the world and the urgent need to take urgent measures. This is one of the main reasons why most people naively believe that these terrible events will not affect them, while all the facts indicate that an irreversible global process of climate change has begun. And already in our time there is a rapid increase in such a worldwide problem as global cataclysms.

These graphs clearly demonstrate that over the last decade the world has seen a significant increase in the number of natural disasters, tenfold.

Rice. 1. Graph of the number of natural disasters in the world from 1920 to 2015. Compiled based on the EM-DAT database.

Rice. 2. Cumulative graph showing the number of earthquakes in the United States with a magnitude of 3.0 or higher from 1975 to April 2015. Compiled from USGS database.

The statistics given above clearly show the climate situation on our planet. Most people today, lulled and blinded by illusion, do not even want to think about the future. Many feel that something is happening with the climate throughout the world and understand that natural anomalies of this kind indicate the seriousness of everything that is happening. But fear and irresponsibility push people to turn away and plunge back into the usual bustle. In modern society, it is considered quite normal to shift responsibility for everything that happens to us and around us to someone else. We live our lives, relying on the fact that the government authorities will do everything for us: they will create good conditions for living a peaceful life, and in case of danger, great scientists will warn us in advance and the government authorities will take care of us. The phenomenon is paradoxical, but this is how our consciousness works - we always believe that someone owes us something and forget that we ourselves are responsible for our lives. And here it is important to understand that in order to survive, people themselves need to unite. Only people themselves can initiate the global unification of all humanity; no one else will do this except us. The words of the great poet F. Tyutchev are most appropriate:

“Unity,” proclaimed the oracle of our days, “
Perhaps it is welded together with iron and blood..."
But we will try to solder it with love, -
And then we’ll see what’s stronger...

It would also be appropriate to remind our readers about the current refugee situation in Europe. There are only about three million of them, according to official data, but huge problems of banal survival have already begun. And this is in a civilized, well-fed Europe. Why, it would seem, even rich Europe is not able to adequately solve the problem of migrants? What will happen if about two billion people are forced to migrate in the coming years?! There is also next question: Where do you think millions and billions of people who manage to survive global cataclysms will go?But the problem of survival will become acute for everyone: housing, food, work, etc. What will happen then if, in peaceful life, given the format of the consumer society, we constantly fight for our piece of material, starting from MY apartment, MY car and ending with MY mug, MY chair and MY favorite, untouchable slippers?

It becomes clear that the period global disasters We can survive only by combining our efforts. It will be possible to pass the upcoming tests with honor and the least number of human casualties, only if we are one family, united by friendship, humanity and mutual assistance. If we prefer to be a herd of animals, then the animal world has its own laws of survival - the strongest survive. But are we animals?

“Yes, if society does not change, then humanity simply will not survive. During the period of global changes, people, due to the aggressive activation of the Animal nature (subject to the general Animal mind), like any other intelligent matter, will simply single-handedly fight for survival, that is, peoples will destroy each other, and those who remain alive will be destroyed by itself nature. It will be possible to survive the coming cataclysms only with the unification of all humanity and a qualitative transformation of society in the spiritual sense. If people, through joint efforts, are still able to change the direction of movement of the world community from the consumer channel towards true spiritual development, with the dominance of the Spiritual principle in it, then humanity will have a chance to survive this period. Moreover, both society and future generations will be able to enter a qualitatively new stage of their development. But only at the present time it depends on the real choice and actions of everyone! And most importantly, many smart people the planets understand this, they see an impending catastrophe, the collapse of society, but they do not know how to resist all this and what to do.” Anastasia Novykh "AllatRa"

Why don’t people notice, or pretend not to notice, or simply don’t want to notice those numerous threats of planetary global cataclysms and all other acute problems facing all of humanity today? The reason for this behavior of the inhabitants of our planet is the lack of real Knowledge about man and the world. U modern man The concept of the true value of life has been replaced and therefore today few people can confidently answer questions such as: “Why is a person born into this world? What awaits us after the death of our body? Where and why did this whole material world come from, which brings not only happiness, but also a lot of suffering to humans? Surely there must be some meaning to this? Or maybe the Great Divine Plan?

Today you and I have books by Anastasia Novykh that answer all these questions. Moreover, having become acquainted with the Primordial Knowledge about the world and man, set out in these books, most of us accepted them as a guide to action for the internal transformation of ourselves into better side. Now we know the purpose of our life and we know what we need to do in order to achieve it. We gratefully face obstacles on our path and rejoice in victories. And that's great! In fact, this Knowledge is a great gift for humanity. But having come into contact with them and accepting them, we are responsible for our actions and for what happens around us. But why do we forget about this? Why do we constantly forget about what is happening now on other continents, in other cities and countries?

"The personal contribution of each person to the common cause of spiritual and moral transformation of society is very important"- book “AllatRa” "Now"- this is precisely the time to ask yourself the question: What contribution can I personally make to creating the conditions necessary for the unification of all people to survive the impending disasters?

“It is important to raise the level of public awareness about the problems of the near future. All socially active people need today to take an active part in the unification and cohesion of world society, ignoring all selfish, social, political, religious and other barriers with which the system artificially divides people. Only by uniting our efforts in the global community, not on paper, but in practice, can we manage to prepare the majority of the planet’s inhabitants for the planetary climate, global economic shocks and changes that are coming. Each of us can do a lot of useful things in this direction! By uniting, people will increase their capabilities tenfold” (From the Report).

To unite all humanity into One Family it is necessary general mobilization our strengths and capabilities. The fate of all humanity today hangs in the balance, and a lot really depends on our actions.

At the moment, ALLATRA IPM participants from all over the world are jointly implementing projects aimed at uniting all people and building a creative society. Anyone who remains concerned about the future of all humanity and feels a spiritual need to sincerely help people not in words, but in deeds, and is ready to lend a helping hand right now, can join this project to inform the inhabitants of the planet about upcoming cataclysms and ways out of existing ones. circumstances through the unification of all people on the planet into a single and friendly family.

It's no secret that there is less and less time left. Therefore it is very important Now understand that only together we can survive the coming cataclysms. Uniting people is the key to the survival of humanity.

Literature:

Report “On the problems and consequences of global climate change on Earth. Effective ways to solve these problems" by an international group of scientists of the International social movement ALLATRA, November 26, 2014http://allatra-science.org/publication/climate

J.L. Rubinstein, A.B. Mahani, Myths and Facts on Wastewater Injection, Hydraulic Fracturing, Enhanced Oil Recovery, and Induced Seismicity, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 86, Num. 4, July/August 2015 link

Anastasia Novykh “AllatRa”, K.: AllatRa, 2013 http://books.allatra.org/ru/kniga-allatra

Prepared by: Jamal Magomedov

Sometimes it is quite difficult to assess the scale of a particular global catastrophe, because the consequences of some of them can appear many years after the incident itself.

In this article we will present the 13 worst disasters in the world. Among them are incidents that occurred on water, in the air, and on land, due to human fault and for reasons beyond his control, widely known and those that not a very large circle of people know about.

The wreck of the superliner Titanic

Date Time: 14.04.1912 - 15.04.1912

Primary victims: at least 1.5 thousand people

Secondary victims: unknown

The British superliner Titanic, which was called the “most luxurious ship” of its time and “unsinkable,” gained worldwide fame. Unfortunately - sad. On the night of April 14-15, during its maiden voyage, the superliner collided with an iceberg and sank after more than two hours. The disaster was accompanied by numerous casualties among passengers and crew.

On April 10, 1912, the liner set out on its last voyage from the port of Southampton to New York, America, with almost 2.5 thousand people on board - passengers and crew members. One of the reasons for the disaster was that there was a tense ice situation on the liner’s route, but for some reason the captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, did not attach any importance to this even after receiving numerous warnings about floating icebergs from other ships. The airliner was moving almost at its maximum speed (21-22 knots); there is a version that Smith fulfilled the unofficial requirement of the White Star Line company, which owned the Titanic, to receive the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic, a prize for the fastest ocean crossing, on the first voyage.

Late at night on April 14, the superliner collided with an iceberg. An ice block, which the lookout did not notice in time, pierced the five bow compartments of the ship on the starboard side, which began to fill with water. The problem turned out to be that the designers did not count on the occurrence of a 90-meter hole in the ship, and here the entire survivability system was powerless. In addition, the “ultra-safe” and “unsinkable” ship did not have a sufficient number of lifeboats, and those that were, for the most part, turned out to be irrationally used (12-20 people floated away on the first boats, 65 on the last ones). -80 with a capacity of 60 people). The result of the disaster was the death, according to various sources, from 1496 to 1522 passengers and crew members.

Today, the remains of the Titanic rest at a depth of about 3.5 km in the Atlantic. The ship's hull is gradually deteriorating and will finally disappear at the turn of the 21st and 22nd centuries.

Explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Date Time: 26.04.1986

Primary victims: 31 people from the duty shift of Chernobyl NPP-4 and fire crews who arrived to extinguish the fire

Secondary victims: 124 people suffered acute radiation sickness but survived; up to 4 thousand liquidators died within 10 years after liquidation; from 600,000 to a million suffered from eliminating the consequences of radioactive contamination and staying in contaminated areas or as the radioactive cloud moved

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is a man-made disaster on the territory of Ukraine, between the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl. As a result of the explosion of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, a large amount of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere, which led to the contamination of surrounding areas and the formation of a radioactive cloud that swept across the territory of the USSR, Europe and reached the United States.

The accident occurred due to several factors - haste on the part of the Chernobyl NPP management, insufficient competence of the ChNPP-4 duty shift, errors in the design and construction of the RBMK-1000 reactor and the nuclear power plant unit itself. On the morning of April 26, reactor tests were planned at Chernobyl NPP-4, which were supposed to demonstrate the ability to operate the reactor cooling system in the interval between shutting down the reactor and starting the emergency diesel generators. However, due to some factors, the test was postponed to the night from April 26 to 27, which is why it was carried out by an unprepared and not warned in advance shift, and xenon gas accumulated in the reactor during 10 hours of idling operation.

All this together led to the fact that when the reactor was artificially shut down, its power first fell below a critical level, and then began to grow like an avalanche. Attempts to activate AZ-5 (emergency protection) instead of eliminating the emergency situation worked as an additional catalyst for increasing the temperature of the reactor, and as a result a powerful explosion occurred. Only one person died directly from the explosion; another died a few hours later from his injuries. The remaining victims received shock doses of radiation in the process of extinguishing the fire and the initial liquidation of the consequences, due to which 29 more people died during the subsequent months of 1986.

The population of the first 10-kilometer and then 30-kilometer zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was resettled. The evicted people were told that they would return back in three days. However, no one actually returned back. Elimination of the consequences of the explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant took more than a year, cost billions of rubles, and 240 thousand people passed through the ChEZ in 1986-1987. The city of Pripyat was completely abandoned, hundreds of villages were razed, Chernobyl-4 is now a partially populated city - military, police and employees of the remaining three Chernobyl nuclear power plant units live there.

Terrorist attack 9/11

Date Time: 11.09.2001

Primary victims: 19 terrorists, 2977 police, military, firefighters, doctors and civilians

Secondary victims: 24 people missing, the exact number of injured is unknown

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (better known as 9/11) are the largest terrorist attack in American history. A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks claimed nearly three thousand lives and caused massive destruction to the buildings attacked.

According to the official version of events, on the morning of September 11, four groups of a total of 19 terrorists, armed only with plastic knives, hijacked four passenger airliners, sending them to targets - the World Trade Center towers in New York, the Pentagon and the White House (or the Capitol) in Washington. The first three planes hit targets; what happened on board the fourth is not known for certain - according to the official version, the passengers clashed with terrorists, which is why the plane crashed in Pennsylvania before reaching its target.

Of the more than 16 thousand people who were in both towers of the World Trade Center, at least 1,966 people died - mainly those who were at the sites of the aircraft attacks and on the floors above, and also at the time of the collapse of the towers, assisting the victims and evacuating them. 125 people died in the Pentagon building. All 246 passengers and crew members of the hijacked planes were also killed, along with 19 terrorists. In the process of eliminating the consequences of the terrorist attack, 341 firefighters, 2 paramedics, 60 police officers and 8 ambulance workers died. The final death toll in New York alone was 2,606.

The terrorist attack of 9/11 became a real tragedy in the United States; citizens of 91 other countries also died. The terrorist attack provoked the US invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq, and later Syria under the banner of the fight against terrorism. Disputes about true reasons The terrorist attack and the course of events on this tragic day have not subsided to this day.

Fukushima-1 accident

Date Time: 11.03.2011

Primary victims: 1 person died from the consequences of radiation poisoning, about 50 people died during the evacuation

Secondary victims: up to 150,000 people were evacuated from the radioactive contamination zone, more than 1,000 of them died within a year of the disaster

The disaster, which occurred on March 11, 2011, simultaneously combines the features of man-made and natural disasters. A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of nine and the subsequent tsunami caused a failure of the power supply system of the Daiichi nuclear plant, as a result of which the cooling process of reactors with nuclear fuel was stopped.

In addition to the monstrous destruction that was caused by the earthquake and tsunami, this incident led to serious radioactive contamination of the territory and water area. In addition, the Japanese authorities had to evacuate up to one hundred and fifty thousand people due to the high likelihood of severe illness due to exposure to severe radioactive radiation. The combination of all these consequences gives the right to the Fukushima accident to be called one of the worst disasters in the world in the twenty-first century.

The total damage from the accident is estimated at $100 billion. This amount includes the costs of eliminating the consequences and paying compensation. But we must not forget that work to eliminate the consequences of the disaster is still ongoing, which accordingly increases this amount.

In 2013, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed, and only work to eliminate the consequences of the accident is being carried out on its territory. Experts believe that it will take at least forty years to clean up the building and the contaminated area.

The consequences of the Fukushima accident are a reassessment of safety measures in the nuclear energy industry, a drop in the price of natural uranium, and, accordingly, a decrease in the prices of shares of uranium mining companies.

Collision at Los Rodeos Airport

Date Time: 27.03.1977

Primary victims: 583 people - passengers and crew of both airliners

Secondary victims: unknown

Perhaps the world's worst disaster resulting from an aircraft collision was the collision of two aircraft in the Canary Islands (Tenerife) in 1977. At Los Rodeos airport, two Boeing 747 airliners, which belonged to KLM and Pan American, collided on the runway. As a result, 583 out of 644 people died, including both passengers and airline crews.

One of the main reasons for this situation was the terrorist attack at Las Palmas airport, which was carried out by terrorists from the MPAIAC organization (Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario). The terrorist attack itself did not cause any casualties, but the airport administration closed the airport and stopped accepting planes, fearing further incidents.

Because of this, Los Rodeos became congested as it was diverted by planes that were bound for Las Palmas, in particular two Boeing 747 flights PA1736 and KL4805. It should be noted that the plane, owned by Pan American, had sufficient fuel to land at another airport, but the pilots obeyed the dispatcher's order.

The cause of the collision itself was fog, which severely limited visibility, as well as difficulties in negotiations between controllers and pilots, which were caused by the thick accents of the controllers, and the fact that the pilots were constantly interrupting each other.

Collision « Dona Paz" with a tanker « Vector"

Date Time: 20.12.1987

Primary victims: up to 4386 people, of which 11 are crew members of the tanker “Vector”

Secondary victims: unknown

On December 20, 1987, the Philippine-registered passenger ferry Doña Paz collided with the oil tanker Vector, resulting in the world's worst peacetime disaster on the water.

At the time of the collision, the ferry was following its standard Manila-Catbalogan route, which it travels twice a week. On December 20, 1987, at about 06:30, the Dona Paz sailed from Tacloban bound for Manila. At approximately 10:30 p.m., the ferry was passing through the Tablas Strait near Marinduque, and survivors reported clear but rough seas.

The collision occurred after the passengers had fallen asleep; the ferry collided with the Vector tanker, which was transporting gasoline and oil products. Immediately after the collision, a strong fire broke out due to the fact that oil products spilled into the sea. The strong impact and fire almost instantly caused panic among passengers; in addition, according to survivors, there were not the required number of life jackets on the ferry.

Only 26 people survived, of which 24 were passengers from Donya Paz and two people from the Vector tanker.

Mass poisoning in Iraq, 1971

Date Time: autumn 1971 - end of March 1972

Primary victims: officially - from 459 to 6,000 deaths, unofficially - up to 100,000 deaths

Secondary victims: according to various sources, up to 3 million people who could have suffered from poisoning in one way or another

At the end of 1971, a shipment of grain treated with methylmercury was imported into Iraq from Mexico. Of course, the grain was not intended to be processed into food, and was to be used only for planting. Unfortunately, the local population did not know Spanish, and accordingly all the warning signs that read “Do not eat” turned out to be incomprehensible.

It should also be noted that the grain was delivered to Iraq late, since the planting season had already passed. All this led to the fact that in some villages grain treated with methylmercury began to be eaten.

After eating this grain, symptoms such as numbness of the limbs, loss of vision, and loss of coordination were observed. As a result of criminal negligence, according to official data, about one hundred thousand people suffered from mercury poisoning, of whom from 459 to 6 thousand died (unofficial data show other pictures - up to 3 million victims, up to 100 thousand deaths).

This incident led the World Health Organization to monitor grain circulation more closely and take the labeling of potentially hazardous products more seriously.

Mass destruction of sparrows in China

Date Time: 1958-1961

Primary victims: at least 1.96 billion sparrows, no known human casualties

Secondary victims: 10 to 30 million Chinese died from famine in 1960-1961

Within economic policy“Great Leap Forward”, in China, under the leadership of the Communist Party and Mao Zedong, a large-scale fight against agricultural pests was carried out, among which the Chinese authorities identified the four most terrible - mosquitoes, rats, flies and sparrows.

Employees of the Chinese Research Institute of Zoology calculated that because of sparrows, the amount of grain that could feed about thirty-five million people was lost during the year. Based on this, a plan was developed to exterminate these birds, which was approved by Mao Zedong on March 18, 1958.

All the peasants began to actively hunt birds. The most effective method was to keep them from falling to the ground. To do this, adults and children shouted, hit basins, waved poles, rags, etc. This made it possible to frighten the sparrows and prevent them from landing on the ground for fifteen minutes. As a result, the birds simply dropped dead.

After a year of hunting sparrows, the harvest really increased. However, later caterpillars, locusts, and other pests that ate the shoots began to actively breed. This led to the fact that after another year, harvests fell sharply, and famine occurred, which led to the death of 10 to 30 million people.

Piper Alpha oil rig disaster

Date Time: 06.07.1988

Primary victims: 167 platform staff

Secondary victims: unknown

The Piper Alpha platform was built in 1975, and oil production started on it in 1976. Over time, it was converted for gas production. However, on July 6, 1988, a gas leak occurred, which led to an explosion.

Due to indecisive and ill-considered actions of the personnel, 167 people out of 226 on the platform died.

Of course, after this event, oil and gas production on this platform was completely stopped. Insured losses totaled approximately US$3.4 billion. This is one of the most famous disasters in the world associated with the oil industry.

Death of the Aral Sea

Date Time: 1960 - present day

Primary victims: unknown

Secondary victims: unknown

This incident is the biggest environmental disaster on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake, after the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior in North America, and Lake Victoria in Africa. Now in its place is the Aralkum desert.

The reason for the disappearance of the Aral Sea is the creation of new irrigation canals for agricultural enterprises in Turkmenistan, which took water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers. Because of this, the lake has retreated greatly from the shore, which has led to the exposure of the bottom covered with sea salt, pesticides and chemicals.

Due to natural evaporation of the Aral Sea during the period from 1960 to 2007, the sea lost about a thousand cubic kilometers of water. In 1989, the reservoir split into two parts, and in 2003, the volume of water was about 10% of its original volume.

The result of this incident was serious changes in climate and landscape. In addition, of the 178 species of vertebrate animals that lived in the Aral Sea, only 38 remain.

Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion

Date Time: 20.04.2010

Primary victims: 11 platform personnel, 2 accident liquidators

Secondary victims: 17 platform staff

The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform that occurred on April 20, 2010 is considered one of the largest man-made disasters in terms of its negative impact on the environmental situation. 11 people died directly from the explosion and 17 were injured. Two more people died during the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.

Due to the fact that the explosion damaged pipes at a depth of 1,500 meters, approximately five million barrels of oil spilled into the sea over 152 days, creating a slick with an area of ​​75,000 kilometers; in addition, 1,770 kilometers of coastline were polluted.

The oil spill threatened 400 species of animals and also led to a fishing ban.

Eruption of Mont Pele volcano

Date Time: 8.05.1902

Primary victims: from 28 to 40 thousand people

Secondary victims: not established for certain

On May 8, 1902, one of the most destructive volcanic eruptions in human history occurred. This incident led to the emergence of a new classification volcanic eruptions, and changed the attitude of many scientists to volcanology.

The volcano awakened back in April 1902, and within a month, hot vapors and gases, as well as lava, accumulated inside. A month later, a huge grayish cloud burst out at the foot of the volcano. The peculiarity of this eruption is that the lava did not come out from the top, but from side craters that were located on the slopes. As a result powerful explosion One of the main ports of the island of Martinique, the city of Saint-Pierre, was completely destroyed. The disaster claimed the lives of at least 28 thousand people.

Tropical Cyclone Nargis

Date Time: 02.05.2008

Primary victims: up to 90 thousand people

Secondary victims: at least 1.5 million injured, 56 thousand missing

This disaster unfolded as follows:

• Cyclone Nargis formed on April 27, 2008, in the Bay of Bengal, and initially moved towards the coast of India, in a northwest direction;
• On April 28, it stops moving, but the wind speed in the spiral vortices began to increase significantly. Because of this, the cyclone began to be classified as a hurricane;
• On April 29, the wind speed reached 160 kilometers per hour, and the cyclone resumed movement, but in a northeast direction;
• On May 1, the wind direction changed to the east, and at the same time the wind was constantly increasing;
• On May 2, the wind speed reached 215 kilometers per hour, and at noon it reached the coast of Myanmar's Ayeyarwaddy Province.

According to the UN, 1.5 million people were injured as a result of the violence, of whom 90 thousand died and 56 thousand were missing. In addition, he was seriously injured Big City Yangon, and many settlements were completely destroyed. Part of the country was left without telephone communications, internet and electricity. The streets were littered with debris, debris from buildings and trees.

To eliminate the consequences of this disaster, it took the combined forces of many countries of the world and such international organizations like the UN, EU, UNESCO.