The Earth's Furies

Devastating forest fires rage across California, and enormous fires reach the doors of major European cities... But these gargantuan fires are often impossible to stop without rainfall. With every new dry season, these fires devour the world's forests and increasingly threaten human lives and homes.

Iceland, Indonesia, South America, the Reunion Island... The threat of volcanic eruptions never ceases to hound those who have chosen to live at the feet of volcanos on continents the world over. This threat requires humans to continually come up with new ways to both foresee the danger to come and to tame the violence of volcanoes; a violence that is indispensable to life on Earth.

With teams of experts tracking them all over the world, earthquakes are one of the most heavily-monitored natural phenomenons. Despite this, in places such as Haiti, Nepal and Italy, they continue to be devastating and deadly. But what causes this destructive force of nature? Could it be prevented, and how can we minimise the destruction?

The USA is affected by 1,200 tornadoes every year and this phenomenon is growing all over the world. With wind speeds inside their vortex reaching up to 500 km per hour and travelling at the speed of a high-speed train, tornadoes are capable of destroying everything in their path. But how do they start? How can we predict them and minimize thier destruction?

Avalanches can reach speeds of 30 km an hour, exerting a force ten times stronger than cyclones. They have the power to crush buildings, bring down walls and blow up houses. But now, thanks to new scientific developments we can understand more about the mechanisms of avalanches. How can they be predicted and their impact limited?

With new scientific knowledge, we know how electrical charges inside clouds are created, and new technology can monitor lightning moving through the sky. However, it can hit anything, anywhere, at any time...and it cannot be stopped. Nowhere is unaffected by this devastating and frightening natural phenomenon.