When water unleashes its rage upon the planet, it becomes the ultimate bringer of death; whether it's from rain washing over the ground, rivers bursting their banks, or failed efforts to stem the flow, flooding is as inevitable as it is unstoppable.
Bridges and tunnels revolutionized transportation-but when they fail, tragedy follows. This episode explores the world's worst collapses and fires, including a tunnel blaze in the Alps so intense it fused 20 cars together. While bridge failures send vehicles plummeting into water or ground below, tunnel fires turn confined spaces into infernos. Why do these disasters happen, and what can be done to stop them? As we build bigger and faster, we also raise the stakes.
Earthquakes occur when tectonic plates suddenly shift and shock waves shake the Earth's surface; they occur along fault lines -- the most active being the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean and the San Andreas Fault on the American West Coast.
Volcanoes created more than 80% of our planet's surface, but explosive eruptions can be deadly; a journey under the earth to discover why volcanoes are so dangerous.
Tornadoes are violent, rotating columns of air that can level buildings, their unpredictability makes them even more destructive; a look at how tornadoes form and if they can be stopped.
A wildfire suddenly surrounds a news reporter; a photojournalist survives a fire only to be stuck in a mudslide a week later; a couple gets trapped on a lake surrounded by a forest fire.
A fisherman becomes trapped on a lake during a hurricane; a hurricane chaser saves lives in the Philippines; an explorer becomes trapped during Hurricane Katrina.
A flight attendant explains her experience with three different types of turbulence; a pilot flies 500 miles between low clouds and high trees; a flight attendant suffers the impacts of clear and unforeseen turbulence.
When water unleashes its rage upon the planet, it becomes the ultimate bringer of death; whether it's from rain washing over the ground, rivers bursting their banks, or failed efforts to stem the flow, flooding is as inevitable as it is unstoppable.
Bridges and tunnels revolutionized transportation-but when they fail, tragedy follows. This episode explores the world's worst collapses and fires, including a tunnel blaze in the Alps so intense it fused 20 cars together. While bridge failures send vehicles plummeting into water or ground below, tunnel fires turn confined spaces into infernos. Why do these disasters happen, and what can be done to stop them? As we build bigger and faster, we also raise the stakes.
Earthquakes occur when tectonic plates suddenly shift and shock waves shake the Earth's surface; they occur along fault lines -- the most active being the Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean and the San Andreas Fault on the American West Coast.
Volcanoes created more than 80% of our planet's surface, but explosive eruptions can be deadly; a journey under the earth to discover why volcanoes are so dangerous.
Tornadoes are violent, rotating columns of air that can level buildings, their unpredictability makes them even more destructive; a look at how tornadoes form and if they can be stopped.
A wildfire suddenly surrounds a news reporter; a photojournalist survives a fire only to be stuck in a mudslide a week later; a couple gets trapped on a lake surrounded by a forest fire.
A fisherman becomes trapped on a lake during a hurricane; a hurricane chaser saves lives in the Philippines; an explorer becomes trapped during Hurricane Katrina.
A flight attendant explains her experience with three different types of turbulence; a pilot flies 500 miles between low clouds and high trees; a flight attendant suffers the impacts of clear and unforeseen turbulence.
When water unleashes its rage upon the planet, it becomes the ultimate bringer of death; whether it's from rain washing over the ground, rivers bursting their banks, or failed efforts to stem the flow, flooding is as inevitable as it is unstoppable.
Bridges and tunnels revolutionized transportation-but when they fail, tragedy follows. This episode explores the world's worst collapses and fires, including a tunnel blaze in the Alps so intense it fused 20 cars together. While bridge failures send vehicles plummeting into water or ground below, tunnel fires turn confined spaces into infernos. Why do these disasters happen, and what can be done to stop them? As we build bigger and faster, we also raise the stakes.