This pocket-sized reference looks at the many and various threats to life on Earth from disasters that threaten large regions or the whole globe. It should be useful to geography and social studies students and to all readers interested in politics, current affairs and the environment. The book discusses the many hazards that face us, taking each in turn: earthquakes, volcanoes, weather (including hurricanes and tornadoes), snow and ice, floods, tidal waves and tsunamis, forest fires, drought and famine, epidemic disease, pollution and habitat loss, climate change (including El Nino and global warming), and cosmic disasters (such as meteor strikes). Each section describes the phenomenon, with clear text and illustrations, and gives case-histories of some of the world's most terrifying and destructive cataclysms, focusing on both the human and the geophysical aspects of these tragedies. There is much emphasis on the future and the very real threats to the lives and well-being of not just individuals and communities but humanity as a whole. Areas prone to particular hazards (such as earthquake zones, volcanic regions, flood zones) are illustrated and mapped.