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Krakatoa

Where Is Krakatoa? The volcanic island known as Krakatoa is located in the Sunda Strait, between the islands of Java and Sumatra. At the time of its famous eruption in 1883, the region was part of the Dutch East Indies; it’s now part of Indonesia. A previous major eruption, likely in the fifth or sixth […]

Mount St. Helens

Ring of Fire Mount St. Helens and the Cascade Range are a small part of the Ring of Fire, a zone of intense volcanic and seismic activity that surrounds the Pacific Ocean, stretching from the west coast of South America, northward through Central and North America to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Ring of […]

1964 Alaska Earthquake

The Earthquake Strikes At 5:36 p.m. on March 27, 1964—Good Friday—the earth trembled just as many Alaskans were sitting down to dinner. Eyewitnesses described hearing a crunching, grinding noise as the earth shook. They recalled seeing asphalt roads rise and fall like waves and the ground opening and closing before them, water shooting up through […]

Climate Change History

Early Inklings That Humans Can Alter Global Climate Dating back to the ancient Greeks, many people had proposed that humans could change temperatures and influence rainfall by chopping down trees, plowing fields or irrigating a desert. One theory of climate effects, widely believed until the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, held that “rain follows the […]

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1989 San Francisco Earthquake

Find out how our national pastime may have saved lives during the San Francisco Bay Area’s deadly earthquake of 1989.

Hurricane Katrina: Superdome Poem

New Orleans poet Shelton “Shakespear” Alexander performs an original poem about his experience taking shelter at the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina.

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Hurricane Katrina: Coast Guard Rescues

U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer Laurence Nettles describes helicopter rescues and details how the Coast Guard prepared for Hurricane Katrina.

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I Was There: Hurricane Katrina: Divine Intervention

When Angela Trahan and her family were trapped in their own kitchen by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina, Brother Ronald Hingle, a member of their school community, braved the winds and rising waters to bring them to safety.

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