Gustave Setting: Burundi. Plot: Serial killer on the loose. Burundi, in the heart of Africa Specific setting: Ruzizi River (great name), Lake Tanganyika, the second largest lake in Africa. The Ruzizi River flowing toward Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika from space – NASA In the 1990s and early 2000s, a predatory stalker killed as many as 300 humans in the middle […]
The Orphan Tsunami and the Ghost Forest Whale was a destroyer. Whale attacked and killed all the smaller whales, which provided food and oil to humans. The people began to starve. From her home in the mountains, Thunderbird spied the distress of the humans on the coast. She soared over the ocean, waiting for Whale to surface. When
The Orphan Tsunami and the Ghost Forest Read More »
The Decade Volcanoes On 22 December 1989, the United Nations General Assembly designated the oncoming decade – the 1990s – as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. The gist was to reduce the loss of life and property due to tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, storms, droughts, landslides, and volcanoes. The resolution intended to identify and study
The Decade Volcanoes Read More »
Reschensee As World War II raged, an Italian energy company planned the creation of an artificial lake near the borders of Austria and Switzerland. The project would create a dam that would unify two natural lakes, providing hydroelectric power for the region. But there was a problem: people lived there. The formation of the new
Point Nemo Way back in Episode #32, we explored Poles of Inaccessibility. These geographic curiosities are the spots on continents or countries that are the farthest from some criterion, usually the ocean. In North America, the point farthest from any major sea lies in South Dakota, 1,030 miles from salty water. We can also measure the
The Sky Really Is Falling Chicken Little – originally known as Henny Penny – took a lot of flak for constantly touting the end of the world. If you watched the news over the preceding weekend and looked to the skies, you might be forgiven for giving Chicken Little a bit of a reprieve. Space
The Sky Really Is Falling Read More »
A New Era for the New River If you live outside the eastern third of the United States, the New River Gorge might not be a name you’ve encountered much. Humans in the region, however, are well aware of West Virginia’s natural hotspot. The river and surrounding area are renowned for outstanding whitewater rafting, rock climbing,
A New Era for the New River Read More »
The Loudest Sound On 27 August 1883, reverberations from the northwest disturbed the morning serenity of sheep ranchers outside Alice Springs, Australia. The men later described the sound as “a series of loud reports, resembling those of artillery.” No war raged in central Australia in 1883; no military exercises took place. Were these ranchers under
May the Forces Be With You Yeah, I’m a day late. When you write articles on specific days of the week you can’t fight the calendar. And this year 4 May landed on a Tuesday. Nobody likes to read about a holiday, no matter how fourced, after it happens. I could have posted this episode on
May the Forces Be With You Read More »
The Iron Catastrophe Everyone alive today owes their existence to a catastrophe. To explain that seemingly paradoxical statement, let’s foray into a brief overview of the universe, our sun, and the planet, courtesy of Columbia University. Somewhere around 13.8 billion years ago, the Big Bang kicked things off. There was hydrogen and only hydrogen. The
The Iron Catastrophe Read More »