Watch Mega Disasters

A scenario demonstrates the potential for disaster from a "runway incursion" at a busy airport; 583 people are killed when two airliners collide in the Canary Islands in 1977; 34 people die when two planes collide in Los Angeles in 1991.

Could the island nation of Great Britain have once been connected to Europe by land? Listen to a new theory and evidence which suggests that the English Channel was created by one of the largest floods ever. Did a violent storm re-shape the European continent? Might this happen again? Dramatic 3-D animations recreate what this prehistoric mega storm may have looked like and unravel the mystery behind the creation of England.

65 million years ago a massive asteroid crashed into Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. 75% of all life on Earth vanished but could a single asteroid have been the lone killer? From global warming to lethal worldwide firestorms, many theories about the impact's deadly aftermath have been postulated. But in 1995 a new theory asserted that a powerful mega-storm known as a "Hypercane" caused the extinction. The hypothetical Hypercane could reach 20 miles into the stratosphere with wind speeds of up to 700 miles per hour! MEGA-DISASTERS shows through stunning 3-D computer animations how this monster storm could have brought down nearly all life on the planet.

March, 1996. A freight train carrying roughly one-million pounds of propane derails in Weyauwega, Wisconsin. One of the tankers goes off like a bomb and the entire town is evacuated. In 2001, a train tunnel fire billows clouds of hydrochloric acid over Baltimore's downtown core. Luckily, neither accident resulted in injury or death. While these and similar scenarios pose warnings of transporting dangerous goods, the possibility of an even greater catastrophe may have recently increased. The U.S. Department of Energy plans to transport 77,000 tons of nuclear waste across the country by land, sea and rail. If the proposal is realized, we may be open to a potential disaster that could kill more than a thousand, and costs billions to clean up.

The world we've created runs on oil, but the oil won't last forever. Many experts predict that it will begin to run out sometime this century. We are now living in a world in which the gap between supply and demand is ever increasing. Can we find enough new cost-effective methods to extract the oil that remains and buy the time we need to develop alternative energy systems? While some say technology will save us, others believe it's already too late. The best-case scenario is a worldwide depression -- far worse than that of the 1930s. The worst-case scenario? Try to imagine what happens when our industry, our agriculture and our communications grind to a halt. What ensues is a deadly scramble for the basic necessities of life -- neighbor against neighbor, nation against nation -- as the struggle descends into outright warfare.

Following a massive eruption of the volcano Toba on the island of Sumatra 75,000 years ago, the entire planet faced years of dramatically lower temperatures while the ash filled the surrounding atmosphere. Examined is the theory that this event may have been the deciding factor in the race between modern humans and neanderthals.

A recollection of an eruption 4000 years ago of the Thera volcano at the site which is now Santorini, Greece, and the resulting tsunami which occurred. Also, a discussion of the possibility of another eruption in the near future.

An investigation of what an airborne anthrax attack would consist of.

An examination of a firestorm ignited by an exploding comet which appeared over Eastern Canada. Included is a look at the devastation left by the fire and its effect on the prehistoric Clovis culture.