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.

Could the biblical story of Noah be true? 8,000 years ago, rising sea levels had global oceans surging.

Volcanoes can erupt suddenly and without warning, unleashing the most destructive forces on earth. More than 3,500 years ago, the Greek island of Santorini experienced one of the worst volcanic disasters in human history.

Most people don't think of New York City as earthquake country, but it has been shaken by significant quakes in 1737 and 1884.

What would happen if a Category 3 Hurricane were to hit New York City? With an awesomely high storm surge and intense winds attacking one of the most heavily populated and economically vital locations in the world, the potential for massive destruction is almost unprecedented. We explore the less-known but extensive history of previous northeast hurricanes--especially the "Great Hurricane" of 1938--in order to create empirical evidence that a storm of this size is not science fiction but a very real possibility in the near future. We'll also explore the scientific nature and origins of hurricanes and get an overview of some of the engineering changes that are taking place in the field of hurricane damage prevention. Using computer animation, models, and recreations the story concludes with a jaw-dropping view of what a storm like this might look like from inside the Big Apple.

Many scientists now believe that a "killer asteroid" wiped out the dinosaurs and 70% of all living things 160-million years ago. How likely is it that a similar event can occur again? Explore the catastrophic effects of a 2-kilometer-long asteroid hitting just off the coast of Los Angeles. Using the Chicxulub asteroid impact of 160-million years ago (the one that killed off the dinosaurs), we watch--moment by moment--as the blast annihilates not just Los Angeles, but communities within 100 miles of the coast. A firestorm consumes much of southern California and tsunamis wreak havoc up and down the entire western US coast. the resultant dust cloud covers much of the Midwest, devastating crops for at least a year. Millions of people die from the direct effects of the impact, and millions suffer a famine the likes of which the world has never seen.

Chicago is known as the "Windy City", but many believe a tornado can't strike a downtown filled with massive high-rise skyscrapers. It's a dangerous misconception. In 1967, a destructive high-speed tornado screamed along a 16-mile path through the south Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn and all the way to Lake Michigan. Had the path been just 10 miles to the north, the twister would have punched its way right into the Loop. the city's emergency officials say it bluntly: "Chicago is at high risk for tornadoes." In 1967, 33 people died. In the future, how many more will be at risk? Will the city's skyscrapers survive? It happened before, it can happen again. We'll revisit the '67 disaster, restage it using state-of-the-art computer animation, and simulate how Chicago might hold up in the face of current catastrophe.

Hurricanes. Earthquakes. Floods. Blizzards. Frightening but all too familiar natural disasters. But what about a tsunami wave hitting the east coast of the United States? In this hour, we look at such an event that could be caused by a massive island landslide triggered by a volcano off the coast of Africa. We explore the awesome tsunami recorded by German colonists in New Guinea triggered by a volcanic explosion on Ritter Island in 1888. Leaping forward, we hear from leading scientists about the possibility of a potentially catastrophic collapse of the west-facing fa ade of a volcano located in the Canary Islands. Potentially 500 times the size of the collapse at Ritter Island, it could trigger a tsunami with initial waves over 900 meters high. A North American city on the eastern seaboard, such as Charleston, South Carolina, would have no more than nine hours to evacuate before waves as high as 40 feet inundated the city, leaving a huge wake of destruction and damage.