THE WORST DISASTERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH

Our planet has existed for 4.5 billion years. During this huge time interval, complex physical and chemical processes constantly took place on its surface, life arose, an atmosphere containing oxygen was formed, complexly organized animals and plants developed. All these changes occurred very slowly, stretching over hundreds of millions of years. But against the background of evolutionary processes, catastrophic phenomena also occurred, caused by forces hidden in the depths of the Earth or acting from outer space. To ignore the very fact of the existence and the role of such events in the history of the Earth would be the greatest mistake in our time. Man is able to prevent a catastrophe, but he can also cause it. From this it is clear that a deep and comprehensive study of natural phenomena in their complex interconnection is becoming one of the main scientific directions. To properly manage nature, we need to know it well.