Book excerpt: "News reports from around the world offer detailed descriptions of wildfires, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, and more. While these kinds of events might seem horrifically random, scientists can explain quite a lot about why they happen, how they develop, how we can try to prevent them, and how we can predict where and when they'll happen next. The Science of Natural Disasters: When Nature and Humans Collide examines the science behind earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires."--Provided by publisher.