Natural phenomena are ordinary and sometimes supernatural weather and climate phenomena that occur naturally in all parts of the world. They can be the simplest for many, like rain or snow, or they can be devastating and incredible, like an earthquake or a volcanic eruption. However, even they may not be very important to people if they pass by and do almost no damage. Otherwise, the natural phenomenon is awarded the "title" of a natural disaster.

Natural phenomena began to be explored many centuries ago. Although, perhaps, their study began from ancient times. For example, in the 17th century, the naturalist Gilbert managed to prove that the Earth is a large magnet with its poles, and in the 18th century, B. Franklin discovered atmospheric electricity.
However, to this day little is known about natural phenomena. Scientists in many countries are studying them to predict the occurrence and prevent their possible occurrence.

The polar (northern) lights are one of the most beautiful optical phenomena in the world, which can be observed only at high latitudes, not far from the poles. Auroras are usually bluish-white, and only in exceptional cases can multicolored auroras be observed. Auroras arise as a result of the bombardment of the upper atmosphere by charged particles moving towards the Earth along the geomagnetic field lines from the region of near-Earth outer space. The northern lights can last from several hours to several days and are striking in their extraordinary beauty.

Lightning and fireballs. Any lightning is an electric current, which, depending on the conditions, can take various forms. Particularly amazing are ball lightning, which used to be called fireballs. The nature of the occurrence of ball lightning is still not exactly known. Sometimes they were observed even inside houses and planes. The behavior of ball lightning has also not been studied. Ball lightning can be fiery red, orange or yellow and float in the air for a few seconds until it disappears. Lightning is always accompanied by thunder and a bright flash of light and is most often observed during a thunderstorm. Each of us has repeatedly seen the usual, so-called linear lightning. But ball lightning is a rather rare phenomenon. In nature, for about a thousand ordinary, linear lightning, there are only 2-3 ball lightning.

Blue moon. We are all used to seeing an ordinary moon, but sometimes when the atmosphere is dusty, high humidity, or for other reasons, the moon looks painted in different colors. The blue and red moons are especially unusual. The blue moon is such a rare natural phenomenon that the English even have a saying "once upon a blue moon", which means about the same as ours "after rain on Thursday." The blue moon appears from the ashes and burning. For example, when forests burned in Canada, the moon was blue for a whole week.

"Fiery" rain (star rain). In fact, not stars fall from the sky, but meteorites, which, entering the earth's atmosphere, heat up and burn out. In this case, a flash of light occurs, which is visible at a fairly large distance from the surface of the Earth. Most often, a meteor shower of high intensity (up to a thousand meteors per hour) is called a stellar or meteor shower. A meteor shower consists of meteors that burn up in the atmosphere and do not reach the earth, while a meteor shower consists of meteorites that fall to the ground. Previously, they did not distinguish the first from the second, and both of these phenomena were called "rain of fire." An interesting fact: every year, from fragments of meteorites and cosmic dust, the mass of the Earth increases by an average of 5 million tons.

Mirages. Despite their prevalence, mirages always evoke an almost mystical sense of wonder.

The most dangerous natural phenomena: Top 10

We all know the reason for the appearance of most mirages - superheated air changes its optical properties, causing light inhomogeneities called mirages. A mirage is a phenomenon that has long been explained by science, but continues to amaze the imagination of people. The optical effect is based on a special distribution of air density along the vertical. Under certain conditions, this leads to the appearance of virtual images near the horizon. However, you instantly forget all these boring explanations when you yourself become a witness of a miracle that is born before your eyes.

Mudflow (Arabic - "stormy stream") is a mass flow with a high concentration of mineral particles, rock fragments, stones. This mass is a cross between a liquid and a solid mass. These streams arise suddenly, usually in the area of ​​dry meadows and basins of small mountain rivers, although most often in the mountains during heavy and heavy rain.

Mudflows can be caused by:
1) Heavy rainfall.
2) Melting of glaciers or snow cover.
3) Deforestation in mountainous areas (tree roots hold back the soil of mountainous areas, thereby preventing the occurrence of mudflows), which is closely related to the two previous reasons.

A potential mudflow source is mudflow basins or mudflow channels with a large amount of crumbly material and the conditions of its accumulation, turning into active mudflows as a result of the occurrence of certain flooding conditions (rainstorms, glaciers, etc.). That is, if it is simpler to explain, dangerous mudflow areas are those whose streams, with a sudden appearance of a large amount of water, begin to carry with them various fragments of trees, stones, debris and / or other things.

Tsunamis are long waves generated by a powerful impact on the entire water column in the ocean or other body of water. Most tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes, during which there is a sharp displacement (raising or lowering) of a section of the seabed. Tsunamis are formed during an earthquake of any strength, but those that arise due to strong earthquakes (with a magnitude of more than 7) reach a large force. As a result of an earthquake, several waves propagate. The first scientific description of the phenomenon was given by José de Acosta in 1586 in Lima, Peru, after a powerful earthquake, then a tsunami 25 meters high burst onto land at a distance of 10 km.

One of the most unusual celestial anomalies, which has become the subject of discussion and debate by many scientists, is the Asperatus clouds. Sometimes they take on a shape that resembles a crumpled piece of paper, whipped cream, or swirling "horns". For such a frightening and unusual appearance, they were given the nickname "devil clouds".

For the first time these gloomy and mysterious clouds were seen in 1953. Previously, there was no information about their existence, so people did not know what to prepare for. Some considered them an omen of the apocalypse, others expected the invasion of terrible hurricanes and tornadoes. But nothing of the kind happened - the clouds dispersed on their own, without rain, noise and dust.

Soon, devilish clouds began to appear in different parts of the planet, so scientists started talking about them seriously. The phenomenon existed, but there was no explanation for it. In addition, there was not even any scientific name, but only what the eyewitnesses came up with. Because of their uneven shape, it was decided to give the name "Undulatus asperatus", which means "wavy-rough" in translation.
Now scientists are faced with a new task - to determine the cause of the appearance of devilish clouds. So far it has been possible to establish only that they contain a lot of moisture.

The fires of St. Elmo are a mysterious, very beautiful and at the same time frightening natural phenomenon, which is nothing more than an electric glow. It can occur on the sharp ends of the masts or yards of ships, towers, cliff tops or tall trees at a time when there is a large electric field strength in the atmosphere.

Scientists have found their explanation for the fires of St. Elmo. In science, they are known as point or corona discharge. It arises in an electric field with a sharp inhomogeneity. The role of electrodes in this case is performed by pointed objects. Elmo's lights can look different: like fireworks, like a dancing flame, or like a calm flickering glow. In most cases, eyewitnesses describe them as white and blue lights, but there were also bright scarlet "instances". They do not cause fire, do not burn and disappear, basically, a minute after the appearance. Often, the glow is accompanied by a hiss or crackle, reminiscent of the sound of burning brushwood or grass.

What are natural phenomena? What are they? You will find answers to these questions in this article. The material can be useful both for preparing for the lesson the world around us, and for general development.

Everything that surrounds us and is not created by human hands is nature.

All changes occurring in nature are called phenomena of nature or natural phenomena. The rotation of the Earth, its movement in its orbit, the change of day and night, the change of seasons are examples of natural phenomena.

The seasons are also called seasons. Therefore, natural phenomena associated with the change of seasons are called seasonal phenomena.

Nature, as you know, is inanimate and alive.

Inanimate nature includes: the Sun, stars, celestial bodies, air, water, clouds, stones, minerals, soil, precipitation, mountains.

Wildlife includes plants (trees), fungi, animals (animals, fish, birds, insects), microbes, bacteria, humans.

In this article, we will consider winter, spring, summer and autumn natural phenomena in animate and inanimate nature.

Winter natural phenomena

Examples of winter phenomena in inanimate nature Examples of winter phenomena in wildlife
  • Snow is a type of winter precipitation in the form of crystals or flakes.
  • Snowfall - heavy snowfall in winter.
  • A snowstorm is a strong blowing snowstorm that occurs mainly in flat, treeless areas.
  • A blizzard is a snow storm with strong winds.
  • A snow storm is a winter phenomenon in inanimate nature, when a strong wind raises a cloud of dry snow, and impairs visibility at low temperatures.
  • Buran - a blizzard in the steppe area, in open places.
  • A blizzard is the transfer of previously fallen and (or) falling snow by the wind.
  • Black ice is the formation of a thin layer of ice on the surface of the earth as a result of a cold snap after a thaw or rain.
  • Icing - the formation of a layer of ice on the surface of the earth, trees, wires and other objects that form after freezing of raindrops, drizzle;
  • Icicles - icing with a drain of liquid in the form of a cone pointed downwards.
  • Frosty patterns are, in fact, frost that forms on the ground and on tree branches, on windows.
  • Freeze - a natural phenomenon when a continuous ice cover is established on rivers, lakes and other bodies of water;
  • Clouds are accumulations of water droplets and ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere, visible in the sky with the naked eye.
  • Ice - as a natural phenomenon - is the process of transition of water into a solid state.
  • Frost is a phenomenon when the temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius.
  • Hoarfrost is a snow-white fluffy coating that grows on tree branches, wires in calm frosty weather, mainly during fog, appearing with the first sharp cold snaps.
  • Thaw - warm weather in winter with melting snow and ice.
  • The hibernation of a bear is a period of slowing down of life processes and metabolism in homoiothermic animals during periods of low food availability.
  • Hedgehog hibernation - due to lack of nutrition in winter, hedgehogs hibernate.
  • The color change of a hare from gray to white is the mechanism by which hares adapt to changing environments.
  • The squirrel's color change from red to bluish-gray is the mechanism by which squirrels adapt to changing environments.
  • Bullfinches, tits arrive
  • People dressed in winter clothes

Spring natural phenomena

Names of spring phenomena in inanimate nature Names of spring phenomena in wildlife
  • Ice drift - the movement of ice downstream during the melting of rivers.
  • Snowmelt is a natural phenomenon when snow begins to melt.
  • Melting is a phenomenon of early spring, when areas that have thawed from snow appear, most often around trees.
  • High water is a phase of the water regime of the river that repeats annually at the same time with a characteristic rise in the water level.
  • Thermal winds is the general name for winds associated with the temperature difference that occurs between a cold spring night and a relatively warm sunny day.
  • The first thunderstorm is an atmospheric phenomenon, when electrical discharges occur between the cloud and the earth's surface - lightning, which is accompanied by thunder.
  • Snow melting
  • The murmur of streams
  • Drops - falling from roofs, from trees of melting snow in drops, as well as these drops themselves.
  • Flowering of early flowering plants (bushes, trees, flowers)
  • The appearance of insects
  • Arrival of migratory birds
  • Sap flow in plants - that is, the movement of water and minerals dissolved in it from the root system to the aerial part.
  • bud break
  • Emergence of a flower from a bud
  • Foliage Appearance
  • Birdsong
  • Birth of baby animals
  • Bears and hedgehogs wake up after hibernation
  • Shedding in animals - changing the winter coat to thorns

Summer natural phenomena

Summer natural phenomena in inanimate nature Summer natural phenomena in wildlife
  • A thunderstorm is an atmospheric phenomenon when electrical discharges occur between a cloud and the earth's surface - lightning, which is accompanied by thunder.
  • Lightning is a giant electrical spark discharge in the atmosphere that usually occurs during a thunderstorm, manifested by a bright flash of light and accompanying thunder.
  • Zarnitsa - instantaneous flashes of light on the horizon during a distant thunderstorm. This phenomenon is observed, as a rule, in the dark. Thunder peals are not heard due to the distance, but flashes of lightning are visible, the light of which is reflected from cumulonimbus clouds (mainly their tops). The phenomenon among the people was timed to coincide with the end of summer, the beginning of the harvest, and is sometimes called bakers.
  • Thunder is a sound phenomenon in the atmosphere that accompanies lightning strikes.
  • Hail is a type of rainfall consisting of pieces of ice.
  • A rainbow is one of the most beautiful phenomena of nature, resulting from the refraction of sunlight in water droplets suspended in the air.
  • A downpour is heavy (torrential) rain.
  • Heat is a state of the atmosphere characterized by hot air heated by the sun's rays.
  • Dew - small drops of moisture that settle on plants or soil when the morning coolness sets in.
  • Summer warm rains
  • The grass is green
  • Flowers are blooming
  • Mushrooms and berries grow in the forest

Autumn natural phenomena

Autumn phenomena in inanimate nature Autumn phenomena in wildlife
  • Wind is a stream of air moving parallel to the earth's surface.
  • Fog is a cloud that has descended to the surface of the earth.
  • Rain is one of the types of atmospheric precipitation falling from clouds in the form of liquid droplets, the diameter of which varies from 0.5 to 5-7 mm.
  • Slush is liquid mud formed from rain and sleet in wet weather.
  • Hoarfrost is a thin layer of ice that covers the surface of the earth and other objects on it at sub-zero temperatures.
  • Frost - light frost in the range of 1 to 3 degrees Celsius.
  • Autumn ice drift - the movement of ice on rivers and lakes under the influence of current or wind at the beginning of the freezing of water bodies.
  • Leaf fall is the process of falling leaves from trees.
  • Flight of birds to the south

Unusual natural phenomena

What natural phenomena still exist? In addition to the seasonal natural phenomena described above, there are several more that are not associated with any time of the year.

  • Floodcom called a short-term sudden rise in the water level in the river. This sharp rise may be the result of heavy rains, the melting of a large amount of snow, the discharge of an impressive volume of water from the reservoir, and the descent of glaciers.
  • Northern Lights- the glow of the upper layers of the atmospheres of planets with a magnetosphere, due to their interaction with charged particles of the solar wind.
  • Ball lightning- a rare natural phenomenon that looks like a luminous and floating formation in the air.
  • Mirage- an optical phenomenon in the atmosphere: the refraction of light streams at the boundary between layers of air that are sharply different in density and temperature.
  • « Shooting star"- an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere
  • Hurricane- extremely fast and strong, often of great destructive power and considerable duration, air movement
  • Tornado- an ascending whirlwind of extremely rapidly rotating air in the form of a funnel of great destructive power, in which moisture, sand and other suspensions are present.
  • Ebb and flow- these are changes in the water level of the sea elements and the World Ocean.
  • Tsunami- long and high waves generated by a powerful impact on the entire water column in the ocean or other body of water.
  • Earthquake- are tremors and vibrations of the earth's surface. The most dangerous of them arise due to tectonic displacements and ruptures in the earth's crust or the upper part of the Earth's mantle.
  • Tornado- an atmospheric vortex that occurs in a cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) cloud and spreads down, often to the very surface of the earth, in the form of a cloud sleeve or trunk with a diameter of tens and hundreds of meters
  • Eruption- the process of ejection by a volcano onto the earth's surface of incandescent fragments, ash, an outpouring of magma, which, having poured onto the surface, becomes lava.
  • floods- flooding of the territory of the earth with water, which is a natural disaster.

Everything that surrounds us and that is not created by human hands is called nature. All the changes that we can observe in the world around us are natural phenomena. Consider what are the phenomena of nature, depending on the time of year.

Natural phenomena

As you know, nature is alive and inanimate. Let's get acquainted with examples of the phenomenon of wildlife.

All living creatures inhabiting our planet - man, animals, birds, insects, fish, all kinds of plants, bacteria and various microbes - belong to the world of wildlife.

In winter, nature seems to fall into a dream, and all living things prepare for this state:

  • Trees and bushes shed their leaves . This is because in winter it is very cold and there is little light, and ordinary leaves cannot grow in such conditions. But coniferous trees have leaves in the form of thin needles, which are not afraid of any frost. They fall off gradually, and new needles grow in their place.
  • In winter, in the wild, there is very little food . For this reason, some animals - bears, hedgehogs, chipmunks, badgers - hibernate to survive the stormy winter times. They dig warm, cozy burrows for themselves, and sleep there until spring arrives. Those animals that continue an active life in winter acquire a thick fur coat that does not allow them to freeze.

Rice. 1. Bear in the den

  • With the onset of the first cold weather, many birds go to warmer climes. to spend the winter there with great comfort. Only those species of birds that have learned to eat various feeds remain at home.

In winter, even those birds that live in the city have a very hard time. There are almost no insects, berries and grains too. To help your feathered friends wait for the gentle spring sun, you can make feeders and feed them in the cold season.

In spring, nature awakens, and plants are the first to react: buds bloom on the trees, new leaves appear, young green grass sprouts.

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Rice. 2. Spring forest

Animals are very happy with the long-awaited warmth. Now you can leave your dens and minks, and return to an active life. In spring, animals and birds have offspring, and their worries are added.

In summer and early autumn, nature pleases with warm weather, an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and berries. Animals raise their babies, teach them to get their own food, to defend themselves from enemies. In autumn, many animals stock up for the winter, preparing for the coming cold.

Phenomena of inanimate nature

Inanimate nature includes all celestial bodies, water, air, soil, minerals, stones.

In winter, natural phenomena are very severe. It's good when soft snow falls, and the world around us turns into a winter fairy tale. It is much worse when a fierce blizzard, blizzard or blizzard reigns on the street.

In the steppe, open area, a blizzard is terrible in its strength - a strong snowstorm, because of which it is difficult to see something even close. Once in the center of the storm, many travelers lost their orientation in space and froze.

Rice. 3. Snowstorm

In spring, nature throws off its snow chains:

  • Ice drift begins on the rivers - melting and movement of ice along the stream.
  • The snow melts, the first thawed patches appear - small areas of thawed snow.
  • Warm winds begin to blow, winter precipitation changes to rains and spring showers.
  • Daylight hours are getting longer and nights are getting shorter.

All summer phenomena of inanimate nature are directly related to warming. Dry, sultry weather sets in, with variable precipitation. Rains can start suddenly, with thunder and lightning. But in half an hour after a heavy downpour, the sun will again brightly shine in the sky.

And only in summer you can admire such a wonderful natural phenomenon as a rainbow!

With the onset of autumn, the daylight hours shorten again, the air temperature drops, and it often rains for a long time. In the morning, at the first frost, on the surface of the earth and objects, a thin layer of ice may appear - frost.

What have we learned?

In grade 2, the world around us studies such an interesting topic as "Natural Phenomena". We learned that nature can be animate and inanimate, and its phenomena largely depend on the time of year.

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Natural hazards are extreme climatic or meteorological phenomena that occur naturally at one point or another on the planet. In some regions, such hazards may occur with greater frequency and destructive force than in others. Hazardous natural phenomena develop into natural disasters when the infrastructure created by civilization is destroyed and people die.

1. Earthquakes

Among all natural hazards, the first place should be given to earthquakes. In places of breaks in the earth's crust, tremors occur, which cause vibrations of the earth's surface with the release of gigantic energy. The resulting seismic waves are transmitted over very long distances, although these waves have the greatest destructive power in the epicenter of the earthquake. Due to strong vibrations of the earth's surface, mass destruction of buildings occurs.
Since there are quite a lot of earthquakes, and the surface of the earth is quite densely built up, the total number of people in history who died precisely as a result of earthquakes exceeds the number of all victims of other natural disasters and amounts to many millions. For example, over the past decade around the world, about 700 thousand people have died from earthquakes. From the most devastating shocks, entire settlements instantly collapsed. Japan is the most earthquake-affected country, and one of the most catastrophic earthquakes occurred there in 2011. The epicenter of this earthquake was in the ocean near the island of Honshu, according to the Richter scale, the magnitude of the shocks reached 9.1 points. Powerful aftershocks and the subsequent devastating tsunami disabled the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, destroying three of the four power units. Radiation covered a large area around the station, rendering densely populated areas so valuable in Japanese conditions uninhabitable. A colossal tsunami wave turned into a mess what the earthquake could not destroy. More than 16 thousand people officially died, among which another 2.5 thousand who are considered missing can be safely added. In this century alone, devastating earthquakes have occurred in the Indian Ocean, Iran, Chile, Haiti, Italy, and Nepal.

2. Tsunami waves

A specific water disaster in the form of tsunami waves often results in numerous casualties and catastrophic destruction. As a result of underwater earthquakes or shifts of tectonic plates in the ocean, very fast, but hardly noticeable waves arise, which grow into huge ones as they approach the coast and enter shallow water. Most often, tsunamis occur in areas with increased seismic activity. A huge mass of water, rapidly moving ashore, blows everything in its path, picks it up and carries it deep into the coast, and then carries it into the ocean with a reverse current. Humans, unable to feel danger like animals, often do not notice the approach of a deadly wave, and when they do, it is too late.
A tsunami usually kills more people than the earthquake that caused it (the latter in Japan). In 1971, the most powerful tsunami ever observed occurred there, the wave of which rose 85 meters at a speed of about 700 km / h. But the most catastrophic was the tsunami observed in the Indian Ocean in 2004, the source of which was an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, which claimed the lives of about 300 thousand people along a large part of the coast of the Indian Ocean.


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3. Volcanic eruption

Throughout its history, mankind has remembered many catastrophic volcanic eruptions. When the pressure of magma exceeds the strength of the earth's crust in the weakest places, which are volcanoes, this ends with an explosion and outpourings of lava. But the lava itself is not so dangerous, from which you can simply get away, as hot pyroclastic gases rushing from the mountain, pierced here and there by lightning, as well as a noticeable effect on the climate of the strongest eruptions.
Volcanologists count about half a thousand dangerous active volcanoes, several dormant supervolcanoes, not counting thousands of extinct ones. So, during the eruption of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia, the surrounding lands were plunged into darkness for two days, 92 thousand inhabitants died, and a cold snap was felt even in Europe and America.
List of some strong volcanic eruptions:

  • Volcano Laki (Iceland, 1783). As a result of that eruption, a third of the population of the island died - 20 thousand inhabitants. The eruption lasted for 8 months, during which flows of lava and liquid mud erupted from volcanic cracks. The geysers have never been more active. Living on the island at that time was almost impossible. The crops were destroyed, and even the fish disappeared, so the survivors experienced hunger and suffered from unbearable living conditions. This may be the longest eruption in human history.
  • Volcano Tambora (Indonesia, Sumbawa Island, 1815). When the volcano exploded, the sound of this explosion spread over 2,000 kilometers. Ash covered even the remote islands of the archipelago, 70 thousand people died from the eruption. But even today, Tambora is one of the highest mountains in Indonesia that retains volcanic activity.
  • Volcano Krakatoa (Indonesia, 1883). 100 years after Tambora, another catastrophic eruption occurred in Indonesia, this time "blowing the roof off" (literally) the Krakatoa volcano. After the catastrophic explosion that destroyed the volcano itself, frightening peals were heard for another two months. A huge amount of rocks, ash and hot gases were thrown into the atmosphere. The eruption was followed by a powerful tsunami with a wave height of up to 40 meters. These two natural disasters together destroyed 34,000 islanders along with the island itself.
  • Volcano Santa Maria (Guatemala, 1902). After a 500-year hibernation in 1902, this volcano woke up again, starting the 20th century with the most catastrophic eruption, which resulted in the formation of a one and a half kilometer crater. In 1922, Santa Maria again reminded of itself - this time the eruption itself was not too strong, but a cloud of hot gases and ash brought death to 5 thousand people.

4. Tornadoes


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A tornado is a very impressive natural phenomenon, especially in the USA, where it is called a tornado. This is an air stream twisted in a spiral into a funnel. Small tornadoes resemble slender narrow pillars, and giant tornadoes can resemble a mighty carousel directed to the sky. The closer to the funnel, the stronger the wind speed, it begins to drag along ever larger objects, up to cars, wagons and light buildings. In the "tornado alley" of the United States, entire city blocks are often destroyed, people die. The most powerful vortices of category F5 reach a speed of about 500 km/h in the center. The state of Alabama suffers the most every year from tornadoes.

There is a kind of fire tornado, which sometimes occurs in the area of ​​massive fires. There, from the heat of the flame, powerful ascending currents are formed, which begin to twist into a spiral, like an ordinary tornado, only this one is filled with flame. As a result, a powerful draft is formed near the surface of the earth, from which the flame grows even stronger and incinerates everything around. When the catastrophic earthquake hit Tokyo in 1923, it caused massive fires that led to the formation of a fiery tornado that rose 60 meters. The column of fire moved towards the square with frightened people and burned 38 thousand people in a few minutes.

5. Sandstorms

This phenomenon occurs in sandy deserts when a strong wind rises. Sand, dust and soil particles rise to a sufficiently high height, forming a cloud that dramatically reduces visibility. If an unprepared traveler gets into such a storm, he can die from grains of sand falling into the lungs. Herodotus described history as in 525 BC. e. in the Sahara, a 50,000-strong army was buried alive by a sandstorm. In Mongolia, 46 people died as a result of this natural phenomenon in 2008, and two hundred people suffered the same fate the year before.


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6. Avalanches

From the snow-covered mountain peaks, snow avalanches periodically descend. Climbers especially often suffer from them. During World War I, up to 80,000 people died from avalanches in the Tyrolean Alps. In 1679, five thousand people died in Norway from snowmelt. In 1886, there was a major disaster, as a result of which the "white death" claimed 161 lives. The records of the Bulgarian monasteries also mention the human victims of snow avalanches.

7 Hurricanes

They are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific. These are huge atmospheric vortices, in the center of which the strongest winds and sharply reduced pressure are observed. In 2005, the devastating hurricane Katrina swept over the United States, which especially affected the state of Louisiana and the densely populated New Orleans located at the mouth of the Mississippi. 80% of the city was flooded, killing 1836 people. Notable destructive hurricanes have also become:

  • Hurricane Ike (2008). The diameter of the eddy was over 900 km, and in its center the wind was blowing at a speed of 135 km/h. In the 14 hours that the cyclone moved across the United States, it managed to cause $30 billion worth of damage.
  • Hurricane Wilma (2005). This is the largest Atlantic cyclone in the history of meteorological observations. A cyclone that originated in the Atlantic made landfall several times. The amount of damage inflicted by him amounted to $ 20 billion, 62 people died.
  • Typhoon Nina (1975). This typhoon was able to breach China's Bankiao Dam, causing the dams below to collapse and causing catastrophic flooding. The typhoon killed up to 230,000 Chinese.

8. Tropical cyclones

These are the same hurricanes, but in tropical and subtropical waters, which are huge low-pressure atmospheric systems with winds and thunderstorms, often exceeding a thousand kilometers in diameter. Near the surface of the earth, winds in the center of the cyclone can reach speeds of over 200 km/h. Low pressure and wind cause the formation of a coastal storm surge - when huge masses of water are thrown ashore at high speed, washing away everything in their path.


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9. Landslide

Prolonged rains can cause landslides. The soil swells, loses its stability and slides down, taking with it everything that is on the surface of the earth. Most often, landslides occur in the mountains. In 1920, the most devastating landslide occurred in China, under which 180 thousand people were buried. Other examples:

  • Bududa (Uganda, 2010). Due to mudflows, 400 people died, and 200 thousand had to be evacuated.
  • Sichuan (China, 2008). Avalanches, landslides and mudflows caused by an 8-magnitude earthquake claimed 20,000 lives.
  • Leyte (Philippines, 2006). The downpour caused a mudflow and a landslide that killed 1,100 people.
  • Vargas (Venezuela, 1999). Mudflows and landslides after heavy rains (almost 1000 mm of precipitation fell in 3 days) on the northern coast led to the death of almost 30 thousand people.

10. Fireballs

We are accustomed to ordinary linear lightning accompanied by thunder, but ball lightning is much rarer and more mysterious. The nature of this phenomenon is electrical, but scientists cannot yet give a more accurate description of ball lightning. It is known that it can have different sizes and shapes, most often these are yellowish or reddish luminous spheres. For unknown reasons, ball lightning often ignores the laws of mechanics. Most often they occur before a thunderstorm, although they can appear in absolutely clear weather, as well as indoors or in the cockpit. The luminous ball hangs in the air with a slight hiss, then it can start moving in an arbitrary direction. Over time, it seems to shrink until it disappears altogether or explodes with a roar.

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Natural phenomena are usually characteristic of a certain season or climate zone. But there are also unusual natural phenomena in the world that are difficult to believe or explain.

Video about unusual natural phenomena

natural phenomena. What is it, what are

In addition to the expected phenomena, such as snow, rain, thunderstorms or heat waves, the world is full of other less familiar natural phenomena for which scientists cannot explain. They are often impossible to repeat in the laboratory, and it is always good luck to record rare outbreaks of unexplained phenomena in nature.

Dangerous and rare natural phenomena

Rare natural phenomena are absolutely harmless or pose a danger to human life.

Voice of the frozen sea

In February 2012, as a result of severe frosts, the shores of the Black Sea near Odessa froze. Especially everyone was surprised this time by the roaring sound, we can only compare it with a bear's roar.

It was formed due to the pressure of the undercurrent on the formed block of ice, which cracked, creaked and froze again, creating sounds and a frightening ice sheet.

Asperatus

In 2010, a new cloud type, asperatus, was added to the atlas of the International Cloud Classification. Their first photos appeared on the web in 2006. Asperatus is recognized by its external characteristics - heavy and frightening layered curly clouds that appear all over the planet, regardless of the time of year.

Saint Elmo's fire

Due to the voltage of the electric field in a certain place during a thunderstorm, a corona discharge occurs in the atmosphere - the fires of St. Elmo. The phenomenon was named by the sailors in honor of the sea patron, Elma. In order for the fires to appear, it is necessary to have a high strum of a wired object - the tops of rocks, trees, the masts of ships or multi-storey buildings.

blood tide

Near the east coast of Australia, frequent occurrences of "bloody" tides. In 2018, the water in the ocean turned red twice for several kilometers.

According to scientific explanations, such an anomaly is the result of:

  1. A high population of unicellular red organisms Alexandrium tamarense in the water. Only in 1 liter of water their number exceeds 130 thousand individuals.
  2. A huge amount of flagella algae from dinoflagellates.
  3. Release of toxins during algal blooms.

Red tides occur in all oceans: for the first time in 1799, it was recorded near Alaska. In the XX century. these tides were formed near Eastern Kamchatka several times: in Pavel Bay (1945), in Avacha Bay (1973).

The last red tide occurred in 2018 off the coast of Florida.

The tides are not dangerous for man and animal - except for eating a large amount of this water. But birds suffer from them - it is difficult to protect them from easy prey - dead fish that floats over time.

whirlpool

A whirlpool can occur anywhere in open water - in a river, sea or ocean. Its occurrence is the result of the collision of the flow with the recess, which blocks the free linear movement of the flow.

Whirlpools are unfaithful and catastrophic, so they are divided into several types:

Types of whirlpools Characteristics
Suvod occurs on the river, are formed near the banks, dams and dams. Due to the calm current, such whirlpools are safe.
Mountain strong swirling water, can drag a person or a small boat to the bottom.
Marine occur during high and low tides. Quite dangerous to human life.
Permanent occur with frequent regularity in the same place.
Seasonal occur when there is a sudden change in water level.
Ringi whirlpools in the ocean. In the XX century. a whirlpool measuring 100 km was recorded. Whirlpools in the ocean exist for a long time from a few days to several years.

killer waves

Killer waves are a phenomenon similar to a tsunami, but exceeding it by several times: tsunamis cannot be higher than 20 m, while cases of recorded killer waves reached different sizes.

For example:

  1. 34th wave off the coast of California in 1933;
  2. A 21 m wave in the Atlantic in 1966;
  3. A 27 m killer wave was recorded in the North Atlantic in 1995.

Unusual natural phenomena, such as killer waves, are not fiction.

The main differences between these waves and tsunamis are that they are much higher, have a small width - up to 1 km, and most often are a single shock. The reason for the appearance of killer waves is considered to be a violation of the linearity of the waves in the ocean.

Spider web in Pakistan

The web in Pakistan is a web of spiders that grows on trees due to prolonged flooding in the country. Then millions of spiders, limited in movement, begin to twist around the trees, which become like a white cocoon. In 2014, its length was 183 m.

Volcanic ash lake

Lake Nahuel Huapi in Argentina is also called the lake of volcanic ash. It received such a nickname in 2011, after a strong eruption of the Puehue volcano in Chile. The volcanic ash that fell into the lake has not yet dissolved in water.

Firestorm

A fire tornado occurs as a result of the simultaneous accumulation of high temperature, fires and cold air currents. The ideal conditions for a fiery tornado were the winter heating seasons in the 19th century. in big cities, in Moscow, Kyiv, Chicago, Dresden and London.

Sandstorm

The phenomenon of sandstorms has been known since antiquity. This is a strong wind that carries countless small particles of soil and sand over long distances, creating a cloud of dust and reducing visibility.

Sandstorms are typical for desert and semi-desert regions - in the Sahara, on the Arabian Peninsula and also in Mongolia and Kazakhstan.

Geysers

Geysers are natural sources of hot water that are ejected by pressure from the soil into the atmosphere by a fountain. Geologists consider them to be like a volcano.

In nature, there are permanent and irregular geysers.

There are geysers in areas of volcanic activity in countries such as Iceland, New Zealand, Chile and Japan. You can also find them in Kamchatka in Russia and in the northern states of the United States.

Ball lightning

Ball lightning - a rare type of lightning, has the shape of a ball with a diameter of up to 20 cm. They occur regardless of the season, and even in clear weather. This lightning has a completely different nature of origin than the usual one. She bursts when her temperature starts to go off scale, and shatters into sparks.

Fireballs come in red, orange, white and blue.

Tornado

A tornado (or tornado) occurs during hot weather or a summer thunderstorm, forms an atmospheric vortex. The phenomenon has the shape of an inverted cone, which touches the earth at one end and the clouds at the other.

In order for a tornado to occur, conditions are necessary during which warm, moist air comes into contact with cold, dry air in the clouds. Typically, tornadoes occur in the United States, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and European coastal countries.

Sound anomalies or abnormal sound phenomena in nature

The phenomenon of sound anomalies is associated with low-frequency stationary noises, often picked up by the human ear. Since it is rarely possible to record them on a dictaphone or establish the source of origin, it is far from always possible to establish their nature and causes.

Usually, each such anomalous sound has its own name and sound features: like a diesel engine, heavy equipment idling, or ordinary background sounds. This is all due to the fact that the general characteristics of the occurrence of these noises have not yet been scientifically established.

Unusual and interesting natural phenomena

Natural phenomena, unusual and unpredictable, can occur anywhere - on land, in water or in the air. They are unique, rarely repeated, or often hard to catch. But these phenomena always capture the attention of not only witnesses, but also scientists, skeptics and simply interested readers.

solar corona

The paradoxical phenomenon of the Sun in its heating. The sun has a complex structure of different layers, and the usual visible round part of the Sun is thousands of times colder than the next ball, imperceptible under normal circumstances, the solar corona.

The solar corona can only be seen with special instruments during a total solar eclipse. Its shape is constantly changing, it all depends on the activity of the Sun itself.

Animal migration

An inexplicable fact of wildlife is why animals, mainly birds and fish, migrate from one region to another, and back.

Migrations can have seasonal and life cycles. Each species of animal has its own unique way of moving from one region to another. Scientists explain that the phenomenon of migration is the result of the evolution and adaptation of the animal world to natural conditions.

Jellyfish disappeared from Jellyfish Lake

In the archipelago of the Rocky Islands of Palau, in the Pacific Ocean near Australia, there is an ideal microclimate for breeding jellyfish - Lake Jellyfish. According to research, he is about 12 thousand years old. Throughout the time, a millionth population of individuals of specific species of jellyfish - golden and moon jellyfish - has developed here.

Today there is a tendency to reduce their reproduction, by about 600 yew. Scientists explain this by changing the salinity of the lake and depriving the region of the necessary precipitation, and they are trying to maintain the necessary conditions technogenically so that the jellyfish do not become extinct.

ice circles

Usually, if a river with a slow current freezes, its surface resembles a perfectly flat surface. But if the river has a vortex current, which happens not so often, then ice symmetrical circles are obtained.

This phenomenon is more typical for the rivers of Scandinavia, North America and England, but sometimes it can also occur in Baikal.

Snowman

Bigfoot is a mythical phenomenon of mountain and forest regions. Many lovers of mountain travel are looking for Bigfoot or his remnants all over the world, especially in the Himalayas. According to the scientific hypothesis, Bigfoot is the result of an alternative human evolution, in which this process had other forms.

Hurricane on Saturn

A hurricane on Saturn is a "hyxagon" phenomenon in the planet's atmosphere recorded by the space station, which has been observing Saturn since 2004. The hyxagon is a hexagon-shaped stream over Saturn's N Pole that resembles a hurricane. Its area is 30 thousand km.

This is a unique phenomenon of our solar planet. Scientists hypothetically believe that the very nature of Saturn is the cause of such a hurricane - an accumulation of gases, without a solid surface.

Monarch butterflies migration

It is easy to recognize Danaid butterflies - they have red wings with black stripes, with a span of up to 11 cm. The most common place for the population of these butterflies is North America.

The uniqueness of the migration of Danaid butterflies is in the distance and duration.

The migration is so long that it takes 4 generations of the butterflies themselves, where new individuals return to the place of their ancestors. How they do it - scientists have not yet understood. But it has already been established that Danaid Monarch butterflies fly across the Atlantic. But these same Danaid monarch butterflies from Bermuda never migrate because of the ideal climate for them.

Animal Rain

Rain of animals is a thunderstorm, storm or tornado of unique strength, during which a strong wind raises the air of animals - more often these are fish, frogs and snakes. According to eyewitnesses, sometimes animals fell frozen to the surface of the earth - a sign that the wind raised them to the upper layers of the atmosphere, where the temperature is below zero.

Fireballs Naga

Nag fireballs are an unexplained phenomenon that occurs in October on the Mekong River in Thailand and Laos. These small balls rise from the depths of the river to a height of up to 20 m and then disappear. While scientists figure out how this is possible, local residents believe in the mythical nature of this phenomenon and arrange an annual festival in their honor.

Zone of Silence

The anomalous region in Mexico is called the Zone of Silence. Electrical, radio engineering and often clocks do not work here. Even planes stop working transmitters when they fly here. There is also a huge amount of meteorites falling here.

Recent studies have shown that the uniqueness of this area is evident in the huge amount of magnetite and uranium, which tend to suppress electromagnetic waves.

Flashes of light during an earthquake

In 2017, an earthquake in Mexico was accompanied by flashes of light. This happens here regularly - once every few years. Scientists have found that the cause of this celestial glow is rocks in which negatively charged oxygen atoms accumulate. During an earthquake, they are released through the cracks in the form of current, which ionizes the air and forms flashes.

volcanic light

Volcanic light, a natural phenomenon that occurs only on the island of Java in Indonesia. This is a successful hit of the first rays of the sun in the existing volcanic smoke and gives it the glow effect around the top of the volcanoes.

moon illusion

The natural optical phenomenon of the moon illusion visually increases its size as the moon approaches the earth. Although it is always at the same distance, when the Moon is high in the sky, it seems to be 2 times smaller than when it descends to the horizon. Until now, scientists cannot understand how this illusion is possible.

Synchronous blinking fireflies

A natural phenomenon - an unusual synchronous blinking of fireflies - is when in the forest in the evening these beetles flicker alternately on different trees. Such a spectacle can be seen far from every forest - out of 2 thousand species of fireflies, only a few flicker synchronously.

It is interesting that only male beetles participate in this illumination. Such fireflies are found in the forests of India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.

Origin of the Universe

The very phenomenon of the existence of the Earth, the solar system and the entire Galaxy is not known at all. There are dozens of ideas about how the world, or "Universe", came into existence.

In addition to the most famous religious hypotheses of Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism, great physicists and philosophers, such as A. Einstein, I. Kant and A. Friedman, also developed considerations. So far, no model of the origin of the universe has become the most plausible.

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle is an unexplored natural phenomenon in the Atlantic Ocean, where ships regularly disappear. It got its name from the line of a conditional triangle between Puerto Rico, San Juan and Bermuda, where thunderstorms, storms and cyclones often occur, or equipment stops working for no reason.

Loch Ness monster

The Loch Ness monster is a mythical creature in which the Scots stubbornly believe. It got its name from Loch Ness where it is said to live. According to the latest satellite imagery, a huge marine animal was seen in the lake, which had 2 pairs of flippers and a tail.

Together with Bigfoot, this natural phenomenon is actively discussed by scientists who are trying to find traces of its existence.

witch circles

Natural phenomena, unusual and inexplicable, can be found among the desert in the African country of Namibia. There, it is not clear where round bald spots, “Witch Circles”, formed on an area of ​​2.5 thousand km2. Their size in some places reaches 15 m in diameter. Instead of any vegetation in the desert, circles of unknown origin symmetrically cover the entire surface.

The hypothesis scientists have about their occurrence is that it is the reaction of the soil to the high levels of radiation in the region, and also the constant release of plant toxins, and the huge presence of sand termites.

moving stones

You can understand that the stones in the California National Park move along an elongated trail for several tens and hundreds of meters, which they leave behind. The weight of such moving cobblestones can be at least 300 kg. While the stones are moving in different directions.

There are several hypotheses as to how this might be. For example, due to magnetic fields or sandstorms.

Whales aground

A well-known case in 2017 in the Khabarovsk Territory, when a bowhead whale got stuck in shallow water while escaping killer whales. In the open air, he lay for almost a day, and in the evening, at high tide, he was able to sail. The life of the whale was saved by the fact that from time to time rescuers poured water on it so that its skin would not dry out and crack.

The lights of the Hessdalen valley

In the Hessdalen valley, in southern Norway, since the Second World War, unusual lights of different colors have been regularly seen in the sky, which appear in different places. They look like a luminous ball that slowly floats in the air. Scientists explain such phenomena as the result of a huge amount of minerals in the valley, such as sulfur, zinc and copper.

Moroccan goats grazing in the trees

In Morocco, goats in trees are a common sight. They always graze here because of the lack of pastures in the country. Such a phenomenon can be seen in the Atlas Mountains. At the same time, goats in Morocco are not some special species that can balance well in the air.

These are the most common goats that adapt well for the sake of survival.

Most often, they eat argon trees, while spreading the seed and thereby contributing to the greening of the country.

Black Sun of Denmark

The unusual phenomenon of the "Black Sun" of Denmark is a cluster in a close circle of songbirds. You can see the phenomenon of how birds create a circle in a dance in the spring at sunset, in southwestern Denmark in the swamps. They spend 1.5 months in these swamps. These birds belong to the common starling family, and are found in North America, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia and eat in many ways similar to thrushes.

moon rainbow

A lunar or night rainbow is a color transfusion of a familiar rainbow, only at night, and under the conditions of the necessary phase of the moon in the sky, the presence of rain near a high waterfall at night.

This rainbow is found in all areas where there are waterfalls and heavy rainfall - in the state of Kentucky (USA), in Hawaii and the Caucasus, in southern Australia and Zimbabwe.

biconvex clouds

Lenticular clouds are a recently recorded natural phenomenon, when many cumulus clouds create several storey clouds in space.

They are divided into 2 types:

  1. Inflorescence, resemble a dense cluster of round clouds next to each other, which create a continuous cloudy canvas.
  2. Lenticular- these are oblong and huge clouds that rise symmetrically above each other.

These harmless but voluminous biconvex clouds are often a harbinger of hurricanes or tornadoes. Also, such clouds can provoke the appearance of ball lightning, which is why the aircraft must avoid falling into such a cloud.

star Rain

Star shower or meteor shower is a spectacular sight that occurs during the invasion of the Earth's atmosphere by a huge number of meteorites (more than 1 thousand per hour). These shooting stars do not reach the earth, they burn up during the flight in the atmosphere. This is possible due to the small size of the meteorite itself, which is strongly erased by the air during the flight.

Halo

A halo is an optical illusion that occurs around luminous objects - the Sun, the Moon, ice crystals, a light bulb or a lantern.

Such a vision has a simple physical and optical explanation - it is the result of broken light from a source.

Depending on the source itself, the halo may be round or oblong; symmetrical and asymmetrical. Although halos are harmless natural phenomena, if they occur in the sun, their bright light can harm the eyes.

Northern Lights

The northern lights are the glow of the upper layer of the earth's atmosphere from a collision with plasma. This happens as a result of interaction with charged particles of the solar wind. The northern lights are the radiation of atoms, each color refers to a specific substance

They arise in the magnetosphere - the space between the planet and other magnetized bodies. Therefore, the phenomenon of northern lights is observed mainly in the high latitudes of the Earth. Spring and autumn are more suitable for auroras, when a large amount of energy accumulates.

Such glows usually appear in violet, green and ultraviolet colors, in the form of moving rays and bands. The duration of the Northern Lights is different - from a few minutes to several hours.

Brocken ghosts

Brocken's ghost is the optical effect of an increase in one's own shadow due to broken light due to clouds. This phenomenon got its name from the German mountain Brocken, where such optical illusions are always easy to contemplate.

red waves

The natural phenomenon of red waves occurs on the southeast coast of India. Unusual waves are the result of hurricanes, during which the effect of red flashes is formed above the waves. Scientists explain the occurrence of red waves by the decay of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen atoms under the influence of wind, the speed of which is 200 km/h. At the same time, the waves make a sound similar to a growl.

Lightning Catatumbo

Lightning Catatumbo - a long and continuous occurrence of countless lightning in Venezuela, at the intersection of the river and the lake. These lightning strikes occur between May and September at night.

Studies have proven that this area has the highest rate of lightning occurrence in the world.

According to meteorological data, thunderstorms occur here 200 days a year. Catatumbo lightning has a very high charge and is usually visible at a distance of 400 km.

Penitentes

A natural phenomenon, unusual in the form of ice figures, is found in the mountain peaks of the Andes. There are ideal conditions under which blade-shaped snow figures form. Dry wind and very dry snow, along with direct cold sunlight, contribute to the emergence of these meter-high ice figures.

Mirages

Mirage is an optical phenomenon of a fracture of light on the verge of a collision of two or more layers of air, which have different temperatures and densities. The result of such a fracture is the actual vision of real and imaginary distant objects.

Mirages are divided into several types - they are classified according to different physical conditions of occurrence. Although everyone knows about desert mirages, they also occur at very low temperatures in Alaska.

blue lava

In Indonesia, on the island of Java, the volcanic eruption is unique - it has blue lava, the blue flame of which can rise up to 5 m. Scientists explain this phenomenon by the high concentration of sulfur dioxide in the bowels of the earth (the temperature of which exceeds 600 degrees Celsius).

This gas receives a liquid form from interaction with liquid sulfur.

Cloud Break Zone

A natural phenomenon from a continuous cirrocumulus sheet of clouds can have an oval-shaped “hole” in it. This is called the cloud break zone. An unusual hole is obtained when the temperature of the cloud drops sharply below zero. Because of this, the formed crystals evaporate, and a hole is obtained in their place.

Article formatting: Lozinsky Oleg

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