<p>You don't normally see <a href="/space_weather/space_weather.html&dev=1/windows.html">space weather</a> forecasted on the evening news, but it does impact life on <a href="/earth/earth.html&dev=1/windows.html">Earth</a> in many ways. What are the threats posed from all of these natural disasters and how can we work to mitigate those threats beforehand? </p> <p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html&dev=1/windows.html">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p><p>The United Nations <a href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/PAND_report.pdf" target="_blank">estimated</a> that between 1994-2015, there were 6,873 natural disasters worldwide, which affected 218 million people and claimed 1.35 million lives. </p> <p>Check out the materials about natural disasters in <a href="/earth/natural_hazards/when_nature_strikes.html&dev=1/windows.html">NBC Learn Videos</a>, and their earth system science connections built up by the related secondary classroom activities.</p><p><small><em>NBC Learn</em></small></p>An image of Hurricane Sandy taken by the GOES-13 satellite on October 28. This category 1 <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/hurricane/hurricane.html&dev=1/windows.html">hurricane</a> was huge, spanning a horizontal distance of about one-third the US continental landmass. The storm came onshore in New Jersey, and gradually moved northeast. The storm disrupted the lives of tens of millions in the eastern US, doing billions of dollars in damage, resulting in over 30 deaths. Visit the National Hurricane Center's webpage on <a href="http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/">Hurricane Sandy</a> for details.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>According to <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-277">NASA scientists</a>, the Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in August 2012, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html&dev=1/windows.html">solar system</a>. The space probe is about 19 billion km from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&dev=1/windows.html">Sun</a>. <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&dev=1/windows.html">Voyager 1 and 2</a> were launched in 1977 on a <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&dev=1/windows.html">mission</a> that flew them both by <a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&dev=1/windows.html">Jupiter</a> and <a href="/saturn/saturn.html&dev=1/windows.html">Saturn</a>, with Voyager 2 continuing to <a href="/uranus/uranus.html&dev=1/windows.html">Uranus</a> and <a href="/neptune/neptune.html&dev=1/windows.html">Neptune</a>. Voyager 2 is the longest continuously operated spacecraft. It is about 15 billion km away from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&dev=1/windows.html">Sun</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>A group of Emperor penguins wait their turn to dive into the ocean near <a href="/people/postcards/jean_pennycook_11_29_0.html&dev=1/windows.html">Ross Island, Antarctica</a> on November 3, 2004. Emperor penguins routinely dive to 500 meters in search of food. Scientists are interested in understanding how they can endure the stress of these dives in such an <a href="/earth/extreme_environments.html&dev=1/windows.html">extreme environment</a>.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of Emily Stone, National Science Foundation</em></small></p>March 2012 marks the first anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&dev=1/windows.html">earthquake</a>, <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&dev=1/windows.html">tsunami</a>, and resulting nuclear accident in Japan on <a href="/headline_universe/march112011earthquaketsunami.html&dev=1/windows.html">11 March 2011</a>. The tsunami did massive damage, wiping out entire villages and killing ~16,000 people, and leading to one of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. This image shows before and after photos of the area north of Sendai, where 10,000 people were lost.<p><small><em>Photos by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html?hp">GeoEye/EyeQ</a>.</em></small></p>


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