Natural Disasters

Hurricane season is shaped by the ingredients needed to produce a tropical cyclone, and this year the Atlantic may be relatively quiet

Our galaxy and its nearest large companion, Andromeda, may be headed for a collision on a cosmic scale. What happens then?

By chance a tour boat avoided a deadly tsunami set off by the retreat of Alaska's coastal glaciers. Scientists are working to spot landslides like the one that caused the massive wave to warn people in harm's way

These wildfire warnings are in place up and down the country, from Texas to North Dakota and Minnesota

While New York City leads in terms of the absolute number of people threatened by flood, more than 98 percent of New Orleans’ population is at risk, according to a new study

After a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan and set off tsunami warnings, there’s an elevated risk of a “megaquake” following in its wake

Atmospheric scientist Perry Samson was doing fieldwork when he was unexpectedly caught inside a tornado—making him one of the few such people who have lived to tell the tale

New insights into a tiny, tough microbe have huge implications for the search for life beyond Earth

Record warmth followed by a huge snowfall led to the recent avalanche that killed at least eight skiers

From planet-scorching stellar outbursts to cataclysms so powerful they shiver the very fabric of spacetime, these are some of the biggest blasts our cosmos has to offer

Depending on how you look at it, this catchphrase from a 1980s pop song is decently accurate: you can actually melt the planet if you stop its turning

Whether space, health, technology or environment, here are the issues in science that the editors of Scientific American are focusing on for 2026