Mega Disasters

Mega Disasters is an American documentary television series that originally aired from May 23, 2006 to July 2008 on The History Channel. Produced by Creative Differences, the program explores potential catastrophic threats to individual cities, countries, and the entire globe. The two "mega-disasters" of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 inspired the series and provided a reference point for many of the episodes. Excepting only two shows devoted to man-made disasters, the threats explored can be divided into three general categories: meteorological, geological, and cosmic hazards.

4. Comet Storm

Around 65 million years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Nearly 75% of all life on earth vanished. But could a single asteroid have been the lone killer? Theories about what happened after the impact have been speculated on by the entire scientific community. Ranging from global warming to lethal worldwide firestorms, ideas have been put forth, but none have been proven. Then in 1995 a new theory claimed that a powerful mega-storm known as a hypercane caused the extinction. The hypercane allegedly reaches 20 miles into the stratosphere and has wind speeds of up to 500 miles per hour. 3-D computer graphics will reveal how this storm could have brought down nearly all life on the planet.