Topic

Earth & climate

Earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, climate shifts and the geological events that shaped the planet.

Chronyas lists 4,339 events in this topic. These are among the most notable, grouped by era.

Hadean

from about 4.1 billion years ago to 3.8 billion years agoLate Heavy Bombardment

Archean

from about 3.92 billion years ago to 3.85 billion years agoNectarian

Proterozoic

from about 2.4 billion years ago to 2.1 billion years agoHuronian glaciation

Paleozoic

from about 380 million years ago to 280 million years agoVariscan orogeny

Cenozoic

about 56 million years agoPaleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum
about 34 million years agoAntarctica freezes over

Human prehistory

from about 115,000 years ago to 10th millennium BCELast Glacial Period
about 21,000 years agoLast Glacial Maximum
from about 13,000 years ago to 9,750s BCEYounger Dryas
about 12,400 years agoEruption of Moekeshiwan [Lvinaya Past]
10th millennium BCEThe Holocene begins
c. 8,750 BCEEruption of Ulleungdo
c. 8,400 BCEEruption of Michinmahuida
c. 8,230 BCEEruption of Grimsvotn
c. 8,050 BCEEruption of Aira
c. 7,460 BCEEruption of Pinatubo
c. 7,420 BCEEruption of Fisher
c. 6,600 BCEEruption of Karymsky
c. 6,440 BCEEruption of Kurile Lake
c. 6,300 BCEEruption of Aniakchak
c. 6,050 BCEEruption of Menengai
c. 5,900 BCEEruption of Crater Lake
c. 5,700 BCEEruption of Khangar
c. 5,680 BCEEruption of Crater Lake
c. 5,550 BCEEruption of Tao-Rusyr Caldera
c. 5,550 BCEEruption of Mashu
c. 4,750 BCEEruption of Hudson, Cerro
c. 4,360 BCEEruption of Macauley
c. 4,350 BCEEruption of Kikai
c. 4,050 BCEEruption of Masaya
c. 4,000 BCEEruption of Witori
c. 3,580 BCEEruption of Taal
c. 3,550 BCEEruption of Pinatubo

Ancient civilizations

c. 2,300 BCEEruption of Blanco, Cerro
c. 2,040 BCEEruption of Long Island
c. 1,900 BCEEruption of Black Peak
c. 1,890 BCEEruption of Hudson, Cerro
c. 1,860 BCEEruption of St. Helens
c. 1,750 BCEEruption of Veniaminof
c. 1,645 BCEEruption of Aniakchak
c. 1,610 BCEEruption of Santorini
c. 1,460 BCEEruption of Taupo
c. 1,370 BCEEruption of Witori
c. 1,050 BCEEruption of Pinatubo
c. 250 BCEEruption of Raoul Island
104 BCEEstablishment of Qumran
c. 100 BCEEruption of Okmok
c. 50 BCEEruption of Apoyeque
c. 50 CEEruption of Ambrym
c. 63 CEEruption of Churchill
from 19 July 64 CE to 26 July 64 CEGreat Fire of Rome
79 CEVesuvius buries Pompeii and Herculaneum
c. 233 CEEruption of Taupo
c. 240 CEEruption of Ksudach
c. 450 CEEruption of Ilopango

Medieval world

536 CEThe volcanic winter of 536
c. 653 CEEruption of Dakataua
c. 683 CEEruption of Rabaul
c. 710 CEEruption of Witori
c. 847 CEEruption of Churchill
c. 930 CEEruption of Ceboruco
c. 1280Eruption of Quilotoa
from 1303 to 1850Little Ice Age
from October 1347 to January 1351The Black Death reaches Europe
c. 1477Eruption of Bardarbunga

Early modern world

23 January 15561556 Shaanxi earthquake
c. 1580Eruption of Billy Mitchell
c. 1660Eruption of Long Island
from 2 September 1666 to 6 September 1666Great Fire of London
1 November 17551755 Lisbon earthquake

Industrial era

2 July 1812Eruption of Tambora
1816The Year Without a Summer
1 March 1872Establishment of Yellowstone National Park
25 November 1885Establishment of Banff National Park
1887Establishment of Tongariro National Park
25 September 1890Establishment of Sequoia National Park
1 October 1890Establishment of Yosemite National Park
1905Establishment of Kaziranga National Park
1906Establishment of Mesa Verde National Park
18 April 19061906 San Francisco earthquake
22 March 1907Establishment of Etosha National Park
14 September 1907Establishment of Jasper National Park
11 May 1910Establishment of Glacier National Park
6 January 1912Alfred Wegener proposes continental drift
6 June 1912Eruption of Novarupta

Modern era

1916Establishment of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
1919Establishment of Grand Canyon National Park
19 November 1919Establishment of Zion National Park
18 December 1922Establishment of Wood Buffalo National Park
1 September 19231923 Great Kantō Earthquake
1925Establishment of Virunga National Park
1926Establishment of Kruger National Park
1928Establishment of Thingvellir National Park
15 September 1928Establishment of Bryce Canyon National Park
26 February 1929Establishment of Grand Teton National Park
14 May 1930Establishment of Carlsbad Caverns National Park
19311931 China floods
15 June 1934Establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
9 October 1934Establishment of Iguazú National Park
14 April 1935Black Sunday and the Dust Bowl
11 May 1937Establishment of Los Glaciares National Park
1938Establishment of Garamba National Park
1938Establishment of Mount Olympus
29 June 1938Establishment of Olympic National Park
1940Establishment of Serengeti National Park
1 July 1941Establishment of Mammoth Cave National Park

Contemporary world

6 December 1947Establishment of Everglades National Park
1 January 1949Establishment of Tatra National Park
8 April 1949Establishment of Plitvice Lakes National Park
1 January 1954Establishment of Niokolo-Koba National Park
1954Establishment of W National Park
22 January 1954Establishment of Teide National Park
13 May 1959Establishment of Torres del Paine National Park
21 May 19601960 Valdivia earthquake
12 June 1962Establishment of Canaima National Park
8 November 1962Establishment of Pirin National Park
1964Establishment of Kinabalu Park
1 June 1964Establishment of Shiretoko National Park
1965Establishment of Gir National Park
1 January 1968Establishment of Comoé National Park
1969Establishment of Simien Mountains National Park
16 October 1969Establishment of Doñana National Park
19701970 Bhola cyclone
1970Establishment of Salonga National Park
1970Establishment of Kahuzi-Biéga National Park
12 November 1970The Bhola cyclone devastates East Pakistan
1971Establishment of Kevladev National Park
26 March 1971Establishment of Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
14 April 1971Establishment of Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary
12 November 1971Establishment of Arches National Park
1972Establishment of Taï National Park
1973Establishment of Chitwan National Park
1973Establishment of Hortobágy National Park
1973Establishment of Kilimanjaro National Park
29 May 1973Establishment of Manu National Park
1974Establishment of Gunung Mulu National Park
22 May 1974Establishment of Northeast Greenland National Park
1 July 1975Establishment of Huascarán National Park
1976Establishment of Sagarmatha National Park
1976Establishment of Nahanni National Park Reserve
1976Establishment of Banc d'Arguin National Park
28 July 19761976 Tangshan earthquake
17 February 1977Scientists discover hydrothermal vents and deep-sea life
1978Establishment of Jiuzhaigou Valley
1979Establishment of Serra da Capivara National Park
1979Establishment of Sangay National Park
5 April 1979Establishment of Kakadu National Park
17 May 1979Establishment of Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park
1980Establishment of Jaú National Park
1980Establishment of Komodo National Park
1980Establishment of Ujung Kulon National Park
1980Establishment of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
2 December 1980Establishment of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
25 March 1981Establishment of Garajonay National Park
2 June 1981Establishment of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
5 June 1981The first cases of AIDS are reported
1984Establishment of Sundarbans National Park
3 December 1984Bhopal disaster
1985The Antarctic ozone hole is discovered
1987Establishment of Purnululu National Park
23 June 1988James Hansen tells the US Senate that global warming has begun
1990Establishment of Manas National Park
1991Establishment of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
1991Establishment of Rwenzori Mountains National Park
31 October 1994Establishment of Death Valley National Park
17 January 1995Great Hanshin Earthquake
1997Establishment of Lorentz National Park
2001Establishment of Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park
20032003 European heat wave
26 December 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2005Hurricane Katrina
1 October 2005Establishment of Gros Morne National Park
8 October 20052005 Kashmir earthquake
12 May 20082008 Sichuan earthquake
7 June 2008Establishment of Vatnajökull National Park
12 January 20102010 Haiti earthquake
27 February 20102010 Chile earthquake
11 March 20112011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
from 21 August 2011 to 4 September 2011Hurricane Irene
from 22 October 2012 to 2 November 2012Hurricane Sandy
from 3 November 2013 to 11 November 2013Typhoon Haiyan
25 April 2015April 2015 Nepal earthquake
20162016 becomes the warmest year on record
from 30 August 2017 to 15 September 2017Hurricane Irma
15 April 20192019 fire at Notre-Dame de Paris
11 March 2020The WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic
20212021 European floods
20232023 becomes the warmest year on record
6 February 20232023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes
September 2023Storm Daniel
8 September 20232023 Marrakesh-Safi earthquake
1 January 20242024 Noto earthquake
20242024 becomes the warmest year on record
29 October 20242024 Spain floods
from 7 January 2025 to 31 January 2025January 2025 Southern California wildfires
28 March 20252025 Myanmar earthquake
29 July 20252025 Kamchatka earthquake
May 20262026 European heatwaves
24 June 20262026 Venezuela earthquakes
26 August 20262026 Nepal–Tibet floods

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