This book focuses on how the normal processes of the Earth concentrate their energies and deal heavy blows to humans and their structures. It is concerned with how the natural world operates and, in so doing, kills and maims humans and destroys their works. Throughout the book, certain themes are maintained: energy sources underlying disasters; plate tectonics and climate change; Earth processes operating in rock, water, and atmosphere; the significance of geologic time; complexities of multiple variables operating simultaneously; The text aims to explain important principles about the Earth and then develop further understanding through numerous case histories. It includes recent happenings such as the Western United States wildfires and the Los Alamos prescribed burn, both occurring in the year 2000.