Top 11 Most Terrifying Natural Phenomena on Earth

The Fake Sun Phenomenon can appear as a colored spot of light on the left or right side of the Sun, positioned 22° and at the same distance above the horizon as the Sun, in the light ring. They can be seen anywhere in the world in any season but are not always clear or bright. Fake Suns are most visible when the real Sun is low.

The Fake Sun Phenomenon occurs when sunlight at a high angle passes through ice crystals in the air. In addition to the real Sun in the center, the observer also sees a reflected image on both sides. This phenomenon occurs when the temperature is below -30°C, the air has a lot of moisture, and there are ice crystals.

The crystal ring is visible when the Sun is near the horizon, on the same horizontal plane as the observer and the ice crystals. As light passes through the ice crystals, it bends at an angle of about 22 degrees before reflecting to the eye.

The migration of monarch butterflies is one of the rarest phenomena in the world. Black and orange monarch butterflies gather in flocks on the mountains of Mexico. They congregate over an area of about 10 square miles after flying a distance of 3,400 miles from the United States. In winter, these butterflies fly from the U.S. through Canada to the mountainous region west of Mexico City. Unfortunately, in recent years, the number of monarch butterflies has significantly declined.

The sight of thousands of monarch butterflies migrating each year may seem truly terrifying, but it has also created vivid and soul-stirring paintings. In fact, monarch butterflies also have migratory patterns like birds from the North to the South. Biologists say the annual migration phenomenon of monarch butterflies from North America to Mexico is an activity that has been taking place for millions of years, determined by a genetic pattern passed down among these butterfly individuals.

With lengths ranging from 10m to 50m, fire whirls are formed by the unique air temperature, creating a forceful flow capable of uprooting a tree up to 17m tall. Fire whirls can also originate from large wildfires leading to significant human and property damage. Although humans rarely witness this bizarre phenomenon, they are more common than we think. They often occur at the center of intense forest fires, making them not easily visible.

Similar to many dust devils often seen on sunny days in the desert southwest, fire whirls occur when a hot spot on the ground releases a plume of hot air. However, while dust devils find their heat source from the sun, fire whirls arise from the hot points of previous forest fires.

Clusters of hot air form in a very small area on the ground and quickly begin to rise, sucking in the surrounding air like a vacuum cleaner. Then, they twist together, resembling a “fire tornado.” As the fire whirl ascends and pulls the flames along, its diameter starts to contract, spinning faster, akin to a figure skater pulling in their arms and legs to accelerate a spin.

Fire rainbow (Circumhorizontal arc) is a colorful halo appearing horizontally across the sky, also known as the Circumhorizontal arc. When seen in the sky, this colorful halo resembles a rainbow. Bright images of the fire rainbow in the sky were captured and widely shared by people in Malaysia on social media. This phenomenon has also occurred in many countries worldwide. Many social media users believe that this fire rainbow is a sign of the apocalypse or an impending disaster.

However, according to scientists, the fire rainbow stretching across the sky is actually an optical phenomenon. The phenomenon is scientifically known as the circumhorizontal arc, often appearing in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. The circumhorizontal arc is the result of sunlight passing through ice crystals but can also occur under moonlight in rarer cases.

According to Mother Nature Network, this optical phenomenon is formed by the refraction of sunlight, sometimes moonlight, through ice crystals suspended in the air. The Sun must be at a very high position, about 58 degrees above the horizon or higher.

Lightning strikes are electrical discharges caused by positively charged thunderclouds with the ground. Thunderstorms often occur in elevated areas, as the distance between the 'two poles' of the ground and the clouds is shorter. Lightning strike phenomena usually happen on stormy or rainy days. Sometimes, they hit densely populated areas, causing significant damage to people and property.

Lightning is a complex meteorological phenomenon. Understanding the nature of the formation process and the impact of lightning on structures, such as buildings, warehouses, piers, columns, broadcasting towers, power lines, telecommunication lines, telephone lines, internet, coaxial cable antennas, leads to effective lightning protection measures.

Tsunami, this is a tremendously frightening natural phenomenon. Tsunamis are essentially enormous tidal waves generated by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. In 2004, an earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean claimed the lives of around 280,000 people, becoming one of the most horrific natural disasters in modern history.

The tsunamis can form when the sea floor is suddenly deformed vertically, displacing the water above it. Such large vertical movements of the Earth's crust can occur at continental plate boundaries. Earthquakes caused by plate collisions or other special circumstances can create tsunamis. When an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, sometimes it causes the continental plate to move downward. Eventually, the pressure becomes too great on the continental shelf, causing it to snap back, creating shock waves into the Earth's crust, triggering an earthquake beneath the sea, known as a submarine earthquake

Mammatus clouds are a perfect product of nature and entirely harmless, a meteorological phenomenon also known as mammatus clouds. These mammatus clouds always accompany intense storms that can occur in the summer and are a sign of a large amount of water vapor held in the air. Each of its 'drops' can have a diameter of up to 1 mile. They are also almost translucent, making the clouds look like they can be touched.

The 'cloud bubbles' create a spectacular scene called 'mammatus clouds' and are extremely rare because they are only formed at medium altitudes and are illuminated by reflected sunlight. 'They look extremely strange, especially when they are seen so clearly. You will see these clouds more vividly when the sunset shines on them, creating beautiful colors'. But these clouds will create strange shapes like complete balls depending on the temperature and humidity, sometimes with identification signs from thunder or tornadoes appearing in the sky.

Tornadoes develop from a thunderstorm, usually from a very strong or supercell storm, so where there is intense thunder, there may be a tornado, but luckily, they are very rare. Sometimes, they are born from a strong gust front (called outflow boundaries) or from a hurricane. It is believed that when the air in the upper layer presses down on the hot air below, the hot air will be forcibly moved upwards very strongly. However, when tornadoes occur over water, convection and temperature differences between layers are usually not observed. Therefore, the cause of tornadoes is not fully understood by humans.

Nevertheless, most tornadoes are formed from a special type of thundercloud called a supercell. A cloud can last for several hours, rotating in an area with a diameter of 10 to 16 km, moving hundreds of miles, and generating countless giant funnels. Their origin is in a climatic region with rising hot air currents and descending cold air currents.

First is the interaction between an upward-moving thunderstorm and the wind. This interaction will cause the layer of hot air below to move upward and rotate in the air. Next is the development of the cold air stream moving downward towards the ground on the other side of the storm. The speed of the downward air stream can exceed 160 km/h.

Tropical cyclone, or commonly known as tropical storm is a general term used by meteorologists to describe a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain, originating over tropical or subtropical waters. A tropical cyclone can achieve sustained wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour. The highest recorded wind speed was 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) in Hurricane Patricia in 2015.

The formation of tropical cyclones is the development and intensification of a tropical cyclone in the atmosphere. The mechanisms through which tropical cyclones form are significantly different from those that lead to the formation of storms at mid-latitudes. The process of tropical cyclone formation involves the development of a warm-core low-pressure system, driven by significant convection in a favorable atmospheric environment.

Tropical cyclones tend to develop in summer, but have been recorded to occur in most basins in almost every month. Climate cycles such as ENSO and the Madden-Julian Oscillation regulate the timing and frequency of tropical cyclone development. There is a limit to the intensity of tropical cyclones closely related to the sea surface temperature along its path. On average, there are 86 tropical cyclones with tropical cyclone intensity formed each year worldwide.

Volcano originates from the heat and pressure from within the Earth. From the center outwards, the Earth consists of several layers: the inner core, followed by the mantle, and the outermost layer is the crust.

The core is divided into two. The inner core is solid and very hot, around 7,000 degrees Celsius. Despite being extremely hot, it remains solid because it withstands the tremendous pressure from the layers above. The outer core is hot, about 5,000 degrees Celsius, and is in a liquid state.

The mantle is about 3,000 km thick, mostly composed of silicate rock. Although it is rock, it is not entirely solid. Due to the high temperature, some parts of the rock are in a molten state called magma. Magma is the cause of volcanic eruptions.

The crust is the solid layer of rock where all living creatures reside. This layer is about 30 to 50 km thick on land and about 5 to 10 km beneath the ocean floor.

Magma is molten rock within the mantle. Magma, being lighter than rock, slowly rises toward the surface. As it rises, gases within the magma appear as bubbles. Magma can erupt through fissures in the Earth's crust. If the magma is too dense for bubbles to escape, it creates very high pressure, forcing the magma out into the atmosphere. This scenario is the eruption of a volcano.

The brinicle phenomenon, also known as the 'Death Finger,' is an extremely cold, salty water mass sinking to the seafloor, causing the surrounding seawater to freeze along with it, according to Live Science. Although first discovered in the 1960s, it wasn't until 2011 that the BBC film crew captured this fascinating phenomenon in the Antarctic seabed.

According to Bruno Escribano, a researcher at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics in Spain, the brinicle formation process occurs when seawater freezes in the Antarctic and Arctic. Salt and other ions in the water are pushed out of the water crystals. The salt-saturated seawater does not freeze but remains scattered inside the ice mass, with temperatures usually below 0 degrees Celsius due to the high salinity having a lower freezing point than regular seawater.

At some point, the ice cracks, and the salt-saturated seawater escapes. Due to its high density, the extremely cold seawater sinks to the ocean floor, freezing the surrounding seawater, gradually forming a column of ice known as the 'Death Finger' or brinicle. When the ice layer around the brinicle thickens to a certain extent, this ice column can maintain its coldness and persist even when encountering warmer currents beneath the seafloor.

When the brinicle reaches the seafloor, it immediately annihilates all life forms in its path. The affected area can extend up to several square kilometers. In videos, sea urchins and starfish are seen slowing down and stiffening as soon as they come into contact with the chilling air emanating from the brinicle.