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History is full of moments where catastrophe almost consumed everything — and humanity barely escaped. Join us as we count down the most terrifying disasters and close calls that, despite their devastating impact, could have wiped out civilizations, triggered nuclear war, or ended life as we know it. Which of these chilling near-misses keeps you up at night? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00Here at Homestead, there were over 200 jet fighters, fueled up and loaded with rockets, napalm, bombs and cannon ammunition.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at moments in history when disasters and crises caused immense destruction or carried
00:15the threat of annihilation, but ultimately fell short of becoming world-ending events.
00:19They wanted to see whether the reactor could still be cooled if the plant lost power, but they violated safety
00:26protocols and several power surges occurred inside the reactor.
00:3210. An Ice Age in South Africa Pushed Humans to the Brink of Extinction
00:37Prepare for the ice age!
00:40Ice age?
00:41I've heard of these crackpots.
00:43Tens of thousands of years ago, expanding glaciers drastically altered landscapes and led to intense climate shifts across the planet.
00:51The conditions were particularly harsh around parts of southern Africa.
00:54Cooler temperatures reduced rainfall, causing forests and grasslands to shrink, both of which our ancestors relied on for food and
01:01water.
01:01What killed the dinosaurs?
01:04Ice Age!
01:06Archaeological evidence suggests that small groups of early Homo sapiens were pushed toward narrow coastal refuges, like Mossel Bay, where
01:14survival became extremely difficult.
01:16It was a waiting game at this point for these communities who depended heavily on marine resources, but also needed
01:22environmental conditions to improve.
01:24Had the ice expanded just a little farther, or lasted longer?
01:28Scientists believe that human populations in the region might have declined even more drastically.
01:33Too bad he wasn't at the whole thing!
01:35All you had to do was listen to me, just once!
01:39But you...
01:40Number 9. 1961. A Blown Fuse Almost Set Off World War III
01:45I think the public would be shocked to realize that there were incidents going back even into the 60s, where
01:54our nuclear missile silos were being interfered with.
01:58The Cold War saw the United States and the Soviet Union standing on high alert to military activities on both
02:04sides.
02:05In 1961, radar stations built to detect incoming nuclear missiles suddenly went offline across parts of North America.
02:13Military officials feared the worst, and briefly believed a Soviet attack might have destroyed those detection systems.
02:19Had the officials settled on this interpretation, it would have been the trigger to retaliatory nuclear strikes.
02:25Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.
02:28Commanders delayed their response long enough for technicians to investigate the problem.
02:32The cause turned out to be far less dramatic.
02:35A simple overheated fuse in a relay station located in Colorado.
02:39A small electrical failure nearly triggered a catastrophic misunderstanding.
02:59Number 8. The 2012 solar storm missed humanity by a week.
03:04A solar flare is a giant burst of x-rays and energy.
03:07On July 23, 2012, the sun unleashed an enormous burst of energy, known as a coronal mass ejection.
03:15These powerful eruptions blast magnetized plasma and radiation into space at incredible speeds.
03:21If such a solar storm strikes Earth directly, it can disrupt satellites, electrical grids, and communication networks.
03:27We would be sent back to the Stone Ages.
03:30Fortunately for modern civilization, the massive storm in 2012 traveled through the region of space where Earth had been only
03:37about a week earlier in its orbit.
03:39Had the timing been slightly different, the storm could have slammed into our planet and triggered widespread technological disruptions.
03:46Some experts believe it might have caused global power outages lasting months, if not years.
03:51A solar storm of that magnitude today has the potential to cost nearly $2 trillion.
03:58Number 7. A Stone Age Supernova Star Exploded
04:01Every 10 seconds, somewhere in the universe, a supernova occurs.
04:06A supernova is a powerful stellar explosion that releases enormous amounts of radiation and energetic particles into space.
04:13Our cosmic neighborhood witnessed something similar millions of years ago.
04:17Scientists in the 1970s found unusual deposits of a radioactive isotope called Iron-60, found in deep ocean sediments.
04:26The resulting supernova would likely reach Earth in 51 years.
04:30It could either destroy life on Earth, or enable humankind to achieve a new level of existence.
04:36These traces suggested that a nearby supernova occurred roughly 2 to 3 million years ago.
04:42The radiation spewed out by the explosion is hypothesized to have slightly affected the atmosphere and exposed ancient life on
04:50our planet to increased cosmic rays.
04:52Any closer to our solar system and the consequences of this stellar explosion could have been far more dramatic.
04:58A little physics?
05:01There's no such thing.
05:03Physics encompasses the entire universe, from quantum particles to supernovas, from spinning electrons to spinning galaxies.
05:10Yeah, okay, cool. I don't need the PBS special.
05:13Number 6. The Apollo 13 Mission.
05:16We had a big problem on our hands.
05:18Can I say again, please?
05:20It was life-threatening.
05:22Oh, Houston, we've had a problem.
05:23It was not about landing on the moon in the right place, it was about survival.
05:28The Apollo 13 Mission launched in 1970, with a goal to be the third human lunar landing.
05:34But roughly two days into the journey, disaster struck, when an oxygen tank exploded inside the spacecraft's service module.
05:41The blast crippled critical systems, and forced NASA to abandon the lunar landing.
05:46With limited power, water, and oxygen, astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Hayes suddenly faced a life-threatening situation,
05:54nearly 200,000 miles from Earth.
05:56Engineers and mission controllers worked tirelessly to develop improvised solutions.
06:01The exploration of space has been hazardous adventure.
06:04The voyage of Apollo 13 dramatized its risks.
06:08The men of Apollo 13, by their poise and skill, under the most intense kind of pressure, epitomized the character
06:18that accepts danger and surmounts it.
06:22Through remarkable teamwork and ingenuity, the astronauts safely returned home against overwhelming odds.
06:29Dubbed a successful failure, had the timing of the explosion gone any differently, Apollo 13 and its crew would have
06:36been lost forever.
06:37This is Houston. Say again, please.
06:40Houston, we have a problem.
06:42Number 5. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
06:50The San Andreas Fault remains a ticking time bomb for a massive earthquake.
06:54On April 18, 1906, the city of San Francisco got a sneak peek.
07:00The massive earthquake destroyed buildings, ruptured gas lines, and triggered fires that quickly spread through the damaged city.
07:07For several days, raging infernos consumed entire neighborhoods, while emergency crews struggled to regain control.
07:14Desperate to quell the flames, firefighters and soldiers used dynamite to demolish buildings and create fire breaks.
07:21These barriers slowed the fires long enough for responders to finally contain the destruction.
07:34The earthquake devastated much of San Francisco and caused thousands of casualties.
07:39But were it not for those fire breaks, the city would have been engulfed in flames that would have spread
07:44across the entire Bay Area.
07:46Number 4. The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
07:49Oil and water don't mesh.
07:51And in April 2010, the world watched in silent horror when an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig triggered
07:58the worst offshore oil spill in the history of the United States.
08:02The U.S. Coast Guard received a mayday from the bridge and flashed this distress call.
08:08The Deepwater Horizon on fire, with all persons off the bus with a person in the water.
08:13In its wake, a massive flow of crude oil escaped into the Gulf of Mexico.
08:17For nearly three months, oil gushed from the damaged well.
08:21Eventually, a specially drilled relief well intercepted the original wellbore and sealed it with heavy drilling fluid and cement.
08:36The spill caused enormous environmental and economic damage.
08:40But experts believe the prognosis would have been far worse had the timing of the disaster happened during hurricane season,
08:46or if capping efforts had failed, or if the blowout had occurred closer to the shore.
08:57Number 3. 2013 Chelyabinsk Meteor Event
09:01Over 100 tons of meteoric material enter our planet's atmosphere every day.
09:06On February 15, 2013, residents of Chelyabinsk, Russia stood witness when something much larger flashed across the morning sky.
09:15But if time were short, there'd likely be no way to prevent a catastrophic impact.
09:20A large meteor, weighing between 10 and 13,000 tons, entered Earth's atmosphere, traveling at tremendous speed,
09:28before exploding high above the city in a powerful airburst.
09:32The shockwave shattered windows across the region and injured more than 1,000 people, mostly from flying glass.
09:38Scientists later estimated the explosion released energy equivalent to several hundred thousand tons of TNT.
09:45Fortunately, the meteor disintegrated about 20 miles above the ground.
09:51If the object had remained intact and struck the surface directly,
09:55the damage would have caused massive destruction and left a massive impact crater.
10:02Number 2. Cuban Missile Crisis
10:05Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in
10:15preparation on that imprisoned island.
10:17The Cuban Missile Crisis was the peak of the Cold War, and when the world came dangerously close to nuclear
10:23conflict.
10:24The United States discovered that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missile sites in Cuba, just 90 miles from the
10:31American coastline.
10:32Over the next 13 days, tensions escalated as both sides prepared for potential conflict.
10:38It was even more frightening behind the scenes, as several incidents brought the situation even closer to disaster.
10:44In one case, a Soviet submarine under attack from practiced depth charges nearly launched a nuclear torpedo.
10:51Thankfully, the decision to hold fire helped prevent a catastrophe.
10:55Careful diplomacy and restraint by leaders on both sides helped de-escalate and resolve the crisis without nuclear weapons ever
11:03being used.
11:04If I'm wrong, then we're at war.
11:07God help us all.
11:16Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Audio.
11:20Songs from Iran.
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11:26Check out the full track and album below.
11:29Maybe in another place in time
11:34We'd still be dancing
11:38Your hand in mine
11:44Number 1.
11:45The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
11:59Nuclear energy is a double-edged sword, posing both great potential, and when handled inappropriately, irreparable danger, like the case
12:07of the Chernobyl reactor explosion in April 1986.
12:15The blast destroyed the reactor core and released large amounts of radioactive material into the surrounding environment.
12:22Fires burned for days, while firefighters and plant workers risked their lives to contain the damage.
12:28What many failed to realize is that the disaster could have been far worse.
12:32Nearby reactors remained dangerously close to the spreading flames, and scientists feared a massive steam explosion if molten nuclear fuel
12:41reached water beneath the reactor.
12:43Later, a group of divers entered the flooded basement to open critical valves, draining the water and preventing a catastrophe
12:49that might have devastated much of Europe.
12:52Which of these close calls gave you the chills?
12:55Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe if you want more countdowns on close calls that
13:00could have gone worse.
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