10 morbid facts about nature

As amazing and beautiful as nature is, it can also be incredibly cruel and destructive. It’s hard to imagine just how brutal it can be when you’re staring out over a vast forest or enjoying the view from the top of a mountain, but it’s important to remember just how careful you need to be to avoid becoming one of its victims. So here’s a list of 10 morbid facts about nature showing just how ruthless she can be.

Avalanche deaths

Around 150 people die from avalanches across Europe and North America each year, with the global figure being between 300 and 500 as sources vary. As many as 90% of all avalanches are caused by people, which account for over 95% of all avalanche-caused deaths.

Hippos

They are cute aren’t they, with their plump round faces that look like they are always smiling, but they also happen to be the most dangerous animal on earth. Other creatures are responsible for more deaths by spreading disease, but in terms of how physically dangerous an animal is, the hippo takes the top slot. They kill around 500 people each year who get too close to them, biting them in half or trampling them under close to 2 tons of fat and muscle.

(They may be cute but can run up to 20 mph for short distances, and their thick hides make them bulletproof to small caliber and low-velocity weapons such as handguns)

Coconuts

There’s a popular myth out there of how around 150 people die each year from falling coconuts, but in reality, the number is much smaller. Since 1777 the amount of documented deaths from falling coconuts is less than 50, but most of the deaths were caused in pretty ridiculous circumstances. A number of the deaths include people who have trained monkeys to climb trees to throw them down, but end up getting a bit too excited and launching them down too fast, hitting their owner on the head. One unlucky person died in a cemetery during a funeral from one falling on her head, and a clump of coconuts weighing more than 50 kg fell off a tree and crushed someone during a family picnic.

Icicles

In the US there’s an average of 15 people die each year from falling icicles, and in Russia, the number is around 100. The rest of northern Europe gets less than 20 combined, with the rest of the world being next to none. Even in a country like the US, you are several times more likely to die from a falling icicle than you are from a shark.

Tidal waves / Tsunamis

There isn’t an average yearly statistic for deaths from Tsunamis as they are a situational hazard as opposed to a constant threat. The average death toll per 1000 people affected is around 80, so the actual deaths from them vary hugely. The giant tsunami that hit 11 countries in 2004 ended up killing around 40,000 people, but some years the number doesn’t even hit 100.

Cold exposure

15,000 to 20,000 people die each year globally from cold exposure. The US has about 800 deaths per year caused by the cold, mostly from extreme cases of hypothermia. The majority of deaths from cold surprisingly don’t happen in extreme temperatures, but rather long-term exposure to the general cold.

Drowning

Europe, the US, and Russia combined see close to 10,000 deaths each year from unintentional drowning. Most of the deaths caused are by people who went swimming somewhere they shouldn’t, with the number of people dying from falling in by accident being less than 800.

Lightening

There are close to 250,000 incidents of lightning strikes each year, but the number of deaths, according to National Geographic averages 2,000. Most of these deaths are in countries with vast expanses of desert and mountainous regions. In the UK there are only 2 or 3 people killed each year from lightning, and the chances of being hit are 1 in 33 million.

Mosquitoes

The creature itself isn’t dangerous at all, with it physically being able to do nothing more than deliver a slight pinprick. The danger comes with the disease it carries and how fast that disease can kill people. The mosquito is responsible for around 1 million deaths globally per year, with the vast majority of these coming from malaria. The disease can be treated but the areas where the disease is common are often difficult to access and have poor levels of health care.

Falling

After motor vehicles, falling is the second most common cause of death from unintentional injury. There are over half a million deaths each year worldwide from falling, most of which happen in construction and domestic situations. Since this is more likely to kill you than anything else on the list and can happen anywhere and at any time, it seems odd that people are more scared of bears and sharks than they are of stairs.